world music

Sunny Jain: “Heroes”

After thirteen years on the road at the front of his global dance group Red Baraat, percussionist-songwriter Sunny Jain was especially affected by the constrictions of COVID. But, ever the optimist, Jain began sifting through his rolodex and soon formed a half-hundred intercontinental collective willing to help out in the writing and recording process of a new project.

Well, today, after countless hours of remote collaboration, Sunny Jain released the aptly titled Phoenix Rise LP, re-assembling the infectious energy of Red Baraat with the idiosyncrasies of his newfound team players, complete with music videos and even a 22-recipe vegan cookbook. Sunny Jain and company glisten throughout the album, effortlessly blending genres like jazz and hip-hop underneath striking vocal performances, as heard on one of Phoenix Rise‘s lead singles “Heroes”!

Golden Dawn Arkestra: “Phenomenal”

Between their cosmic character, otherworldly outfits, and label-evading sound, Austin’s Golden Dawn Arkestra certifies as a spectacle to say the least. The collective got started around 2013 and since then, under the direction of singer-shaman Topaz McGarrigle, these three-time Studio 1A veterans have invited hundreds, if not thousands, to participate in their intergalactic rituals incorporating elements from afro-beat to disco, electronic to jazz, and psychedelic to funk and beyond.
Teasing their upcoming album that descends from the stratosphere to tackle what challenges our own terrestrial realm, today Golden Dawn Arkestra shares their latest single, produced by KUTX favorite Walker Lukens and paired with a music video in the near future. Golden Dawn Arkestra is best experienced live, so if you’re in Houston on the 22nd or Dallas on June 5th, be sure to make a pilgrimage to their stage and channel what it means to connect with our fellow lifeforms, as heard on “Phenomenal”!

Yusef Lateef (6.8.14)

Yusef Lateef was an American jazz mufti-instrumentalist, composer and educator who extended the possibilities of what it meant to understand and expand in the jazz genera with a universal sensibility. In this edition of Liner Notes Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe illustrates what the music and legacy of Lateef and his music can teach us about moving past our own ideas of fulfillment, beyond any limitations, to understand the possibilities and richness in the present moment.