The Forward (Towards Equality) Suite

Anthony Branker / Word Play

Label: Origin Records
Format: CD
Barcode: 0805558266324

Catalog number: ORIGIN 82663
Releasedate: 08-08-14

“...a serious composer who does a lot more than write tunes...his music is steeped in the deeper sources of jazz.”
- All About Jazz

For his sixth recording on Origin Records, composer Anthony Branker has enlisted a powerhouse version of his Word Play group, featuring saxophonists David Binney and Ralph Bowen, trombonist Conrad Herwig, pianist Jim Ridl, bassist Kenny Davis, drummer Donald Edwards, conguero Renato Thoms, vocalist Alison Crockett, as well as sixteen 5th Grade students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary in Piscataway, New Jersey providing spoken word contributions. With music inspired by personal reflections on what America means to him as a first-generation American; what it has meant to family members who immigrated to the U.S. from the West Indies; and what it might mean to future generations of his family, Branker has created a twelve-movement extended work that is reflective of the qualities he sees as comprising the essence of America and the spirit of its people. Another impressive and inspiring work from the pen of this thought-provoking composer.

Preamble