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Insights
by BlackNotes
Review by Kenneth Carroll
(music critic; acclaimed poet; Executive Director, DC WritersCorps; teacher, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Wash., DC)
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In a recent class I taught on the poetry of the Black Arts Movement, a student challenged the position that the movement ended in the mid to late ‘70s. Her position was, given the tenets of Black Arts poetry, that in fact the movement was alive and well in a myriad of contemporary artists.
After checking out the recent release of the BlackNotes CD Insights, I stand in support of her position. On Insights, their second CD, anchored by DC-based poet and musician Lasana K. Mack and vocalist Maimuna, BlackNotes recalls the heydays of Black Arts poets like Nikki Giovanni, The Last Poets and Amiri Baraka, who successfully melded African and African-American music with poetry, creating a defiant soundtrack for the Black liberation struggle. From its opening number Scientific Art to its last, Nommo-Ngoma (Word-Drum), Insights is a percussive and melodic celebration of Black Arts philosophy, Black music and Black people.
An important tenet of the Black Arts Movement is a move away from protest poetry to poetry that speaks not to a largely indifferent White America, but speaks directly to African people and their upliftment. On the song Scientific Art , poet Lasana Mack warns against Black people buying into the dichotomous logic of the West: "All high quality art contains elements of science/and the practical use of science is a fine art/in compliance with the ancient principal of reciprocity..." Another tenet of the Black Arts poets was to utilize the Black aesthetics to reach Black folks. BlackNotes utilizes what they call Spoken Word African Rhythms Melodies, or SWARM music, to undergird their poetry and vocals. While form may not be completely unique, BlackNotes makes use of it with much better success than recent similar efforts by Black poets.
Insights is in the finest tradition of enlightenment and entertainment with songs that are sing-able, danceable, and memorable. BlackNotes finds its true musical voice in songs like Historical Currents/Fela Flavor, a homage to the West African activist and musician Fela Kuti. Here BlackNotes’ use of their signature SWARM is realized in a smoothed out, in-the-pocket groove that recalls Fela and African-American musician Roy Ayers. Bluesy saxophone solos, courtesy of Antonio Parker and Udoh Opiotennione, are weaved naturally around the drumming of Kweku and Kofi Akoto, Lasana Mack and Yerodin Sanders, creating a tune funky enough to keep the party going all night.
Insights finds its strength on tunes like GrandDad Questions, a poignant, familial elegy to patriarch Dr. Julius L. Mack that finds Lasana enlisting his family on vocals to help honor his father. The tune Nommo-Ngoma acts as BlackNotes’ musical thesis, "Word Sound Power." Driven by a rugged bassline with crystalline vocal harmonies and Lasana’s didactic poetry, the song is testament to what hip-hop artist KRS1 called "edutainment."
BlackNotes reaches its zenith on Osun Song/BlackNotes Libation, an acknowledgement of African ancestors and their beliefs that finds vocalists Maimuna and Tilishia using their stellar voices and range to compliment Lasana Mack’s poetry. The percussion, melody and meaning of the song coalesce to create one of the truly mesmerizing musical moments in recent spoken word memory.
What distinguishes Insightsfrom the recent plethora of spoken word musical releases is that poet and executive producer Lasana Mack maintains a heady balance and respect for all the elements that make up BlackNotes. Perhaps it is due to his playing several instruments on the CD himself, but one never comes away from Insights thinking that the singers and musicians are simply adornment for the poet or that the poet is a gimmick to hype the music. With strong production values usually not seen on self-produced CDs, BlackNotes and its SWARM style emerges as important new voices in the continuum of the Black Arts Movement. It joins important DC-based spoken word musical collaborations such as Mamadi Nyasuma’s 2000 Black and the works of Haki Madhubuti with Nation. Insights is a must have for lovers of the word, lovers of African music, and lovers of Black people.
CD Review
"With Miracle in Progress by BlackNotes, we are given an exotic
production whose percussion musicianship possesses a soul-swaying
intensity. Through the title cut, your heart is uplifted and
your spirit is transported to a time of ceremonial gatherings for
the celebration of life. In songs like Identity and Babylon Blues,
you are Afro-rocked through works of truth in words, rhythms and
feelings. This CD ceaselessly fascinates. As evidenced
by the jammin' Down Low, BlackNotes creates its own artistic terms
and the result is refreshing. While Malcolm Preached, 'Trane Played
is a piece that either takes you away or delivers you home to a
deeper place within, leading you to contemplate your real purpose
for being. On this CD we have found in BlackNotes (the song
and the group) the answer for those lamenting the paucity of good,
positive music. This unique ensemble delivers powerful African rhythms
played to straight-up poetry and lyrics, bringing musical messages
that inspire and stir us positively at our core. Here you have a
constellation of the brightest stars putting on a real show."
Deenie Hailes
Jazz Events Coordinator for Palumbo & Cerrell, Inc.
Performance Review
"Watching and hearing BlackNotes was like watching an intergenerational
fusion of artists combining r&b and hip-hop and go-go with self-love
message poetry. With West African pulsating drum rhythms as the
foundation, BlackNotes renders melodic vocals that remind you of
peace, balance and harmony, along with Pan-African liberation messages
that motivate the audience to strive for freedom. BlackNotes offers
a superb performance that is timely not only due to their messages
that take us back HOME to our roots, but also because they bring
us CURRENT with the reminder to keep the movement moving through
music and artistic expression."
Ayo Handy Kendi
founder/director, African American Holiday Association
founder, Black Love Day, Unity in Diversity Day, Ancestor Honor
Day
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