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The Pledge of Black Asian Allegiance

$20.00

SKU AIR101 Category Tags , ,

With his panoramic global view and his epic sense of historical time with the present, this recording features the continuation and advancement of composer-pianist Jon Jang as a musical polyglot and collaborative field-builder in the context of black Asian music relationships. The opening composition, Yuri Kochiyama, Malcolm X is a hybrid informed by Soran Bushi, a Japanese fisherman s song and the Wailers Get Up, Stand Up! Yank Sing Work Song, Jasmine Among the Magnolias and Flower Drum Song is a hybrid of Chinese folk songs recontextualized in black music forms from funk, gospel, jazz to the harmonic language of Wayne Shorter. At the heart of the recording is Can t Stop Cryin for America: Black Lives Matter! In which Jang directly addresses his relationship and, by extension, the Asian American relationship to the urgent black freedom struggle.

Music performed by the Jon Jangtet:
Jon Jang Composer, Pianist and Director
Hitomi Oba Tenor Saxophone, Vocals
Nick DePinna Trombone, Vocals
Gary Brown Double Bass
Deszon X. Claiborne Multiple Percussion

Guest Artists:
Dr. Amanda Kemp Spoken Word
Min Xiao Fen Vocals and Pipa (Chinese Lute)
Francis Wong Tenor Saxophone

Additional information

Artist

,

Year Released

2019

Tracklist

1. Yuri Kochiyama, Malcolm X – 6:00
Music composed by Jon Jang © 2018 Zhang Music ASCAP
2. The Nail That Sticks Up! – 4:44
Yuri Speaks, Deszon Does It!
Music composed by Jon Jang © 2018 Zhang Music ASCAP
3. Yank Sing Work Song – 6:28
The workers, Chinese Progressive Association,
Asian Americans for Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus and Local 2
Music composed by Jon Jang © 2016 Zhang Music ASCAP
4. Jasmine Among the Magnolias – 5:22
Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce and Frederick Douglass
Music composed by Jon Jang © 2006 Zhang Music ASCAP
5. Flower Drum Song – 3:05
The Chinese Dozens!
Music composed by Jon Jang © 2006 Zhang Music ASCAP
6. Prayer for Melvin Truss – 11:58
Music composed by Francis Wong © 1985 Shi-Ming Music BMI
7. Hands Up! Don’t Shoot! – 3:00
Michael Brown August 9, 2014
Music composed by Jon Jang © 2017 Zhang Music ASCAP
8. More Motherless Children – 7:55
9 black victims at the Emanuel AME Church June 17, 2015
Music composed by Jon Jang © 2017 Zhang Music ASCAP
9. Why Did They Have to Shoot Him So Many Times? – 3:15
Mario Woods December 2, 2015
Music composed by Jon Jang © 2017 Zhang Music ASCAP
10. Butterfly Lovers Song – 6:32
The Legend of Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo
Music composed by Jon Jang © 1988 Zhang Music ASCAP
11. You’ll Never Walk Alone – 7:14
For Etta Jang, my mother October 18, 1924 – June 6, 2017
Music composed by Rodgers & Hammerstein II © 1945 Williamson Music

Credits

Executive Producer Tatsu Aoki, Francis Wong, Steve Hom, Steve Phillips, Jerrold Hiura
Producers Jon Jang, Vinay Patel
Recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA. May 19-20 2018
Recording Engineer Gary Mankin
Assistant Robert Kirby
Mixed and Mastered Gary Mankin in San Francisco, CA. July 2018

Audio Recording of excerpts of Yuki Kochiyama's speech at Lany College in 2003 by Monica Wayie Ly
Liner Notes Jeff Chang
Cover Art and Package Design Al Brandtner, Brandtner Design

Photography:
Back Cover Courtesy Magnolia Pictures from the Film "Whose Streets"
CD Label Dorothea Lange
Portraits Bob Hsiang, Nick Gould, Mike Wilpizeski, Leon Sun

(c) (P) 2019 Asian Improv Records Inc.
456 Montgomery St. #1350, San Francisco, CA 94104

All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction of this recording is prohibited by federal law and subject to criminal prosecution.