A Spirit Speaks
One of the most unique albums on the Strata East label – and that’s saying a heck of a lot, given the creative energies flowing through that legendary jazz outlet! Descendents Of Mike & Phoebe is a righteous little project put together by Spike Lee’s father, Bill Lee, and his brothers and sisters (Cliff Lee, Grace Lee Mims, and Consuela Lee Moorhead)
Artist: The Descendents of Mike and Phoebe
Genre: Jazz
Label: Strata East
Release date:
Working here in a group named after their slave ancestors, who are paid tribute in a beautifully flowing batch of tunes! Lee’s round, warm bass tones are firmly at the head of the group on most numbers – recorded at a similar level to his excellent work with Clifford Jordan on Strata East during the same time – and other instrumentation includes piano from Consuela, flugelhorn from Cliff, and percussion from Sonny Brown and Billy Higgins – all used in a wonderfully evocative style that’s even better than some of Lee’s later soundtrack work. A few numbers feature vocals from Grace – singing wordlessly and with a really heavenly sort of quality – and together, the whole group have an undeniable sense of power and majesty, yet also one that’s touched by a really personal sense of poetry too. Titles include a great version of Lee’s “Coltrane”, which was more famously recorded with Clifford Jordan.
About the artist
While they have a far lower profile than the Joneses of Detroit, namely Thad, Hank and Elvin, the titular family here [which appears to be the Lee family, given the discographical names below – the editor] is more remarkable given that a quartet of siblings turned out to be musically inclined. As far as I can tell this 1973 album is the only one they ever made. It was recorded at a time when black American consciousness was (to put it simplistically) more focused than it seems these days. The title, and the preoccupation with ancestry the group name implies, were and are key elements in that consciousness, but I found the music lacking in focus, as if in bringing together different strands the intensity of each strand got somehow diluted.This is due in no small part to the singing of A. Grace Lee Mims, whose studied approach resounds in a manner antithetical to the making of music in the moment. Thomas A. Dorsey’s Take My Hand, Precious Lord has far more to do with the gospel tradition than any notion of jazz anyway. The sincerity is beyond doubt, but the fact that it’s followed up with a brief piano, bass and drums reading of the traditional Boll Weevil, complete with more fire, emphasises my point about the lack of focus.Bass player Bill Lee’s Too Little, Too Late is somewhat ever-egged by the presence of Mims – and of the composer as second vocalist. Flugelhorn player Clif Lee also has a moment in the spotlight over the course of four minutes and 10 seconds, producing a rich yet somehow unsatisfying broth; a simpler, less crowded approach would have been better.
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This Vinyl product is a:
- Limited Edition
- Anniversary Edition