| Music from the Hearts of the Masters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2005 | |||
| Recorded | January 2002 | |||
| Studio | New York City | |||
| Genre | Jazz, World music | |||
| Length | 1:01:56 | |||
| Label | Golden Beams Productions GBP1112 | |||
| Jack De Johnette chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music from the Hearts of the Masters is an album by American drummer Jack De Johnette and Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso. It was recorded in January 2002 in New York City, and was released in 2005 by Golden Beams Productions. [1] [2] [3] [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [5] |
| All About Jazz | [6] |
| All About Jazz | [7] |
| PopMatters |   [8] |
In a review for AllMusic, Michael G. Nastos wrote: "Suso and... DeJohnette team up in duets that do not juxtapose, but complement the rhythmic strengths of the different instruments, creating a language of their own... It is a consistent and playful dialogue between two incredible musicians who need no definitions, restrictions, or guidance to make their spare, soulful, diverse, and heartfelt original music happen." [1]
John Kelman of All About Jazz stated: "while both artists look for a nexus point, neither is prepared to completely give up his own disposition, making Music from the Hearts of the Masters a unique experience. Suso's kora is so richly textured that it's hard not to be drawn in, while DeJohnette's groove-laden kit work creates an equally inviting space." [6] AAJ's Franz A. Matzner commented: "A work of rare spiritual and musical clarity, Music from the Hearts of the Masters possesses a quiet strength which grounds Suso's often abstract, sometimes esoteric excursions to create a uniquely contemplative—almost meditative—experience." [7]
Writing for PopMatters , Will Layman noted that the album "is essentially meditative and calming in tone. Unlike both jazz and European music, it does not tell a story with a set-up, development and a climax. Like a constantly moving spiral it draws us down to its essence rather than out to its conclusion." He concluded: "DeJohnette has more than earned the right to play with whomever and however he likes. It's great that he's getting to call his own shots." [8]
A reviewer for Spellbinding Music remarked: "the chemistry unfolding between Foday Musa Suso and Jack DeJohnette is a joy to watch and listen to. Both players manage to generate a unique musical idiom that is neither Jazz nor traditional African, but both highly rhythmic and melodic at the same time." [9]
The kora is a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa. A kora typically has 21 strings, which are played by plucking with the fingers. It combines features of the lute and harp.
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer.
The music of the Gambia is closely linked musically with that of its neighbor, Senegal, which surrounds its inland frontiers completely. Among its prominent musicians is Foday Musa Suso. Mbalax is a widely known popular dance music of the Gambia and neighbouring Senegal. It fuses popular Western music and dance, with sabar, the traditional drumming and dance music of the Wolof and Serer people.
The Gravikord is a 24 string electric double bridge-harp invented by Robert Grawi in 1984, which is closely related to both the West African kora and the mbira. It was designed to employ a separated double tonal array structure making it possible to easily play cross-rhythms in a polyrhythmic musical style in a modern electro-acoustic instrument. The Gravi-kora is a similar instrument, also developed by Grawi, which is tuned identically to a traditional 21 string kora.
Jazz Africa is a live album by keyboardist Herbie Hancock and Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso. The recording took place in Los Angeles, California's Wiltern Theatre as part of the 1986 concert series Jazzvisions. The performance was also released on videotape and laserdisc with additional concert performances.
Foday Musa Suso is a Gambian musician and composer. He is a member of the Mandinka ethnic group, and is a griot. Griots are the oral historians and musicians of the Mandingo people who live in several west African nations. Griots are a living library for the community providing history, entertainment, and wisdom while playing and singing their songs. It is an extensive verbal and musical heritage that can only be passed down within a griot family.
Sound-System is the thirty-sixth album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and the second of three albums co-produced by Bill Laswell with the ‘Rockit’ Band. Guest artists include saxophonist Wayne Shorter, guitarist Henry Kaiser, kora player/percussionist Foday Musa Suso and drummer Anton Fier.
Village Life is an album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and Mandinka griot Foday Musa Suso. It was recorded in Japan and released in 1985. Hancock and Suso had worked together as part of a larger ensemble for Hancock's 1984 album Sound-System, and Village Live was recorded shortly after a world tour. There are no overdubs, Village Life was recorded live in the studio. The album was coproduced by Bill Laswell.
Standards Live is an album recorded by Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio live in concert in Paris, in July 1985. It was published by ECM Records in 1986 and it became the first in a long series of live albums to be released by Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette as a unit.
Live in Japan is a 1993 live album by the New York based No Wave music group Material.
Music in the Key of Om is an album by Jack DeJohnette. It was recorded in 2003 and issued in 2005 by DeJohnette's Golden Beams Productions as the label's inaugural release. The album features DeJohnette on synthesizer, bells, and a new line of instruments developed in conjunction with the Sabian cymbal company, and consists of a single, hour-long track of ambient music intended for meditation and relaxation, a departure from DeJohnette's typical work in the jazz style.
Peace Time is an album by Jack DeJohnette recorded in 2006 and released on the Golden Beams label in 2007.
Yesterdays is a live jazz album by Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette recorded in concert on April 30, 2001 at the Metropolitan Festival Hall in Tokyo and also at the sound-check recording of April 24, 2001 at the Orchard Hall in Tokyo that would give way to Always Let Me Go. It was released by ECM Records in 2009.
The Out-of-Towners is a live album by the jazz trio of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette, recorded in July 2001 at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and released by ECM Records in August 2004.
Somewhere is a live album by Keith Jarrett's "Standards Trio", recorded in Switzerland in July 2009, and released by ECM Records in May 2013.
Woodstock Jazz Festival 1 is an album by pianist Chick Corea, with saxophonist Lee Konitz, or drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Miroslav Vitous recorded at the Woodstock Jazz Festival celebrating Creative Music Studio's 10th Anniversary in Woodstock, NY in 1981 and released on the Douglas Music label in 1997.
Music We Are is an album by Jack DeJohnette recorded in 2008 and released on his Golden Beams label.
Standards, Vol. 2 is a jazz album by pianist Keith Jarrett, with Gary Peacock on double bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums; the three are collectively known as Jarrett's "Standards Trio". It is the successor to their 1983 album Standards, Vol. 1. Like that album, its tracks were recorded during two long sessions in January 1983; these sessions also generated Jarrett's 1984 album of original music, Changes. Standards, Vol. 2 was released by ECM Records on CD and vinyl in April 1985.
Message from Home is an album by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was recorded in New York City and Brooklyn, New York, and was released in 1996 by Verve Records. On the album, which was produced by Bill Laswell, Sanders is joined by kora player Foday Musa Suso, guitarist Dominic Kanza, violinist Michael White, keyboardists William Henderson, Jeff Bova, and Bernie Worrell, bassists Charnett Moffett and Steve Neil, and percussionists Aiyb Dieng and Hamid Drake.
Setting Standards: New York Sessions is a three-CD compilation album by the Keith Jarrett Trio, featuring Jarrett on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. It brings together the contents of Standards, Vol. 1 (1983), Changes (1984), and Standards, Vol. 2 (1985), all of which were recorded for ECM Records at the Power Station in New York City during January 11–12, 1983. Setting Standards was released by ECM in 2008 to mark the 25th anniversary of the trio.