In the World: From Natchez to New York
1998 studio album by Olu Dara
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the World: From Natchez to New York is the solo debut album by the jazz cornetist Olu Dara, released in 1998.[2] Dara also sings and plays guitar on the album.[3]
| In the World: From Natchez to New York | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 17, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1997 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 46:49 | |||
| Label | Atlantic[1] | |||
| Producers | Yves Beauvais, Olu Dara | |||
| Olu Dara chronology | ||||
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The album peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums chart.[4]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Robert Christgau |  [6] |
| (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [7] |
The Washington Post's Geoffrey Himes wrote: "Mixing up sly humor and evocative description, Dara's singing slips and slides around the steady guitar rhythms, which borrow equally from Delta blues, Caribbean calypso and West African high-life."[8]
In a review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow called the album a "fascinating and successful effort," and stated: "Dara emerges here as an effective country-blues singer and guitarist. Fortunately, Dara does not neglect his cornet but the music is definitely much different than one might expect."[5]
Derk Richardson of SFGate commented: "Performing songs about daily life in the 'hood back in the day of okra-selling street peddlers, intoning blues that refuse to separate desire from its cultural context, and collaborating with his rap star son Nas, Dara manifests an aesthetic co-inhabited by Robert Johnson, Tampa Red, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie and Arrested Development's Speech as if they were all members of the same band."[9]
Writing for JazzTimes, Bret Primack described the album as "a cohesive creation that seamlessly weaves diverse elements in new and intriguing ways," and noted: "Flying below the radar of commercial media, Dara has managed to chart a course for his creativity by 'having my hand in many ways of expressing myself'."[10]
A reviewer for CMJ New Music Report remarked: "As warm and as gentle as a summer day in Mississippi, the appropriately named album is a perfect blend of Southern blues, New York jazz and African rhythms... [its] seductive groove, cool melodies and spare lyrics result in pure enchantment."[11]
Track listing
- "Okra" – 4:48
- "Rain Shower" – 4:34
- "Natchez Shopping Blues" – 3:34
- "Your Lips" – 3:58
- "Harlem Country Girl" – 5:47
- "Zora" – 3:14
- "Young Mama" – 4:44
- "Bubber (If Only)" – 3:04
- "Father Blues" – 3:32
- "Jungle Jay" featuring Nas – 5:02
- "Kiane" – 4:32
Personnel
- Olu Dara – lead vocals, cornet, trumpet, guitar, bass drum, percussion, backing vocals
- Nas – vocals (track 10)
- Kwatei Jones-Quartey – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion
- Ivan Ramirez – electric guitar
- Rudy "Obadeli" Herbert – organ
- Alonzo Gardner – bass
- Greg Bandy – drums
- Richard James – congas
- Cantrese Alloway, Darada David, Joyce Malone, Melba Joyce – backing vocals