The Descendants Of Mike & Phoebe – A Spirit Speaks (Pure Pleasure) LP

Product Description

A Spiritual Deep Jazz masterpiece on Strata East ’73 and regarded as the most unique of albums. An absolutely essential and hugely sought after title commanding large sums of money. This recording comes from original tapes, expertly mastered by Ray Staff and pressed on the best Pallas 180 gm Vinyl.

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) – 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.
By Drago Museveni

Personnel: Consuela Lee Moorehead, piano / Bill Lee, string bass / Grace Lee Mims, soprano / Clif Lee, fluglehorn / Sonny Brown, percussion / Billy Higgins, percussion

Produced by Lee-Fam Enterprises
Engineered by Ron Carran
Recorded at Minot Studios, White Plains, New York, December 19, 20 and 21 1973

FORMAT: 180 gram LP x 1 standard sleeve

Tracklist:

Side 1:
1. Two Songs for A Boy Named Mark
a. Little Bitty Baby
b. Soliloquy To A Man-Child
2. Coltrane
3. Chick Chick
4. Well Done Weldon
5. A Spirit Speaks

Side 2:
1. Attica
2. Take My Hand Precious Lord
3. Boll Weevil
4. Don’t Be A Stranger
5. Too Little, Too Late

Pure Pleasure SES-19744