Tribe - Rebirth

TRIBE - REBIRTH (Planet E)

Headed by Wendell Harrison on saxes and Phil Ranelin on trombone, Detroit’s Tribe Records originated as a collective of local jazz musicians, which became a byword for music diversity. Influential in Detroit’s music scene for over 30 years, Tribe also involved trumpeter Marcus Belgrave and the late Harold McKinney. Numerous others, such as bassist Ron Brooks, trumpeter Charles Moore, and drummer Doug Hammond often came together for sessions and concerts. They played with everyone from Charlie Parker and Sun Ra to Marvin Gaye and the Supremes, the latter perhaps being of little surprise given the collective’s origin. Perhaps due to (or as a result of?) this willingness to play with musicians of different stripes, Tribe’s sound ranges from soul, through to variations of jazz and stuff that occasionally tips off the scale.

Before carrying on with this review, some kind of disclosure is probably necessary. On visiting Detroit  a few years ago, I had the great fortune of meeting Marcus Belgrave and Wendell Harrison at Carl Craig’s studio. There, I first learnt about Tribe as part of an audience to an interview about their lives, work and collaboration with Craig. This album is the fruit of that collaboration, nurtured by Craig, and bringing together Belgrave, Harrison, Ranelin and Hammond, with a host of younger musicians including Amp Fiddler on keyboards, John Arnold on guitar, and Craig on keyboards and production.

So, what is the result? Well, yes, it is ‘jazz’, but it reaches out in so many directions that the result is sometimes quite dizzying. No one track resembles another and the mood ranges widely from cute piano lounge jazz through to hard jazz-funk workouts. Sometimes it gets quite weird and at other times it throws itself to a soothing bluesy melancholia. The overall result is, as mentioned, a little disorienting but perseverance brings reward, particularly if, like me, you are not totally familiar with the Tribe sound. Many of the tracks, while perhaps seeming a little one dimensional on first hearing, reveal complexity on further listening, and have a habit of growing on you like limpets. Throughout, the tracks shimmer with a kind of soulful sensuality.

‘07’’s ‘Livin’ In A New Day’ starts the album off with an almost languid, afro-jazz feel. Without being too full-on, it introduces all the musical elements of Tribe. ‘Glue Finger’ takes a decidedly different path with waves of warm synth and jazz-funk signatures. ‘Denekas Chant’, full of mooching basslines and cuban congas is followed by Phil Ranelin’s classic ‘Vibes From The Tribe’. Also laced with cool conga rhythms, the funky bass and rolling drums provide the perfect platform for Ranelin, Belgrave and Harrison to strut their stuff. Really quite magnificent. Again at this very slow, deliberate languid pace, in no particular hurry to go anywhere. All the meanwhile, other musicians are putting in little solo turns to mash the sound up and keep the track on its toes.

‘Son of Tribe’, clocking in at around nine minutes, pooters along at quite a mellow pace with low-down drum rolls, high hats, cool synth and funky bass. On top of all that you hear the horns, melting in and out of high hats and synth. It’s smoky, exactly the kind of thing you want to be listening to when kicking back at the end of a long night.  The melting harmonics of ‘Jazz On The Run’ carries on where ‘Son…’ leaves off.  Soon, ‘Ride’ slips in with rolling percussion to be joined by a jazz-funk bassline. Each time you feel that it is about to go crazy, it gives way to a clean jazz signature that takes you back to an old-school jazz sound. One of my favourite tracks is the Sun-ra esque ‘Lesli’. This, again, has this fantastically tight percussion, which when combined with the bass, horns and piano, gives rise to this great dark electric funk sound. It really flies particularly when short drum, bass and piano solo pieces are complemented by the staccato notes played by the horn players. Following the melancholic blues of ‘13^th and Senate’, the vocal ‘Where Am I’ retains a laid-back, languid feel that distinguishes much of the album. 

So many of the tracks on here are played by top-notch musicians that well and truly belong on the same wavelength even if the sound seem a bit disorientating at first to the uninitiated. But go get initiated! This is a truly rich record, and one that will stand the test of time. To appreciate this album properly you should be prepared to have your senses pulled in different directions. It speaks to different moods, and in different ways, and as such, really grows on you over time.

Charlie Palmer

Comments

[wibo]

excellent review!