Descendants of Mike & Phoebe - Spirit Speaks LP
One of the most unique albums on the Strata East label - and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the creative energies flowing through that legendary jazz outlet! Descendents Of Mike & Phoebe is a righteous little project put together by Spike Lee's father, Bill Lee, and his brothers and sisters (Cliff Lee, Grace Lee Mims, and Consuela Lee Moorhead) - working here in a group named after their slave ancestors, who are paid tribute in a beautifully flowing batch of tunes! Lee's round, warm bass tones are firmly at the head of the group on most numbers - recorded at a similar level to his excellent work with Clifford Jordan on Strata East during the same time - and other instrumentation includes piano from Consuela, flugelhorn from Cliff, and percussion from Sonny Brown and Billy Higgins - all used in a wonderfully evocative style that's even better than some of Lee's later soundtrack work. A few numbers feature vocals from Grace - singing wordlessly and with a really heavenly sort of quality - and together, the whole group have an undeniable sense of power and majesty, yet also one that's touched by a really personal sense of poetry too. Titles include a great version of Lee's "Coltrane", which was more famously recorded with Clifford Jordan.
Label: Pure Pleasure
UPC: 5060149622643
Release Date: October 20, 2017
Track List
- Two Songs for a Boy Named Mark
- Little Bitty Baby
- Soliloquy to a Man-Child
- Coltrane
- Chick Chick
- Well Done Weldon
- A Spirit Speaks
- Attica
- Take My Hand Precious Lord
- Boll Weevil
- Don't Be a Stranger
- Too Little Too Late