With The Spirit Of Life, by Fra Fra Big Band

With The Spirit Of Life

by Fra Fra Big Band

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
12" Vinyl of Fra Fra Big Band - PRA LP 1309

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1.	Kon' Dansi Maria 03:37	info	buy track
2.	Sukri Finga 04:24	info	buy track
3.	Ga Masashave 07:38	info	buy track
4.	Rockin' In Rhythm 04:09	info	buy track
5.	Naki Anu 08:24	info	buy track
6.	Anansi The Survivor 06:04	info	buy track
7.	On The Beach 06:21	info	buy track
8.	La Plus Belle Africaine 08:47	info	buy track

about

Hailing from Amsterdam, Fra Fra Big Band brings us the sound of a European cultural capital whose unique diasporic energies are welling up from deep springs, claiming their rightful place in the world of Great Black Music (to invoke a concept advanced by the famed Art Ensemble of Chicago). Theirs is a sound that straddles Europe, West Africa, South and North America, and the Caribbean, but its heart remains in Suriname, the former Dutch colony that boasts one of the most vibrant African cultural traditions in the Americas. Fra Fra Big Band emulates the instrumental palette of the classic American jazz orchestras to which it pays homage (with full brass and wind sections added to the smaller combo known as Fra Fra Sound). The big band submits the almost sacred large jazz band format to the most diverse stylistic turns. On this album, two Duke Ellington classics are given new life - Rockin’ in Rhythm (composed more than eight decades ago), here propelled by a brisk Caribbean soca beat; and the majestic paean to diasporic consciousness, La Plus Belle Africaine, reborn over a graceful reggae-tinged bottom. Beloved traditional kaseko melodies from Suriname (Kon’Dansi Maria and Sukru Finga) are innovately revamped, in new harmonic clothing. Other tracks range from an extended reggae workout à la big band (On the Beach) to a rousing afropop-like excursion (Ga Masashave). It all works beautifully, whether captured live or in the studio (the tracks on this album being equally divided between the two).
All one might ask for from a traditional big band is here - finely crafted arrangements, skillful solos played with feeling, profound ideas, swing and groove - and so much more. Perhaps most importantly, like the best of those who can claim a place under the umbrella of Great Black Music, Fra Fra Big Band do so with the spirit of life.

Ken Billy, Denver Colorado, May 2013

credits

released September 1, 2013

Personnel:
Efraim Trujillo - lead alto, soprano saxophone
Sanne Landvreugd - alto saxophone
Franklin Caesar - tenor saxophone
Mete Erker - tenor saxophone
Rutger van Otterloo - baritone, soprano saxophone

David Rothchild - trombone
T.S. Galloway - trombone
André Pet - bass trombone, track 5, 6, 7, 8
Arthur More - bass trombone, track 1, 2, 3, 4

Joe Rivera - lead trumpet, track 5, 6, 7, 8
Michael Simon - trumpet, conductor
Michael Varekamp - trumpet, flügelhorn
Rini Swinkels - trumpet, lead on track 1, 2, 3, 4
Alex Rodriguez - trumpet, track 1, 2, 3, 4
Charles Green - trumpet, conductor

Andro Biswane - guitar
Robin van Geerke - grand piano, fender rhodes
Carlo Hoop - conga’s percussion
Harvey Wirht - drums
Vincent Henar - e-bass

Steve Mariat - vocals on Sukru Finga

Solo features:

Kon’Dansi Maria: Andro Biswane
Sukru Finga: Michael Simon
Ga Masashave: Michael Varekamp, Efraim Trujillo
Naki Anu: David Rothchild, Charles Green
Anansi The Survivor: Charles Green, Robin van Geerke
On The Beach: T.S. Galloway, Rutger van Otterloo
La Plus Belle Africaine: Michael Varekamp, Efraim Trujillo

Arrangements:

Ga Masashave, Naki Anu, On The Beach, Anansi The Survivor: Michael Simon
Kon’Dansi Maria, Sukru Finga: Efraim Trujillo
La Plus Belle Africaine: T.S. Galloway

Production:

Producer: Vincent Henar
Recorded at:
MC Theater Amsterdam, live concert, tracks 5, 6, 7, 8
Engineered by Jurre Wieman, Ad Gomes
Front of house: Jurre Wieman
Muziekcentrum Noord, tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 by : ART-sound
Engineered by: Marc Broer, Philip ten Brink
Recorded in February 2013
Mixed and edited by: Chris Weeda
Mix assistance: Charles Green, Efraim Trujillo
Mastered by: Darius van Helfteren, Amsterdam Mastering
Artwork: Michael Varekamp
Photography: Johan Janssen, Renée Missel
Graphic design: Ton Verhees

Acknowledgements
Fra Fra Big Band wishes to thank:
MC Theater, Ken Bilby, Center for Black Music Research, Marion Onnekink, Jim van Leeuwaarde, Jitske de Gelder, Johan Janssen, MO Music Activation, Roland Loe Mie, Stany Comper, Orlando Giskus, Marcel Pinas, Gentse Feesten,Chris Weeda, Jurre Wieman, Onno Prillwitz, Karin Sontag, Mirande Phernambucq, Ingrid Anches, Kenneth Sedney, Peter Sanches.

Special thanks to our families, partners, children, brothers and sisters for their unconditional support, inspiration and encouragement. This album has been made possible with special support and contribution by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.

PRA CD 1309
℗ & © Pramisi Records 2013