Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Race Riot Suite

For its 21^st album, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey reaches into the dark annals of its hometown's history and emerges with a masterwork: The Race Riot Suite. Written, arranged and orchestrated by Chris Combs, the album is a long-form conceptual piece that tells the devastating story of the 1921 Tulsa race riot - a real estate-driven ethnocide occurring under the guise of citizen-dispensed justice. The oil-elite, civic government and local press colluded to take advantage of a racially tense climate in Jim Crow-era Oklahoma, resulting in the death of hundreds of black Tulsans and the destruction of an entire city district. Through jittery, propulsive rhythms and melodies, the album reflects an onlooker's journey through the night that changed Tulsa's landscape and nearly destroyed the country's most thriving black community. The music is at times nostalgic, bombastic, anguished and mournful, yet ultimately a celebration of the Greenwood community and its unflinching resiliency.

 

1. Prelude

2. Black Wall Street

3. The Burning

4. First Prayer

5. Mt. Zion

6. Lost In The Battle For Greenwood

7. Grandfather's Gun

8. Cover Up

9. Second Prayer

10. Eye Of The Dove

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