Jazzy/Soulful Vibes Part 2

"Scratch the Paint off the Walls" is a deeply personal portrait of a lifelong Cleveland hustler, written and performed by emerging Cleveland musical artist Peachcurls. Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jessica Yafanaro supports Peachcurls along with Eriq Troi (bass and guitar) and Elijah G on drums.

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Produced and arranged by Peachcurls & Tall Black Guy
Mixed by Eric Lau
Lyrics by Antonio Maclin, Jr.
Personnel:
Vocals, Peachcurls & Jessica Yafanaro
Drums & Percussion, Elijah G
Rhythm guitar, Peachcurls

Scratch The Paint Off The Wall

A track that is reminiscent of Earth, Wind & Fire, Flora Purim, George Duke, and Carlos Santana, Higher is a 7-minute spiritual journey featuring Zo! of The Foreign Exchange on bass, Dan Fernandez on drums, the legendary Cleveland percussionist Neil Chastain, Eriq Troi on lead and rhythm guitar, beatmaker and pianist TDash, Tall Black Guy on organ, and Mariama Whyte and Donnie Lyneé on vocals. "Higher" is a song unlike any other.

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Produced by Tall Black Guy
Arranged by Replife
Mixed by Eric Lau 
Lyrics by Daniel Gray-Kontar, Donnie Lyneé & Mariama Whyte
Personnel:
Percussion, Neil Chastain
Drums, Dan Fernandez
Organ, Tall Black Guy
Guitars, Eriq Troi
Keyboards, Terrance “T-Dash” Williams
Bass, Zo!
Vocals, Donnie Lynee & Mariama Whyte

Higher

Originally written by Cleveland soul vocalist Ngina Fayola in 2012, "Why Not Give Our Best to Love" is a nod to Minnie Ripperton's "Loving You". At first listen, the track is a song between lovers. But truly, this is a love letter to all of Cleveland, imploring them to give our best to one another to make a better Land. Vocalist Emily Keener completes this recording taking this song to another plane.

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Produced by NginaFayola & Tall Black Guy
Arranged by Tall Black Guy
Mixed by Eric Lau
Lyrics by NginaFayola
Guitar, NginaFayola
Keyboards, Tall Black Guy
Vocals, NginaFayola & Emily Keener

Why Not Give Our Best To Love

"Yo Hood" was originally written and produced by emerging hip-hop producer, Blokhead Johnny. He invited Mellow Man Funk to join him on this track that was composed on the anniversary of J Dilla's death.

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Produced and arranged by Blokhead Johnny
Mixed by Eric Lau
Lyrics by Zachary Collins & Gregory Crump
license

Yo Hood

Considered one of the essential tracks on the In Search of the Land album, "Hey Hood" is a poem by 18-year-old poet and activist, Tiyana Williams. The poem invites the listener to stop considering inner-city neighborhoods as sites of terror and to view the hood as a more nuanced site of struggle that also nurtures beautiful people of color.

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Poetry written and performed by Tiyana Williams
Produced and arranged by Tall Black Guy & Replife
Mixed by Eric Lau

Hey Hood

Originally produced by Cleveland soul legend Aaron Abernathy, this rendering of "My Generation" is a re-mix of Abernathy's original, featuring flutist, Nathan-Paul (The Admirables), himself a star in Cleveland's underground soul/jazz scene. Featuring sound quotes from Shirley Chisolm and Nina Simone, this short tune is a Juneteenth anthem.

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Produced and arranged by AB & Tall Black Guy
Mixed by Eric Lau
Vocals, Aaron Abernathy
Flute, Nathan-Paul
Vocal samples: Nina Simone and Shirley Chisolm

Generations

Poet Deija Vinson was 19 years old when she wrote this poem in response to living in East Cleveland, a predominately Black suburb northeast of Cleveland. During an after-school workshop at Twelve Literary Arts, Deija learned about the practice of redlining - the discriminatory and unethical practice of denying financial services to American citizens based on race. Vinson's performance of this poem is haunting but sweet. "You must recognize that you're a disturbance" are the opening lines to this poetic tour-de-force, punctuated by musicians Theresa May, Ray Angry, Daniel Crawford, Patrick Graney, and Tall Black Guy.

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Poetry written and performed by Deija Vinson
Produced and arranged by Tall Black Guy & Replife
Personnel: Bass, Daniel Crawford
Keyboards, Ray Angry
Drums, Dan Fernandez
Percussion, Patrick Duke Graney
Trumpet, Theresa May
Vocals, Mariama Whyte

Redline Kid

"Black Migration" is a personal and political reflection that unpacks the history of African-Americans moving from the rural south to the urban north from 1916 to the mid-1970s. The song opens with a sound quote from former Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes who became the first Black mayor elected in the United States in 1967. Shouting out many Cleveland streets and landmarks, "Black Migration" is a critique of the social structures that have separated black families in the urban north while reminding black Clevelanders of the pride Black Clevelanders have in their city. Vocalist Will Blaze and multi-instrumentalist Robert Morrow support this track co-produced by 5ifth Element (Chicago) and Tall Black Guy.

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Produced by 5ifth Element
Arranged by 5ifth Element, Tall Black Guy & Replife
Mixed by Eric Lau
Lyrics by Daniel Gray-Kontar & William Sowell
Keyboards & Tenor Saxophone, Robert Morrow

Black Migration

Sadhu and Alé are two emerging vocalists in Cleveland's emerging underground soul scene. "Daybreak" is a song about freeing the self from the microaggressions Black women contend with daily. "Oh no, woe is me, right (wrong)" sings Alé. This is a nice and easy track with a nice and easy message: "get free."

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Produced and arranged by Tall Black Guy
Mixed by Eric Lau
Lyrics by Sylvia Reeves & Alesha Goins

Daybreak

The Awakening features two MCs originally from Cleveland, but who now reside in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Reminiscent of the classic recording "Respiration" by Black Star, "The Awakening" is at once a love letter to the Cleveland that has inspired their artistic journeys and a reminder to remember the uplift of The Land that truly matters more than personal wealth. 2ssaint writes to close the song, "I know you've heard before everything that's green in fact/surely may not be gold, this wealth ain't something you can hold/crack the code".

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Produced and arranged by Tall Black Guy & Broken Keys
Spoken Word by Suave Goddi
Scratches performed by The Music Curating Specialist Q-Nice
Lyrics by Connor Musarra and Stoke Barca

The Awakening

Cleveland poet, Mary Barrett was a 17-year-old high school student when she wrote the poem "Blackwards" in response to the racial and economic disparities she saw between the Cleveland neighborhoods of Glenville and Bratenahl. In the poem, Barrett discovers how these disparities are intentional. "Hard to find your voice in the midst of Cleveland", Barrett writes. And yet, the poem also serves as a guide for how to find your voice despite the disparities encoded within the social structure.

from In Search Of The Land Produced and Curated by Tall Black Guy, released June 19, 2021

Poetry written and performed by Mary Barrett
Mixed by Eric Lau
Personnel:
Alto Saxophone, Chris Coles
Drums, Dan Fernandez
Keyboards, Eli Hanley
Bass, Dave Rhoades

Blackwards

champ hoody music. ep. 3

cloth talk. (feat. Goya Gumbani & lojii)

Time

Ariel - Time (prod. Relyae)

Made this one with the greatest in mind, he's responsible for so much of what we do. I know Dilla tributes are kinda played out but making music is how I express myself and honor his memory. Enjoy!

One for JD [180]

"Well, here goes... Magnesium Opium. Finally. There has been a considerable amount of folklore amongst longtime fans surrounding this album: “Was it ever completed?”; “why was it never released?”; “what's the story behind the title?”—that kind of talk. 

Let’s take a sec to look back: the early 2000s were an incredibly industrious time for myself and my peers in music. We had big rap dreams, busy schedules and bountiful ideas—all amidst what some would consider to be the “last big hurrah” of the music industry as we knew it. 

As for the nowfolk album, Ishkan and I had been recording music under the group, Moniker, since the mid-late nineties and had released two albums already: Style Gangstas (1999) and The Moon (2001). During the late fall of 2001, we hastily launched into a project called The Winter. We ended up shelving it, and at the start of 2002, decided to work on something we felt would be more substantial (a more updated nowfolk project, if you will). We worked on the album incrementally from January 2002 until June 2003. Around June, I had a conversation with a fan who told me of a crazy dream he had involving finding a “lost nowfolk album,” and in the dream he recalled the album being called Magnesium Opium. I told Ish about the dream, and we unanimously decided use it for the title. 

It's kind of amazing that we didn't have a real album title until the project was wrapped. That's unusual. As I mentioned previously, it was a very busy time and between my solo work and touring with my main group—I was swamped. 

At the end of June, my Adat recording system was destroyed virtually stranding the nowfolk album from being mixed and released along with many other solo projects. I know I've brought this up countless times, but it has to be rehashed to accurately tell the story. 

Anyway, all I had were very rough mixes on cassette and cd of “mag op”. I acquired new recording equipment and really didn't look back from that point plus Ish moved to Victoria in the fall of 200,3 and it ultimately slowed our nowfolk aspirations to a near standstill for years. When I finally acquired a replacement Adat lx20 unit a couple years ago, I began to unearth and mix mag op using my rough tape mixes as reference. Then, I reassembled the album chronologically in the exact order that we had recorded the songs. 

Now that URBNET has granted me the opportunity to release an album monthly for 2016, I knew that it was the perfect time to bring Magnesium Opium to the world. 

~~ Moka. February 15th, 2016. 

Nowfolk (Moka Only & Ishkan) - Put It On [from the album Magnesium Opium - 2003]

Player Profile Ep

Silent Treatment

Pinder - Silent Treatment

Twelve Literary Arts is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) literary arts and education organization founded by Executive Artistic Director Daniel Gray-Kontar in May 2016. Twelve Literary Arts provides literary arts instruction and leadership development to elementary and high school-aged youth, adult poets, writers, and storytellers.

Scratch The Paint Off The Wall

Twelve Literary Arts

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