Monday, July 12, 2021

Unissued Bahamian recordings of Joseph Spence out Friday

Smithsonian Folkways is releasing Encore, a 13-song Joseph Spence album of home and live recordings from 1965. 


Here's the scoop...

'Encore' is a new album (out July 16th) produced from previously unheard archival recordings by the legendary Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence, made in 1965 at the height of his career. Spence’s radically innovative guitar style transformed elements of Bahamian traditional music into adventurous, joyful improvisations and influenced players worldwide. His powerful singing stemmed directly from the rhyming tradition created by Bahamian sponge fishermen early in the 20th century. The music is punctuated by Spence’s unique, sometimes otherworldly vocalizations including humming, short bursts of lyrics, and near-scat singing. Some of the recordings include singing by Spence’s sister Edith Pinder and her family members Raymond and Geneva Pinder. Producer Peter K. Siegel captured these performances at Spence’s only New York concert, at the performer’s cottage in Nassau, Bahamas, and at Siegel’s apartment in Manhattan.

Get a copy of Joseph Spence's Encore album via Bandcamp right here

Listen to Joseph Spence's only known recording of "Run Come See Jerusalem" about the 1929 sinking of the Pretoria when a devastating hurricane ripped through the Bahamas, followed by a delightfully raucous performance of "Out On The Rolling Sea". 


 


Joseph Spence: Encore: Unheard Recordings of Bahamian Guitar and Singing

1. Won't That Be A Happy Time? 

2. Out on the Rolling Sea 

3. Down By the Riverside

4. Bimini Gal

5. The Crow

6. In Times Like This

7. Death and the Woman

8. Give Me that Old Time Religion 

9. Run Come See Jerusalem 

10. Brown Skin Girl

11. The Glory of Love

12. Great God What Do I See and Hear?

13. That Glad Reunion Day


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