Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 28, 2023 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Afro-jazz | |||
Length | 56:21 | |||
Label | Ropeadope | |||
Producer | Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah | |||
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah chronology | ||||
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“I’m born into a West African stylized chiefdom system that obviously has a relationship to the First Nations persons of this country. And being born into that particular cultural space in New Orleans, it kind of tethers you to the roots of a lot of these expressions, you know, the musical expressions that we’re still contributing and building today.”
— Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah on the influences for Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning [1]
Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning is a 2023 album by American jazz musician Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah released by Ropeadope Records.
This album is the first by Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah to not feature his signature instrument of trumpet. Instead, he crafted his own bowed string instrument and n'goni. [2] The album explores his personal influences of both the music of his native New Orleans as well as West African music. [1]
Editors at Bandcamp chose this as Album of the Day, with critic John Morrison writing that it "gives us a glimpse of what a free, forward-looking Black musical form can be" and characterizing it as a "powerful melding of West African and Black American sensibilities"; [3] the site also shortlisted it as one of the best jazz releases of July 2023. [4] Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan included this as one of the notable releases of the week, writing that the album's mixture of "it's heavy on chanted vocals, polyrhythmic percussion, and the same interest in sound manipulation that he had in his jazz era" as well as "elements of popular American-centric music, from fuzzed-out rock guitars to electronic-seeming drums" works as the artist "has a way of making it sound compelling even to listeners who would otherwise be unfamiliar with the types of things he's referencing". [5] Writing for Glide Magazine, Jim Hynes summed up his review "even the most ardent Chief Adjuah fans may not quite be ready for this non-jazz offering, but it proves increasingly infectious with repeated listens and marks yet another step forward for one of the most innovative artists of our time". [6] In The New York Times, Giovanni Russonello called this release "a paean" to the legacy of Black Indian music, "and an announcement of how he plans to carry the torch forward". [2] At Stereogum, editors chose to focus on this release for their monthly jazz review, connecting the work to other African-influenced jazz from America and critic Phil Freeman wrote that "it’s possible to draw a line from Rewind That to Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning and understand it all as part of one long narrative of reclamation, of declaration, of mourning and celebration and braggadocio and resistance, that is both uniquely New Orleans and deeply universal and human". [1] In The Wall Street Journal, Larry Blumenfeld called the compositions "hypnotic" and praised the invented instruments. [7]
Giovanni Russonello named this the best jazz album of 2023 in The New York Times. [8] At Bandcamp, this album was chosen as one of the essential releases in their best albums of 2023 list. [9] Phil Freeman of Stereogum asked jazz musicians to list their best jazz albums of the year and Lafayette Gilchrist included this album. [10]
All songs written by Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah.
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 28, 2023 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | Afro-jazz | |||
Length | 56:21 | |||
Label | Ropeadope | |||
Producer | Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah | |||
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah chronology | ||||
|
“I’m born into a West African stylized chiefdom system that obviously has a relationship to the First Nations persons of this country. And being born into that particular cultural space in New Orleans, it kind of tethers you to the roots of a lot of these expressions, you know, the musical expressions that we’re still contributing and building today.”
— Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah on the influences for Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning [1]
Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning is a 2023 album by American jazz musician Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah released by Ropeadope Records.
This album is the first by Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah to not feature his signature instrument of trumpet. Instead, he crafted his own bowed string instrument and n'goni. [2] The album explores his personal influences of both the music of his native New Orleans as well as West African music. [1]
Editors at Bandcamp chose this as Album of the Day, with critic John Morrison writing that it "gives us a glimpse of what a free, forward-looking Black musical form can be" and characterizing it as a "powerful melding of West African and Black American sensibilities"; [3] the site also shortlisted it as one of the best jazz releases of July 2023. [4] Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan included this as one of the notable releases of the week, writing that the album's mixture of "it's heavy on chanted vocals, polyrhythmic percussion, and the same interest in sound manipulation that he had in his jazz era" as well as "elements of popular American-centric music, from fuzzed-out rock guitars to electronic-seeming drums" works as the artist "has a way of making it sound compelling even to listeners who would otherwise be unfamiliar with the types of things he's referencing". [5] Writing for Glide Magazine, Jim Hynes summed up his review "even the most ardent Chief Adjuah fans may not quite be ready for this non-jazz offering, but it proves increasingly infectious with repeated listens and marks yet another step forward for one of the most innovative artists of our time". [6] In The New York Times, Giovanni Russonello called this release "a paean" to the legacy of Black Indian music, "and an announcement of how he plans to carry the torch forward". [2] At Stereogum, editors chose to focus on this release for their monthly jazz review, connecting the work to other African-influenced jazz from America and critic Phil Freeman wrote that "it’s possible to draw a line from Rewind That to Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning and understand it all as part of one long narrative of reclamation, of declaration, of mourning and celebration and braggadocio and resistance, that is both uniquely New Orleans and deeply universal and human". [1] In The Wall Street Journal, Larry Blumenfeld called the compositions "hypnotic" and praised the invented instruments. [7]
Giovanni Russonello named this the best jazz album of 2023 in The New York Times. [8] At Bandcamp, this album was chosen as one of the essential releases in their best albums of 2023 list. [9] Phil Freeman of Stereogum asked jazz musicians to list their best jazz albums of the year and Lafayette Gilchrist included this album. [10]
All songs written by Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah.
Additional musicians
Technical personnel