For Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, collaborating with music icons and personal heroes is a dream come true. As Younge notes, “with Series 1, we established the sonic foundation of the Jazz Is Dead label. It’s that experimental jazz/funk that we would always search for while digging through records. With Series 2, we expanded upon this approach spending more time with our ideas and the nuances of our sound. But with Series 3, we hit a new level we never thought we could attain with the legends. The tears, the laughs and the disbelief at what we’ve accomplished is astounding. For some of these artists, these albums can be viewed as some of their best recordings to date proving that they still have a lot to say.”
At 88 years of age, the Ghanian highlife and afrobeat pioneer, Ebo Taylor, traveled to the US for the very first time to perform at the now iconic, Jazz Is Dead Concert Series, selling out venues across the country. It was during this time he recorded a psychedelic afrobeat album alongside Jazz Is Dead producers Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad. The swirling horns and gritty guitars are reminiscent of his seminal seventies recordings that made him one of Africa’s (and the worlds) most prolific and revolutionary artists.
In 1970s Brazil, the Black Rio Movement redefined what soul music meant for black pride in Rio de Janeiro (and Brazil). Afro-Brazilians came together and developed a funk and dance scene that challenged Brazil’s military dictatorship and the systemic racism that plagued their people. Dom Salvador, Hyldon and Carlos Dafé were all instrumental in establishing the voice of Black Rio. It was during our concert series with these maestros that we were able to identify the throughline connecting each of their individual stories to the seminal Black Rio Movement.
From Brazilian jazz to samba funk, Dom Salvador is the grand master of the Black Rio movement who later became the musical director for Harry Belafonte. Salvador is one of Brazil’s most recorded pianists and producers with over 1000 recordings to his credit. On his forthcoming release with Jazz Is Dead, producers Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad highlight Salvador’s unique fusion of jazz, funk and samba.
Hyldon is recognized worldwide as a torchbearer of Brazil’s psychedelic soul. In the 1970’s, Hyldon worked with Jazz Is Dead alumni Azymuth, to produce some of Brazil’s most coveted albums. On his forthcoming release with Jazz Is Dead, Adrian Younge partners with Hyldon to create a new album that echoes the sentiments of his 1975 classic “Na Rua, Na Chuva, Na Fazenda.” In addition, this new album is one of the last recordings of the late Ivan “Mamão” Conti, drummer of Azymuth.
With his sultry voice, Carlos Dafé is notoriously known as Brazil’s Prince of Soul. He is also a voice heard on Arthur Verocai’s holy grail self-titled, debut album. On his forthcoming Jazz Is Dead release, Dafé meets Adrian Younge’s world of psychedelic and orchestral soul: a perfect harmony reminiscent of the Brazilian greats Tim Maia and Cassiano.
Antonio Carlos e Jocafi made some of the sweetest samba-soul of the 1970s by way of Salvador, Bahia. The duo emerged out of Brazil’s competitive music festivals mixing funky grooves, acid-rock guitars and sophisticated harmonies. Nearly 50 years after their initial release, Jazz Is Dead brought the pair to perform in the US for their very first time. It was during this trip they recorded their forthcoming Jazz Is Dead album in collaboration with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Together they created a delightful, anthemic album mirroring their classic Bahian sound.
The dynamic voice of singer/composer Joyce combined with the syncopated rhythms of her husband, the legendary drummer Tutty Moreno, forged a new trajectory in Brazilian music. This sound also inspired the acid jazz movement of the 1990s when DJs like Gilles Peterson discovered classic hits such as “Feminina” and “Aldeia De Ogum”. Jazz Is Dead brought the couple to Los Angeles to perform a special concert and record a new album. With Adrian Younge’s beautiful string arrangements and Joyce and Tutty’s experimental samba-jazz, their synergy reverberates on the forthcoming Jazz Is Dead album.
