Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic, and Damu The Fudgemunk are pleased to announce their new album Ocean Bridges, out May 22nd on Redefinition Records. Entirely improvised, Ocean Bridges was intentionally created without any direction, resulting in a finished product with natural energy, a conversation of ideas that transcend genre. It blends live improvised music, jazz, hip-hop, and many other musical directions into a one-of-a-kind sound.
Check out some videos and detailed info below... also be sure to follow Damu & the crew on Instagram for some behind the scenes vids and to let him know what you think of the new music!
LISTEN NOW!
SINGLE #1: "LEARNING TO BREATHE"
SINGLE #2: "TULIPS" (Write up taken from ifitstooloud.com)
The collaborative album from Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic, and Damu the Fudgemunk is slowly shaping up to be the hip hop album of the year, or at the very least the hip hop/jazz hybrid album of the year. The second single, "Tulips," is another improvised song from the uncle/nephew team (Archie Shepp is Raw Poetic's uncle). The combination of live hip hop/jazz beats, Raw Poetic's vocals, and Shepp's saxophone is purely intoxicating. Much like the title suggests, "Tulips" is an undeniably positive, nearly sunny song. It's a free level of experimentation missing in today's overly produced hip hop world.
Raw Poetic explains the song: "I let the spring vibe name the song, and the flower that bloomed was a tulip. Sometimes you gotta let the music spell it out.”
TULIPS MUSIC VIDEO COMING SOON!
About the album, OCEAN BRIDGES...
Ocean Bridges (out May 22, 2020 on Redefinition Records)
All songs written & performed by:
Archie Shepp: Tenor and Soprano Sax, Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Raw Poetic (Jason Moore): Vocals/Raps/Lyrics
Earl "Damu the Fudgemunk" Davis: Drums, Vibraphone, Backing Vocals, Turntable Scratching, Mixing/Production
Pat Fritz: Guitar
Aaron Gause: Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Synthesizer
Luke Stewart: Acoustic and Electric bass
Jamal Moore: Tenor sax, Percussion
Bashi Rose: Drums, Percussion
Ocean Bridges was initially conceived after Jason Moore (aka independent, underground rapper Raw Poetic) attended an event with his mother at the Kennedy Center honoring his uncle, legendary saxophonist, Archie Shepp. Moore had sent over a dozen projects to Shepp over the last two decades, but after hearing some of Moore’s recent projects with producer/DJ, Damu The Fudgemunk, Mr. Shepp felt his nephew was, in a sense, “ready”. The album’s title, Ocean Bridges, intends to signify a bridging-of-the-gap in their family’s story and a re-establishing of the connection between young and old in their general community.
Recorded with a live ensemble - Archie Shepp (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, wurlitzer), Raw Poetic (vocals, raps, lyrics), Earl "Damu the Fudgemunk" Davis (drums, vibraphone, vocals, turntable scratching), Pat Fritz (guitar), Aaron Gause (wurlitzer, synthesizer), Luke Stewart (acoustic bass, electric bass), Jamal Moore (tenor sax, percussion), and Bashi Rose (drums, percussion) - in August 2019 between Washington, DC and Northern Virginia, Ocean Bridges fuses different musical concepts to adapt in a hip-hop format - all of the instrumentation is accompanied by vocals. The sound is unforced, impossible to duplicate, relying on a one-take method. It is very much an organic collaboration where contributors of different and overlapping musical sensibilities have joined together in one space.
Ocean Bridges marks the first time Shepp and his nephew, Jason Moore (aka Raw Poetic), a successful rapper, educator, and children’s author in his own right, have put music to record for widespread release. In Moore’s own words: “I began writing down the parts in my head that could tell a story, a black American story that would expand across the ages, a story from my grandfather to my uncle, from my mother to me. We bridged the gaps of time, culture and struggle and made an album I always dreamt of. Ocean Bridges.”
