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New Africa

by Grachan Moncur III

supported by
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Comes in a deluxe matte laminate gatefold sleeve and polylined paper inner sleeve

    Original 1969 BYG album
    Restored and remastered from the original BYG tapes
    Insert featuring exclusive liner notes by jazz writer Kevin Le Gendre

    Includes unlimited streaming of New Africa via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 24-bit/96kHz.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £25 GBP or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a deluxe matte laminate digi sleeve and printed inner wallet

    Original 1969 BYG album
    Digitally mastered from restored BYG tapes
    16-page booklet featuring archival photos & exclusive essay by jazz expert Kevin Le Gendre

    Includes unlimited streaming of New Africa via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 24-bit/96kHz.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £13 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card
    Download available in 24-bit/96kHz.

      £7 GBP  or more

     

1.
New Africa 17:37
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2.
Space Spy 06:56
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3.
Exploration 10:44
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4.
When 12:07
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about

Grachan Moncur III’s New Africa Returns in a Timely and Definitive Reissue

A vital document of artistic resistance and spiritual searching, New Africa captures a transformative moment in jazz and global Black consciousness. Recorded in Paris in 1969, the album stands as a deeply personal and boldly experimental statement from American trombonist and composer Grachan Moncur III — one of the most compelling figures of the avant-garde movement.

Driven by a sense of urgency and vision, New Africa channels the energy of a world in flux. Moncur, deeply moved by his journey to Algiers during a pivotal cultural gathering, poured that experience into a work that is at once avant-garde and grounded in ancestral memory. The music does not seek comfort — it provokes, interrogates, and ultimately uplifts.
Across its four tracks, Moncur challenges structure, tone, and expectation. The album’s movements shift fluidly between tension and resolution, melody and abstraction, lament and 
celebration. It is jazz as prophecy — rooted in Black radical thought and extended through fearless improvisation.

More than 50 years on, New Africa remains a resonant artistic cry: urgent, unresolved, and unafraid to imagine what liberation might sound like. This reissue gives the album the treatment it has long deserved, offering listeners a renewed opportunity to engage with one of the most potent recordings of its time - and of ours.

credits

released September 12, 2025

PERSONNEL

Grachan Moncur III (trombone)
Roscoe Mitchell (alto sax, piccolo)
Archie Shepp (tenor sax in title WHEN only)
Dave Burrell (piano)
Alan Silva (bass)
Andrew Cyrille (drums)

Produced by: Jean Karakos and Jean-Luc Young.
Coordination: Jacques Bisceglia.
Engineer: Claude Jauvert.
Recorded August 11, 1969, Paris.
Photos: Jacques Bisceglia.

All tunes published by: Charly Publishing Ltd.
All tunes arranged by: Grachan Moncur III,
except “New Africa” arranged by Grachan
Moncur III and Tamam Tracy.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

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BYG Records London, UK

Pioneering French independent record label launched in 1967.

Avant-Garde / Free Jazz / Experimental / Psychedelic & Prog Rock

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