In the year that Juneteenth was finally declared a national U.S. holiday, 2021, Joe McPhee and Tomeka Reid united for a live concert in celebration.
Multi-instrumentalist McPhee was deeply moved by the historical nature of the circumstances, the incredible freight of that history of oppression and
liberation represented in the legislation, both the insanity of its overdueness and the joy of its institutionalization. As a preamble to the music, McPhee led
off with two poems, read with trembling, vehement intensity: “Alone Together” and “Nation Time For Real This Time.” Then, without a pause, they launched
into a 33-minute duet for tenor saxophone and cello that gutted everyone in the packed audience, alighting for a brief segment on the late-19th century
hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the so-called African-American National Anthem, lyrics from which the title of the record is taken. At the concert’s end,
McPhee was nearly inconsolable, the immensity of the day and the emotion of the playing overtaking him alone in the dressing r
oom.
Let Our Rejoicing Rise
is a kind of apotheosis, an outpouring of two sensitive souls at the dawn of a new day in an epoch of damnation. With a jubilant cover image by Gee’s Bend
quilter Mary Lee Bendolph, recorded and mastered by Alex Inglizian, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime record.
credits
released October 21, 2022
Joe McPhee:Tenor Saxophone, Voice
Tomeka Reid: Cello
Recorded by Alex Ingliziam at Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, June 19, 2021.
Mixed and mastered by Alex Inglizian at the Expiremental Sound Studio.
Cover art: Mary Lee Bendolph, Star Attraction, 2002 - 2006, assorted fabrics, mostly cotton,
78 x 80 inches (courtesy of the Mary Lee Bendolph Estate and Nicelle Beauchene Gallery,
NY).
Photograph by Jim Dempsey.
LP produced by John Corbett.
supported by 22 fans who also own “Let Our Rejoicing Rise”
Simply amazing to hear a new album with Wadada and Ewart!! ...And Reed rounds out this trio beautifully.
Just gave it my first spin. Absolutely magical. jeffrey maurer