Jazz icon Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic, and Damu the Fudgemunk shared their new song “Learning to Breathe” to announce their collaborative album Ocean Bridges, will be out May 22nd via Redefinition Records.
The collaborative project between these three artists was born when Jason Moore aka Raw Poetic attended an event at the Kennedy Center in honor of his uncle, the legendary jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp.
Moore explained, “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.”
The album fuses the improvisational jazz stylings of Shepp with hip-hop and more.
The album was recorded with a live ensemble consisting of Archie Shepp on tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, wurlitzer, Raw Poetic on vocals, raps, lyrics, Earl “Damu the Fudgemunk” Davis on drums, vibraphone, vocals, turntable scratching, Pat Fritz on guitar, Aaron Gause on wurlitzer, synthesizer, Luke Stewart on acoustic bass, electric bass, Jamal Moore on tenor sax, clarinet, bongos, percussion, and Bashi Rose on drums, percussion.
It was recorded in August of 2019 between Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia.
Ocean Bridges Track List:
1. Valuable Lesson
2. Learning to Breathe
3. Professor Shepp’s Agenda Part 1
4. Tulips
5. Professor Shepp’s Agenda Part 2
6. Aperture
7. Professor Shepp’s Agenda Part 3
8. Moving Maps
9. Professor Shepp’s Agenda Part 4
10. Sugar Coat It
11. Professor Shepp’s Agenda Part 5
12. Two Hour Parking
13. Professor Shepp’s Agenda Part 6
14. Searching Souls
15. Professor Shepp’s Agenda Part 7
By Antonio Villaseñor-Baca