Quincy Jones - Roots - The Saga Of An American Family (1977/2021) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Quincy Jones has been threatening to write a long tone poem sketching the history of black music for decades now, and he has yet to do it. This project, rushed out in the wake of the 1977 TV mini-series Roots, is about as close as he has come. A brief (28 minutes) immaculately-produced and segued suite, Roots quickly traces a timeline from Africa to the Civil War, incorporating ancient and modern African influences (with Letta Mbulu as the featured vocalist), a sea shanty, field hollers, and fiddle tunes, snippets of dialogue from Roots actor Lou Gossett, and some Hollywood-style movie cues. Only a fraction of this music was used in the mini-series; oddly, the most familiar piece of music, the often-repeated "Roots Mural Theme," is not by Jones, but by film composer Gerald Fried, who wrote most of the TV score. Though some prominent jazzers (Shelly Manne, Victor Feldman, Ernie Watts, Lee Ritenour, Richard Tee, etc.) turn up in the orchestra, there is not a trace of jazz to be heard. This is a timely souvenir of a cultural phenomenon, but merely a curiosity for jazz fans.

TRACKLIST

1. Quincy Jones - Motherland
2. Quincy Jones - Roots Mural Theme
3. Quincy Jones - Main Title: Mama Aifambeni (Premiere Episode)
4. Quincy Jones - Behold The Only Thing Greater Than Yourself (Birth)
5. Quincy Jones - Oluwa (Many Rains Ago)
6. Quincy Jones - Boyhood To Manhood
7. Quincy Jones - The Toubob Is Here! (The Capture)
8. Quincy Jones - Middle Passage (Slaveship Crossing)
9. Quincy Jones - You In Americuh Now, African
10. Quincy Jones - Roots Mural Theme Intro (Slave Auction)
11. Quincy Jones - Ole Fiddler
12. Quincy Jones - Jumpin' De Broom (Marriage Ceremony)
13. Quincy Jones - What Can I Do? (Hush, Hush, Somebody's Calling My Name)
14. Quincy Jones - Roots Mural Theme Bridge (Plantation Life)
15. Quincy Jones - Oh Lord, Come By Here
16. Quincy Jones - Free At Last? (The Civil War)
17. Quincy Jones - Many Rains Ago (Oluwa)



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