A deeply melodic guitarist along the lines of Grant Green. Apicella faithfully has sought to channel an era of American music when hard bop and R&B reigned... But the guitarist still manages to keep things fresh.
New York guitarist Charlie Apicella's musical voice runs historically deep, with his seven recordings to date highly focused on celebrating the elders of jazz, R&B, and the Blues. His band, Iron City, has been with him the whole way, providing a base context for all of his projects. With Destiny Calling, this hard bop rhythm section drives headlong into the future as the elder masters of The Griots Speak draw from a lifetime of experience in communication with the ancestors. Trail blazing percussionist Juma Sultan formed the Griots with saxophonist Daniel Carter, bassist William Parker and Apicella to help celebrate a patriarch of New York's '60's loft scene. Simultaneously fluid, extroverted, light, confrontational, and meditative, their music is poetry in motion. They create spontaneously, as they move between instruments, including a variety of indigenous instruments which convey a pan-ancestral tapestry at the core of their sound. For Apicella, it's the realization of lessons learned through his studies with Yusef Lateef and the opportunity to further amplify the legacy.
Track Listing:
1. As the Sun Rises 2:16 Apicella, Parker, Carter
2. Titan vs. Sphinx 3:45 Apicella
3. Juma's Song/Maliki Malesha 3:57 Sultan & Apicella / traditional
4. We're All Here in Spirit 4:31 Apicella, Parker, Sultan
5. It's Alright to Run 4:27 Apicella, Parker, Sultan
6. I Heard in Passing 3:40 Apicella
7. If You Know Where to Look 8:15 Parker, Walker, Apicella
8. Where Do You Find These People? 5:04 Whiteley, Carter, Apicella
9. Sparks 7:06 Apicella
Performers:
The Griots Speak:
Daniel Carter - saxophones, flute, clarinet, trumpet, piano
Charlie Apicella - madal drum, Tibetan singing bowls, guitar
William Parker - bass, doson ngoni, double reed: gralla, gembiri, pocket trumpet
Juma Sultan - congas, shakers, percussion
Charlie Apicella & Iron City:
Brad Whiteley - organ
Austin Walker - drums
Production Info:
Produced by Charlie Apicella
Executive Producer: Daniel Carter
Recorded by Peter Karl at Acoustic Recording, Brooklyn, NY
Mixed and mastered by Chris Sulit at Trading 8s, Paramus, NJ
Recorded Nov. 13, 2022
Recording session photos by Charlie Apicella
Cover design & layout by John Bishop
Reviews of Destiny Calling
Marlbank (UK) (Stephen Graham)
With winningly loose and organic sounding pieces written in collaboration with The Griot Speaks guitarist Charlie Apicella who leads the organ-guitar-drums combo Iron City meshes in a very free flowing pan-African riff led spree. Avant bass icon William Parker superb with Elaine Mitchener, Orphy Robinson et al a few years ago on Good News is in glo ...
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