Group Vitals:
Formed in 1997,
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
Fertile
Ground comprise of:
James
'The Light' Collins (composer / pianist / trumpet / arranger)
Navasha
'The Spirit' Daya (lead vocals)
Ekendra
Das (percussion)
Craig
Alston (tenor saxophone / baritone)
Fred
Dunn (trumpet / flugelhorn)
Marcus
Asante (drums)
James Collins
formed Fertile Ground in Baltimore in the spring of 1997, based around Navasha
Daya's warm vocals and drummer Marcus Asante's drum grooves. Fertile Ground
created their local fame by performing in the local Baltimore area clubs.
The group has since grown into a sextet that includes African percussion and
a horn section. Fertile Ground are influenced by both Gil Scott-Heron, the
music of Marvin Gaye and the early work of Jon Lucien. 'Field
Songs', the debut album by the group, was a compilation of jazz and R &
B and was released on the groups own Blackout label (named after the groups
self owned Blackout Studio's).
Collins said
of the groups debut set:
'The basic
concept of the title 'Field Songs' is that we're still in the fields.We are
all slaves of some kind and color. We just work for different masters. My
people were taken from our homeland and sprinkled into fields around the world.
Well, I think it's time to go home. That's the purpose of our music, to bring
people together and take them home.'
24-7 Records
boss Brian Hurst discovered the group in the U.S. and released the groups
second outing, 'Spiritual War', in the U.K. during the year 2000.
By this time
the group had become a quartet consisting of Collins (piano, keyboards and
trumpet) who produced and wrote the majority of the album, Marcus Asante (drums),
Ekendra Das (percussion) and Navasha Daya (lead vocals).
Navasha Daya
is nicknamed 'The Spirit.'
Collins describes
the music he writes as 'do songs' rather than 'not songs' and says he finds
ways 'to deal with important social issues in a relaxed way, a fun way.'
'Seasons Change'
followed the groups 2001 release, 'Perception' in 2002 on the Counterpoint
label.
Article:
Following last
year's highly acclaimed 'perception' album, fertile ground are back with another
classic album that will heal your woes, uplift your spirit, and have you grooving
to their deeply funky hybrid of jazz-fuelled soul.
As with their
previous album, 'seasons change' comprises entirely of original music, played
mostly live with the kind of organic energy rarely heard these days. composer/keyboardist/bandleader,
james collins is less concerned with technical skills or stylistic conventions,
and more with creating a natural vibe and breaking down the musical boundaries
enforced by a cynical musical industry (the "culture bandist" as
they are referred to in one of the album tracks!).
It's rather difficult
to try and highlight particular tracks on an album as consitent and varied
as 'seasons change', but as this is a "press release" I will endeavour
to mention particular tracks for hose too lazy/too busy to listen to the whole
album.
You might recall
the Jazzy 2 Step single, 'Take Me Higher' (voted one of the top 50 tracks
of 2001 by listenners of gilles peterson's 'worldwide show'), or if you were
lucky enough to catch their owe-inspiring live set at london's 'jazz café'
last year, you would have heard the dirty-dozen New Orleans style brass funk
of 'one mo gin' and the catchy latin-soul leading-into the heated descarga
of 'dance'.
Lyrical and melodic
content are what makes Fertile Ground's music so universal. Songs like 'The
Moment' and 'More 2 Life' owe much of the spirit of Stevie Wonder and Leon
Ware, respectively, yet the end results are firmly rooted in their spiritual
approach to soul/jazz that is connecting with a fast-growing following around
the world.
Fertile Ground
always bring joy and passion to their gumbo of soul, jazz, and afro-caribbean
roots. and with the georgeous voice of Navasha Daya (a cosmic queen of soul)
delivering their message of peace, love and unity, all doubt and cynicism
are firmly squashed against the wall. --
Courtesy of counterpointrecords.co.uk
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