BYARD LANCASTER – My Pure Joy – LP – Vinyl

LABEL: Strut

CAT NO: STRUT240LP

BARCODE: 4062548011067

Tracklisting:

A1. Drummers From Ibadan
A2. Philadephia Savage
A3. Sweet Evil
A4. Lancaster Brand Notes

B1. Jazz Lady
B2. Newest African Cities
B3. My Pure Joy
B4. Afro Space

BYARD LANCASTER My Pure Joy

LP Vinyl

From A Love Supreme to The Sex Machine! The personal musical mantra of the late Philadelphia reedman Byard Lancaster informed an open-minded and varied lifetime in jazz. Strut presents one of Lancasters lesser known classics, My Pure Joy, recorded in 1992 for Black Fire. Lancaster had initially cut his musical teeth with the avant-garde on New Yorks Lower East Side in the 1960s (famously on sessions with pianist Dave Burrell and drummer Sunny Murray) and in Paris during the 70s after an appearance at the Actuel festival but, throughout his career, his path was built around community engagement, positivity and the Philly jazz sound, Germantown style. He became an ambassador for the music of the City Of Brotherly Love, starting his own Dogtown label, helping launch the Philly Jazz imprint and campaigning tirelessly to improve the circumstances of the citys street musicians.

Lancasters sessions for Black Fire were planned following a gig at Caverns Jazz Club in Washington DC. Jimmy Gray of Black Fire and I originally met during the riotous blisters of the late Sixties there, explained Lancaster. We became the best of friends. Backed by a band of Philly musicians including percussionist Keno Speller and Baba Robert Crowder (drummer for Olatunji and Art Blakey), the album also featured the Drummers From Ibadan led by Tunde Kuboye, another influential figure dedicated to community jazz with whom Lancaster had bonded while teaching in Lagos. The result was a free-flowing set of spirituality and positivity, built around full band groove workouts, solo pieces and heavy African roots. We had big fun documenting this music, remembered Lancaster. The message of the album remains as relevant today as ever, I dedicate this album to all African Americans in the USA. To the youth, I ask What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Originally delayed by three years because of cashflow issues within Black Fire, My Pure Joy eventually surfaced as one of the labels final CD releases in 1995.