About
It is only natural that Jeremy Pelt's voracious curiosity would lead him to investigate the West African Griot tradition where stories, reminiscences and accomplishments from times past are handed down as oral histories. Researchers such as Art Taylor, William Russell and Alan Lomax have preserved interviews with older jazzmen but for his Griot odyssey, Pelt turns to his own peer group to record their thoughts on creating jazz, playing jazz and experiencing the life of a jazz musician of color in our own time. Each brief interview is followed by a composition by Pelt which perfectly captures the sentiments and emotions of it's spoken-word prelude. To help him bring his vision to life, Pelt has assembled a hand-picked group of colleagues, featuring vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu, pianist Victor Gould, bassist Vicente Archer, harpist Brandee Younger and others. The tunes themselves run the gamut from the remarkable mixing of the sacred and the secular in "Carry Christ Wherever You Are," to the Monk-like gallumphing opening unison in "Don't Dog the Source," and the urgent, "Underdog." As Pelt himself says, "I want people to understand that this is for everybody," that the project was undertaken to perhaps help them "understand that whatever they might be going through, their perspectives might run parallel to those of people who are generations apart from them. Maybe, to a certain extent, these younger people will find themselves in these stories."
Tracklist 16 tracks
-
1 Griot - Intro 02:59
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Griot - Intro
- Duration
- 02:59
- Composer
- Jeremy Pelt
- Performer
- Jeremy Pelt, Vicente Archer, Victor Gould, Ismel Wignall, Allan Mednard, Chien Chien Lu
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2 Words by Paul West 00:59
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Words by Paul West
- Duration
- 00:59
- Composer
- na Not Applicable
- Performer
- Paul E. West
-
3 Carry Christ Wherever You Are 06:55
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Carry Christ Wherever You Are
- Duration
- 06:55
- Composer
- Jeremy Pelt
- Performer
- Jeremy Pelt, Chien Chien Lu, Vicente Archer, Victor Gould, Ismel Wignall, Allan Mednard
-
4 Words by Larry Willis 00:51
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Words by Larry Willis
- Duration
- 00:51
- Composer
- na Not Applicable
- Performer
- Larry Willis
-
5 Underdog 04:35
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Underdog
- Duration
- 04:35
- Composer
- Jeremy Pelt
- Performer
- Jeremy Pelt, Chien Chien Lu, Vicente Archer, Victor Gould, Allan Mednard
-
6 Words by JD Allen 01:02
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Words by JD Allen
- Duration
- 01:02
- Composer
- na Not Applicable
- Performer
- J.D. Allen
-
7 Don't Dog the Source 06:54
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Don't Dog the Source
- Duration
- 06:54
- Composer
- Jeremy Pelt
- Performer
- Jeremy Pelt, Chien Chien Lu, Vicente Archer, Allan Mednard
-
8 Words by Bertha Hope 00:58
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Words by Bertha Hope
- Duration
- 00:58
- Composer
- na Not Applicable
- Performer
- Bertha Hope
-
9 A Seat at the Table 03:00
- Track
- 9
- Title
- A Seat at the Table
- Duration
- 03:00
- Composer
- Jeremy Pelt
- Performer
- Bertha Hope, Jeremy Pelt, Chien Chien Lu, Vicente Archer, Victor Gould, Ismel Wignall, Allan Mednard
-
10 Words by Harold Mabern 00:38
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Words by Harold Mabern
- Duration
- 00:38
- Composer
- na Not Applicable
- Performer
- Harold Mabern
-
11 Solidarity 05:41
- Track
- 11
- Title
- Solidarity
- Duration
- 05:41
- Composer
- Jeremy Pelt
- Performer
- Jeremy Pelt, Chien Chien Lu, Vicente Archer, Victor Gould, Ismel Wignall, Allan Mednard
-
12 Words by René Marie 01:25
- Track
- 12
- Title
- Words by René Marie
- Duration
- 01:25
- Composer
- na Not Applicable
- Performer
- Rene Marie
-
13 A Beautiful (F*cking) Lie 04:57
- Track
- 13
- Title
- A Beautiful (F*cking) Lie
- Duration
- 04:57
- Composer
- Jeremy Pelt
- Performer
- Jeremy Pelt, Chien Chien Lu, Brandee Younger, Vicente Archer, Victor Gould, Allan Mednard
-
14 In Spite of … 01:17
- Track
- 14
- Title
- In Spite of …
- Duration
- 01:17
- Composer
- Jeremy Pelt
- Performer
- Warren Smith, Jeremy Pelt, Vicente Archer, Victor Gould
-
15 Words by Ambrose Akinmusire 01:09
- Track
- 15
- Title
- Words by Ambrose Akinmusire
- Duration
- 01:09
- Composer
- na Not Applicable
- Performer
- Ambrose Akinmusire
-
16 Relevance 04:44
- Track
- 16
- Title
- Relevance
- Duration
- 04:44
- Composer
- Jeremy Pelt
- Performer
- Jeremy Pelt, Chien Chien Lu, Vicente Archer, Victor Gould, Allan Mednard