BIO
Kentyah Presents: M1, Brian Jackson & The New Midnight Band:
Evolving the legacy of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, the forefathers of socially-conscious rap.
“This is prophetic art at the highest level!” – Dr. Cornel West.
August 12, 2013 – New York, NY – Motéma Music is set to release Kentyah presents: M1, Brian Jackson & The New Midnight Band: Evolutionary Minded on September 10th, 2013. The project is a collective celebration expanding upon the legendary Gil Scott-Heron’s music and includes a musical cross-section of like-minded souls: Brian Jackson (GSH’s Co-Composer), M1 (Dead Prez), Chuck D (Public Enemy), Martin Luther (The Roots), Mike Clark (Headhunters), Gregory Porter, and core members of Gil’s Amnesia Express and Midnight Band.
The first single from the album, ‘Opponent’ (Feat. Dead Prez, Martin Luther) inspired by and including elements of ‘Angola’ by Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson was released via iTunes June 25th.
The seminal Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson & The Midnight Band were the forerunners of socially-conscious hip hop. Respected around the world (8+ million You Tube video views and growing as new fans discover the tunes) they continue to inspire with their music and message. This project is a powerful expression of that influence featuring covers and interpolations of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson’s music.
Kentyah is a producer, percussionist, aspiring writer and burgeoning pop culture educator. Starting his career running DJ Spooky’s record label and working in various capacities behind the scenes, Kentyah is now pulling back the curtain to reveal a remarkable producer, conceptualist, and stage DJ personality. His total commitment to intellectual stimulation through vibrant and ‘evolutionary minded’ pop culture coalesces brilliantly with his debut release from Motéma Music, Evolutionary Minded, a joint project with jazz/funk legend Brian Jackson which modernizes the Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson and the Midnight Band catalog through a contemporary lens featuring A-listers of jazz and hip-hop and soul.
In his developing career, Kentyah has already worked with many of the most notable “musician’s favorite musicians” in the music industry: Killah Priest, Wise Intelligent, Ron Carter, Tony Allen, Dead Prez, Bill Laswell, Mike Clark, Paul Jackson, Bill Summers, Chuck D, Snoop (Dogg) Lion, George Clinton, Mike Stern, Charnett Moffett and Airto to name a few. As a thought-shifter, he has engaged in public dialog with Bobby Seale (Co-Founder of the Black Panther Party, who is also featured on Kentyah’s recording debut), Stanislav Gorf and Stanley Krippner (key pioneers of Transpersonal Psychology ), Harvard psychedelic guru Ralph Metzner, Dagara shaman Malidoma Patrice Somé and many others.
A chance phone call from Kentyah to Brian Jackson got the ball rolling on the project and a true meeting of the minds inspired the idea to work together. Kentyah says “This project is the manifestation of a vision, a prayer and a hope that the resolve, righteous indignation and modes of consideration involved will spark and empower those who chose to open to the energies contained herein.
In a musical landscape defined by the trivial and admittedly superficial, set against a backdrop of unprecedented political, social and economic global decline, we have sought to celebrate the tradition of the funky revolutionary and empowerment music prophet.”
Brian Jackson says of the collaboration, “This music isn’t mine and the minute I start trying to own it, it’s all over. It’s my responsibility to pass on what I’ve learned. That’s living the Tradition. Kentyah and I came from totally different places, followed the trail of conscious music and ended up at the same doorstep. Along the way we ran into Chuck D, M1, Mike Clark, Martin Luther and Gregory Porter, and could see others coming down the same block towards the same house.”
Jackson, who really needs no introduction is a composer, musician, and producer with an impressive 30+ year career under his belt. Working with Gil Scott-Heron beginning in their early 20’s, as classmates, a longstanding collaboration was born producing some of the most fiercely poignant, politically charged, and significantly soulful albums of the seventies. Pieces of a Man, Free Will, Winter in America, First Minute of a New Day, From South Africa to South Carolina, It’s Your World, Bridges, Secrets and 1980 which are coveted by collectors and conscious-minded music fans alike.