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viewing 1 To 5 of 5 items
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2LP
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VLG 012LP
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On a Sunday in the early '70s in South LA one could easily find themselves experiencing the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra doing what they do for the community, performing incredible music. Live at Widney High December 26th, 1971 is a previously unreleased PAPA recording. It finds director Horace Tapscott conducting the band at Widney Career Preparatory and Transition Center, a special-education magnet high school in Los Angeles. The band played shows here between 1970 and '72, often sharing the bill with contemporaries John Carter and Bobby Bradford's group, and at one point the Sun-Ra Arkestra. These weekend shows were free and meant for the surrounding Black community. On this date the PAPA performed a range of compositions from the Ark's expansive songbook, including arrangements of tunes by Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane. The album's first single, Tapscott's arrangement of Coltrane's "Equinox," is one of many Coltrane compositions the Arkestra performed, as the most forward-thinking jazz player of the time was a consistent inspiration for the Ark. It's second single, "The Creator Has A Master Plan" demonstrates Tapscott's simplicity along with the band's fiery pace and feeling. The track list is completed by traditional spiritual "Motherless Child," and a medley of two compositions by Herbert Baker, one of the Arkestra's young pianists who passed in a car accident at age 17; "Little A's Chant," with lyrics written and sang by Linda Hill, and the hypnotic "Flight 17".
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2LP
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VLG 012X-LP
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Alternate art version. On a Sunday in the early '70s in South LA one could easily find themselves experiencing the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra doing what they do for the community, performing incredible music. Live at Widney High December 26th, 1971 is a previously unreleased PAPA recording. It finds director Horace Tapscott conducting the band at Widney Career Preparatory and Transition Center, a special-education magnet high school in Los Angeles. The band played shows here between 1970 and '72, often sharing the bill with contemporaries John Carter and Bobby Bradford's group, and at one point the Sun-Ra Arkestra. These weekend shows were free and meant for the surrounding Black community. On this date the PAPA performed a range of compositions from the Ark's expansive songbook, including arrangements of tunes by Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane. The album's first single, Tapscott's arrangement of Coltrane's "Equinox," is one of many Coltrane compositions the Arkestra performed, as the most forward-thinking jazz player of the time was a consistent inspiration for the Ark. It's second single, "The Creator Has A Master Plan" demonstrates Tapscott's simplicity along with the band's fiery pace and feeling. The track list is completed by traditional spiritual "Motherless Child," and a medley of two compositions by Herbert Baker, one of the Arkestra's young pianists who passed in a car accident at age 17; "Little A's Chant," with lyrics written and sang by Linda Hill, and the hypnotic "Flight 17".
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2LP
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VLG 011LP
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The Village presnts Devin Daniel's sophomore release with the label, Grandiose. A modern jazz-epic composed entirely of original tunes composed by Devin, and performed by quartet of young west coast all-stars: Logan Kane on bass, Myles Martin on drums, and Javier Santiago on keys. Logan was present on Devin's first excursion with The Village, Trio Expeditions. Myles is a frequent collaborator and a staple in premiere LA rhythm sections. Javier and Devin met while attending the Herbie Hancock Institute at UCLA. Right after graduating from the institute, Devin toured with Herbie Hancock and found himself to be the youngest player on legendary stages including the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Hall. Together, the quartet explores grooves, odd-time signatures, post-bop blues, and synthy ambient textures, all pushing each other's boundaries with a sense of freedom and urgency. "Particle" features a Miguel Atwood-Ferguson arrangement, performed by a string-quartet, adding a unique chamber influence. "Nightmare Kitten" contrasts to a Ta brooding melody with dissonant chords over a slow, deliberate groove. Other highlights include the electric energy of "Blink," the breezy pocket in "Contrivance," and extended meditations in "Mind 1" and "Mind 2." Here is the quintessential young Devin Daniels record, tight yet grand in scale, his unique talents on full display from start to finish
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LP
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VLG 004LP
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The Village presents the debut album by Neo Griot & The Afrocentric Prince. Neo Griot & The Afrocentric Prince is a project from duo of Griot A.K. Toney and Jali/Musician Jira, a collaboration of poetry, story, and music paying homage to the past and present. Through oral tradition music using Jazz and African instruments as accompaniment, Neo Griot and the Afrocentric Prince take you on a journey throughout the universe with poetry as the narrator. The debut album features a moving array of styles and inspirations. It also features some of the strongest up and coming young musicians of Los Angeles. Sharada Shashidhar, Devin Daniels, Mekala Session and Black Nile are prominently playing throughout the project. The Village is a record label based in Los Angeles dedicated to releasing live and studio recordings of west-coast spiritual jazz, primarily centered around the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and the legacy of Horace Tapscott. The team behind The Village includes musicians in the current iteration of PAPA, Mekala Session, and their close peers. The current lineup of the Ark consists of over 40 rotating musicians, many of whom have been in the ensemble since the '70s, alongside younger musicians in the early stages of their careers. As the Ark's official label, our goal is to distribute unreleased music into the world in a way that supports PAPA's continued efforts.
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2LP
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VLG 006LP
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In 1961, a giant awoke in South Central Los Angeles: a musically radical, deep-rooted, politically engaged band, its members drawn from the community it represented and served, and its music composed by them alone -- The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. The brainchild of pianist and composer Horace Tapscott, the Arkestra was intended to preserve Black music, nurture Black musicians, and above all contribute positively to community building in South Central LA. 60 Years celebrates six decades of his radical and uplifting musical and social vision. Digging deep into the Arkestra's archives, the album gathers breath-taking unreleased material, including previously unheard compositions, from every stage of the band's development -- from Tapscott's earliest iterations of the group, recording at home in 1961, to the current incarnation of the band, led by the new generation of young musicians. Tapscott passed on in 1999, but the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra was built to outlast him: over more than half a century it has stayed true to its roots and to Tapscott's vision, welcoming multiple generations of players into its fold, and celebrating their music. And with current leader Mekala Session -- son of the Arkestra's veteran altoist Michael Session -- at the helm, the Ark is still going strong. 60 Years selects a song from every decade of its life, show-casing a musical family tree that includes renowned musicians such as Arthur Blythe, Dwight Trible, Phil Ranelin, Butch Morris, Kamau Daáood, Sonjia Maia Harper, Nate Morgan, Linda Hill, Adele Sebastian, Michael Session, Jesse Sharps and of course the late, great Horace Tapscott himself. Remastered from archival sources by the Arkestra's longstanding engineer Wayne Peet, 60 Years is presented by The Village -- a label operated by members of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. With archival photographs documenting the Arkestra's history, the album arrives with liner notes featuring track-by-track commentary from Arkestra members past and present. For decades, Tapscott's musical brilliance and the majesty of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra was almost unknown outside South Central. 60 Years is the sound of all this history emerging at last, and also of history in the making. To quote Zekkeraya El-Megharbel, Arkestra conductor and trombonist: "There's more to be said, but words feel like they don't do the job."
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