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Forty songs, stylistically based in jazz, blues and gospel, beginning in the 50s and reaching into modern times, interpreted by well-known greats or musicians who are almost forgotten today. How does that go together? The common thread is found in a 48-page booklet, in which the story of those who were once deported from their homeland to North America as slaves can be experienced through their musical roots, their ramifications and diverse symbioses. In a pleasantly unacademic way, one learns, for example, that jugs, spoons or washboards owe their premiere as rhythm instruments to overturning a ban on African drums on the plantations.
Professionally produced tracks follow sizzling field recordings
The order of the selected songs is subject to neither chronological nor thematic constraints, which frees “Birthright” from the dusty aura of a cultural-historical lecture and makes the compilation an easy-to-listen affair. Professionally produced tracks follow sizzling field recordings, Creole music tradition meets Caribbean, brass band sounds meet blues standards. The group of performers is correspondingly illustrious. From the Staple Singers and Jesse Fuller to Ranky Tanky and Sweet Honey In The Rock, there’s plenty of staff that fits under the loosely construed term “Black Roots Music.”
The wonderful Carolina Chocolate Drops contribute a previously unreleased track, while Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ sit back and reanimate Sleepy John Estes’ “Diving Duck Blues”. When listening and browsing, the question arises more than once, where rock’n’roll or hip-hop would be today without all these long-ignored and often deprived of the rewards of their creativity bridge-builders. The greatest merit of this fine compilation is that the answer comes in a decidedly matter-of-fact manner and without any triumphant noise.
Author: Ronald Born
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