The don Theo Parrish starts 2018 off right with the mad hypnotic Preacher’s Comin and a double-deep, intricate roots workout starring Jovia Armstrong, Keith Beber, Carolyn Ferrari and Craig Huckaby. Both tracks relate directly to P{arise and Sound Signature’s recent launch of W.O.K.E., a new radio programme whose aim is to “musically educate listeners of all ages, with an emphasis on youth and black and brown people.”
In Preacher’s Comin that results a sublime tension between filtered party noise and a hazy, dreamy warning that “Preacher’s Comin”, all set to infectious clapping rhythms, ragtime blues keys and synths ’n strings nudged with Theo’s inimitable Black Magick. You’ll be left dazed and wondering what the heck just happened after this one, but in the best way.
Gullah Geechee is equally brilliant, but more explicit in its educational intent. Titled in tribute to The Gullah - descendants of enslaved Africans who live in both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina - and also their creole language, Geechee, the piece is a mesmerising blend of vocal chant and in-the-round clapping rhythms woven with bubbling organ and roving bassline with the deepest sense of rhythmic ecstasy and historical righteousness.
