Two Rooms Records is excited to announce its tenth and most significant release yet, "Live on WUOM 1979" by Griot Galaxy. Nearly lost to history, this double-length release captures an extended radio performance by the seminal Afro-futurist jazz group, aka “The Sci-Fi Band,” featuring stunning versions of their classic repertoire circa 1979, in a compact, quartet setting.
Known for mixing complex polyrhythms, polytonality and non-western scales with grooves and minimalist elements from popular music, Griot Galaxy was founded in Detroit by saxophonist Faruq Z. Bey in 1972. The best known iteration coalesced in the late ‘70s as a quintet with bassist Jaribu Shahid and percussionist Tani Tabbal — both veterans of the Sun Ra Arkestra — and wind players Anthony Holland and David McMurray. All the members collaborated with their contemporaries in creative Black music, including Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Muhal Richard Abrams, Oliver Lake, Andrew Cyrille and many others. McMurray, absent on this recording, also stayed busy playing behind The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.
Wildly popular in Detroit and amongst their peers, Griot Galaxy only released two full-length records during the band’s lifetime. Their activity effectively ended in 1986 when Bey was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident that required nearly a decade of recovery, making this release an important expansion of the Griot Galaxy universe.
credits
released November 7, 2025
Faruq Z. Bey - Alto, Soprano, and Tenor Saxophones, Bass Clarinet
Anthony Holland - Alto, Soprano, and Tenor Saxophones, Bass Clarinet
Jaribu Shahid - Double Bass
Tani Tabbal - Drums, Percussion
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Recorded at WUOM Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1979
Mastered by Warren DeFever, Third Man Mastering, Detroit
Produced By Two Rooms Records, Detroit
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Front cover: Haiku Memoriez Of Cinnque (detail) M. Saffell Gardner and Aaron Ibn Pori Pitts, 1994-2007, monoprint on black etching paper, 40 x 26 inches. Photographed by Robert Hensleigh
Liner notes by W. Kim Heron
Photo of Griot Galaxy by Barbara Weinberg Barefield, June 1, 1981
Album design by Doug Shimmin
Type direction by Megan O'Connell, Salt & Cedar Letterpress
