Sounds of Liberation was an American jazz collective formed in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, in the early 1970s. They got their start in the progressive neighborhood of
Germantown, Philadelphia
Germantown () is an area in Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Palatines, Palatine, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough (Pennsylvania), borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, whi ...
. The band had close ties to the
Black Arts Movement
The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African Americans, African-American-led art movement that was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride. The mov ...
of the time, using their music to help spark social activism, with tremendous impact on the African American and jazz community in Philadelphia.
The band had seven members:
Byard Lancaster
Byard Lancaster (August 6, 1942 – August 23, 2012) was an avant-garde jazz saxophonist and flutist. Cook, Richard. (2005). ''Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia.'' New York: Penguin Books. Allen, Clifford. (2005). ''Byard Lancaster: From A Lo ...
,
Monnette Sudler
Monnette Sudler (June 5, 1952 – August 21, 2022) was an American jazz guitarist from Philadelphia.
Early life and career
Sudler was born Monnette Goldman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Lea Goldman, married Truman W. Sudler in 19 ...
, Rashid Salim, Omar Hill,
Khan Jamal
Khan Jamal (July 23, 1946 – January 10, 2022), born Warren Robert Cheeseboro, was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. He founded the band Sounds of Liberation in 1970. He was described by Ron Wynn as "a proficient soloist when ...
, Bill Mills, and Dwight James. Their studio album, ''
New Horizons
''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...
'', was released in 1972. Although it received critical acclaim, the album was only moderately successful commercially. The band also recorded
a live session at Columbia University in 1973 which was only recently recovered. Sounds of Liberation saxophonist and flute player Byard Lancaster died in 2012.
Sounds of Liberation played a sound that mixed jazz, funk, free jazz and spiritual jazz. They owe much of their inspiration to jazz legends such as
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...
, and funk artists like
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...
. The band once performed alongside
Kool & The Gang
Kool & the Gang is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (musician), Ronald Bell (also known as " ...
at the 1974 Miss Black America pageant.
A limited release of their 1973 Live Recording was remastered and made available by Dogtown Records in 2019. The LP features cover art from the original group artist Leroy Butler, who also made cover art for experimental Jazz artist / Afrofuturist
Sun Ra
Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...
.
Similar to
Sixto Rodriguez
Sixto Diaz Rodríguez (July 10, 1942 – August 8, 2023), mononymously known as Rodríguez, was an American musician from Detroit, Michigan.
Though his career was initially met with little fanfare in the United States, he found success in Sou ...
, the band's fame and cult following grew long after they played together.
Discography
References
{{reflist
Jazz ensembles from Pennsylvania
Musical groups from Philadelphia