Craft Recordings is set to release a new collection of Black roots music, Birthright: A Black Roots Music Compendium, featuring an assortment of artists.
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The new 40-song collection will present a deeper look at American Black roots music from little-known banjo players and Gullah singers to New Orleans jazz icons and contemporary blues acts, and everything in between.
The new collection, which includes essays from musicians/scholars Corey Harris and Dom Flemons, is due out on February 17 in 2-CD and digital formats. Fans can pre-order the new work HERE.
“The acknowledgment that any American music could be considered to have ‘Black roots’ was not only unheard of, it was treated with disregard and in many instances, was banned from being performed and disseminated to the general public altogether,” Flemons notes.
Produced by author, professor, and Grammy-nominated music historian Dr. Ted Olson, along with Grammy-winning producer, musician, and author Scott Billington, Birthright offers an introduction to the rich and often nuanced world of Black roots music, states the press release. Spanning generations and genres, the 40 songs in this brand-new collection showcase a broad range of styles: from gospel and blues to Louisiana Creole, jazz, Gullah music, and more, while the artists range from little-known musicians to enduring icons like John Lee Hooker, Odetta, The Staple Singers, and Lightnin’ Hopkins.
“There has been wave after wave of Black roots artists who have built a new bridge to the past,” adds Flemons. “No matter the era, the musical innovations of the African and Caribbean Diaspora are still prevalent in the hands, feet, instruments, and voices of each of these artisans no matter how refined or down-home they may sound.”
Check out the tracklist for the historical collection below.
Tracklist (2-CD):
CD 1
1. Preservation Hall Jazz Band – Bourbon Street Parade
2. Corey Harris and Shardé Thomas – Station Blues
3. Mississippi Fred McDowell – 61 Highway
4. Carolina Chocolate Drops, featuring Joe Thompson – Georgie Buck*
5. Ranky Tanky – Ranky Tanky
6. Etta Baker – One Dime Blues
7. Bois Sec Ardoin and Canray Fontenot – Eunice Two Step
8. Lightnin’ Hopkins – Automobile Blues
9. Bennie Richardson – Grizzly Bear
10. The Staple Singers – Motherless Children
11. Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry – Blues Before Sunrise
12. Dink Roberts – Fox Chase
13. Martin, Bogan, and Armstrong – Sweet Georgia Brown
14. Golden Eagles – Little Liza Jane
15. Clifton Chenier and His Band – Ay-Tete Fee
16. Skip James – Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
17. George Lewis New Orleans Jazz Band – Weary Blues
18. Bessie Jones – Yonder Come Day
19. Joseph Spence – We Will Understand It Better By And By
20. Dirty Dozen Brass Band – Best Of All
CD 2
1. Cedric Burnside – Step In
2. Amythyst Kiah – Pretty Polly
3. Lonnie Johnson and Elmer Snowden – St. Louis Blues
4. Leyla McCalla – Money Is King
5. Dom Flemons – Polly Put The Kettle On
6. Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ – Diving Duck Blues
7. Boozoo Chavis – Crying Blues
8. Campbell Brothers – Morning Train
9. John Lee Hooker – When I Lay My Burden Down
10. Lesley Riddle – Titanic
11. Professor Longhair – Go To The Mardi Gras
12. Mississippi John Hurt – Candy Man
13. Jesse Fuller – San Francisco Bay Blues
14. Odetta – Special Delivery Blues
15. John Jackson – Step It Up And Go
16. Tuts Washington – Arkansas Blues
17. Rev. Gary Davis – Lo, I Will Be With You Always
18. Inmate named Peter – Ups On The Farm
19. Cephas & Wiggins – John Henry
20. Sweet Honey in the Rock – Study War No More
* previously unreleased
Tracklist (digital):
1. Preservation Hall Jazz Band – Bourbon Street Parade
2. Corey Harris and Shardé Thomas – Station Blues
3. Mississippi Fred McDowell – 61 Highway
4. Carolina Chocolate Drops, featuring Joe Thompson – Georgie Buck*
5. Ranky Tanky – Ranky Tanky
6. Etta Baker – One Dime Blues
7. Bois Sec Ardoin and Canray Fontenot – Eunice Two Step
8. Lightnin’ Hopkins – Automobile Blues
9. Bennie Richardson – Grizzly Bear
10. The Staple Singers – Motherless Children
11. Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry – Blues Before Sunrise
12. Dink Roberts – Fox Chase
13. Martin, Bogan, and Armstrong – Sweet Georgia Brown
14. Golden Eagles – Little Liza Jane
15. Clifton Chenier and His Band – Ay-Tete Fee
16. Skip James – Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
17. George Lewis New Orleans Jazz Band – Weary Blues
18. Bessie Jones – Yonder Come Day
19. Joseph Spence – We Will Understand It Better By And By
20. Dirty Dozen Brass Band – Best Of All
21. Cedric Burnside – Step In
22. Amythyst Kiah – Pretty Polly
23. Lonnie Johnson and Elmer Snowden – St. Louis Blues
24. Leyla McCalla – Money Is King
25. Dom Flemons – Polly Put The Kettle On
26. Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ – Diving Duck Blues
27. Boozoo Chavis – Crying Blues
28. Campbell Brothers – Morning Train
29. John Lee Hooker – When I Lay My Burden Down
30. Lesley Riddle – Titanic
31. Professor Longhair – Go To The Mardi Gras
32. Mississippi John Hurt – Candy Man
33. Jesse Fuller – San Francisco Bay Blues
34. Odetta – Special Delivery Blues
35. John Jackson – Step It Up And Go
36. Tuts Washington – Arkansas Blues
37. Rev. Gary Davis – Lo, I Will Be With You Always
38. Inmate named Peter – Ups On The Farm
39. Cephas & Wiggins – John Henry
40. Sweet Honey in the Rock – Study War No More
* previously unreleased
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage
