Ubuntu Music Announces The Brubeck Living Legacy Prize

Brubeck Living Legacy, Inc, in partnership with Ubuntu Music, and The Royal Academy of Music, is delighted to announce the creation of The Brubeck Living Legacy Prize, which will be awarded to the most deserving jazz student of The Royal Academy of Music in London, UK, each year, for an initial three-year period. Their album will be released on the Ubuntu Music record label.

In 2019, the Dave Brubeck family founded Brubeck Living Legacy with the goal of promoting awareness, interest and the understanding of jazz and its role in American and international culture.  Brubeck Living Legacy supports educational opportunities and live concerts that recognize the contributions of Dave and Iola Brubeck, and others, to modern American music, the civil rights movement and to the community of musicians worldwide.

The Brubeck Living Legacy Prize will be awarded each year to a young musician who demonstrates excellence in both performance and composition, selected from the jazz musician student body at the Royal Academy of Music in their final two years of study, as well as those in the first year following graduation. The prize includes funding and support  for the release of the individual’s proposed recording on the Ubuntu Music record label. Eligible musicians would submit an online application for consideration, which would then be reviewed by a panel of industry-related judges. For the first year, the judges will include composer/arranger/pianist and President of Brubeck Living Legacy Darius Brubeck, Royal Academy of Music Professor & Head of Jazz Programmes Nick Smart, jazz vocalist, recording artist and co-founder of ECN Music Claire Martin (OBE), and founder/director of Ubuntu Music, Martin Hummel.

On behalf of Brubeck Living Legacy, Darius Brubeck shares his view: “Brubeck Living Legacy promotes awareness, interest and the understanding of jazz and its role in American and international culture. It builds on Dave and Iola Brubeck’s lifelong dedication to music, creativity, and the promotion of social justice through performance, education, and outreach.

“As president of Brubeck Living Legacy, I can say that we are committed to supporting this imaginative initiative by Ubuntu Music and the Royal Academy of Music. Brubeck Living Legacy is already involved in high-level education creatively and financially in America and this is our first partnership based in a foreign country. As a long-time UK resident, I am excited to see this taking shape before my eyes and will do my part in making it a success.”

Royal Academy of Music’s Nick Smart continues: “We are delighted to be part of this important partnership alongside Ubuntu Music and with the endorsement and support of the Brubeck Living Legacy. The jazz community that exists at the Royal Academy has a long history of nurturing outstanding young artists who go on to lead successful lives in every corner of the musical profession. This new prize will give a high-profile platform to the next generation of deserving musicians and bandleaders with something to say on the contemporary scene. It is an honour to be part of an initiative that is a continuation of Dave and Iola Brubeck’s lifelong dedication to music, creativity and the promotion of social justice through performance, education and outreach.”

ECN’s Claire Martin gives her perspective: “What a fantastic initiative and one that I am very honoured to be part of.  I’m excited to hear the next generation of musicians coming through and it is this kind of platform that can really provide the perfect launch pad for up-and-coming musicians as they embark on their career in the music industry.”

Ubuntu Music’s Martin Hummel offers his parting thoughts: “When we started the Ubuntu Music record label, we were 100% committed to delivering a platform that would allow our artists to share their music all over the world, in with best-of-breed distribution technology thanks to our partners, The Orchard (Sony Music). We see ourselves as enablers, managing the multi-tiered logistics of a worldwide album release, while guiding the artists through an often-intimidating journey. We do everything we can to ensure a successful release, while the artist concentrates on their number one priority – their music and the development of their career as professional musicians.”

For further information, please contact:

Emma Perry (UK Publicity): emma@ecnmusic.com

Catherine Brubeck (Brubeck Living Legacy Information): catherinebrubeck@gmail.com

Nick Smart (Royal Academy of Music): n.smart@ram.ac.uk

Martin Hummel/Ubuntu Music (Worldwide):  martin@ubuntumanagementgroup.com

BIOGRAPHIES 

Darius Brubeck

Darius Brubeck (Photographer: Rob Blackham)

Pianist, composer and band leader, Darius Brubeck was the Head of Jazz Studies and Director of the Centre for Jazz & Popular Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa from 1983 until 2006 when he moved to London and established The Darius Brubeck Quartet. This group’s most recent recording Live in Poland (listed in Downbeat’s best of 2020) reflects their international profile.

His book, Playing the Changes, coauthored with his wife, Catherine, will be published internationally in July 2024 by the University of Illinois Press.  

Link: www.dariusbrubeck.com

Nick Smart

Nick Smart

Head of Jazz at the Royal Academy of Music, Nick Smart is an internationally renowned jazz educator, trumpeter and conductor who has given guest masterclasses and performances around the world. Nick has performed alongside some of the leading names in jazz and was a member of the late Kenny Wheeler's Big Band with whom he had a long association and has just finished co-writing Wheeler's biography. He has released three albums as a leader to critical acclaim, including 2005’s Remembering Nick Drake which was described by Straight No Chaser magazine as “…a future classic because it really captures all that is best about British jazz….”. He has been equally in demand as both educator and musical director.

Link: www.ram.ac.uk

Claire Martin

Claire Martin (Photographer: Kenny McCracken)

Claire Martin OBE has established herself as a tour de force on the UK jazz scene and rest of world, gaining many prestigious awards including winning the British Jazz Awards eight times during her career which spans over three decades. In 2018 she was the proud recipient of the BASCA Gold Badge Award for her contribution to Songwriting and was awarded the OBE for her Services to Jazz in 2011.

Claire shares her perspective on the Brubeck Living Legacy Prize: “What a fantastic initiative and one that I am very honoured to be part of.  I’m excited to hear the next generation of musicians coming through and it is this kind of platform that can really provide the perfect launch pad for up-and-coming musicians as they embark on their career in the music industry.”

Link: https://clairemartinjazz.co.uk/

Martin Hummel

Martin Hummel (Photographer: Peak15)

Martin Hummel is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in managing communications for brands on a global, regional and local basis across multiple disciplines and business sectors. He has led a range of communications agencies as Chief Executive, as well as founding and directing start-up businesses that include consulting, talent management and recorded music.

Music has been an integral part of Martin’s entire life. Since his early days as a musician, Martin staged concerts as a teenager (featuring Elton John), worked in various music clubs and was a DJ/Music Director in US professional radio. For 17 years, he was responsible for Pepsi-Cola’s international communications, where he worked with the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Tina Turner, The Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Robbie Williams and Pink, amongst many others. In 2017, he founded Ubuntu Music, the independent jazz record label whose artists include Darius Brubeck, Chet Baker, Eric Alexander, Harold Mabern, Paul Booth, Tim Garland and rising stars from all corners of the world.

]Link: www.weareubuntumusic.com

Ubuntu Music Signs London-South African Collaboration, Equal Spirits, For Album Release

Equal Spirits / Wise and Waiting

Release Date: 26th April 2024

CD, Digital & Vinyl Formats / UBU0157

Equal Spirits / Sumo Sound Recording Studio / Johannesburg, South Africa. Back left to right: Amaeshi Ikechi, Siphiwe Shiburi, Lungelo Mntambo, Sonny Johns, Yonela Mnana, Raph Clarkson. Front: Nosihe Zulu. Just behind Nosihe: Tshepo Mothwa (Photographer: Nosihe Zulu)

Ubuntu Music, in collaboration with ECN Music, is delighted to announce the signing of Equal Spirits, for the release of Wise and Waiting, an extraordinary project led by composer/arranger/multi-instrumentalist Raph Clarkson, which features musicians from London and South Africa.

Equal Spirits brings together a genre-defying mix of South African spiritual jazz, ambient improvised introspection, bursts of old-school hip-hop and electronica, soaring melodies, synths, samples and gospel-infused grooves, woven together with sung and spoken languages from Zulu, Sotho, Yoruba and Xhosa to Arabic and English.

Leader/Composer/Arranger Raph Clarkson (Photographer: Jake Walker)

Raph explains: “Equal Spirits was born due to my love of playing South African jazz, experiencing this wonderful contribution to the U.K. scene by exiled South African musicians from the 1950s onwards as I grew up in London. I got the opportunity to travel to South Africa in 2017 to develop my playing and knowledge of this music, and as part of this I wrote a set of music with which I intended to celebrate the connection between and contribution of South African musicians to U.K. jazz and improvised music. This led to the recording of ‘Wise and Waiting’ in 2020 - with an added dimension being my conviction that the new and current generations of South African musicians still of course have so much to offer us and the world, and I am delighted that this album provides a platform for their magnificent and joyful voices and artistry.”

Raph continues, describing the music: “The music of ‘Wise and Waiting’ is enormously varied - plenty is written by me with crucial and beautiful songwriting, spoken word and lyric contributions from Nosihe Zulu and NoZaka. There is also music by bassist Amaeshi Ikechi and a number of tracks that were born out of improvisations in the studio, which were then developed into fully formed compositions under the wise and delicate hand of producer Sonny Johns. Stylistically we move from traditional South African jazz styles, from Mbaqanga to more modern gospel-infused grooves and songs, from Fela Kuti inspired brass to sample-heavy drum and bass feels to English church inspired choral meditations and chants. There are 24 musicians featured across the album and each lends a distinctive creative touch to the patchwork, multi-genre listening experience.”

Left to right: Amaeshi Ikechi, Raph Clarkson, Yonela Mnana, Nosihe Zulu. (Photographer: Nosihe Zulu)

Raph elaborates on his newly formed relationship with Ubuntu Music: “It is a real thrill and very special to find like-minded creative people who love music and love to support musicians and artists in these kinds of endeavours. I am delighted to be working on this release with Martin and his fantastic team at Ubuntu – Ubuntu, which is the Zulu word for one-ness, for unity, for humanity, sometimes translated as “I am because we are” – a perfect home for this ensemble of Equal Spirits, celebrating the voices of South Africa.”

Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, shares his perspective: “This project is a perfect match for Raph and for Ubuntu Music. South African culture runs deep in both of us. I recently spent three years living and working in the country, absorbing the fascinating array eclectic musical strands, which are indigenous to the people and their way of life. Raph has seamlessly brought together musicians from London and from SA to create a unique and compelling blend of spiritual jazz, for all to savour. It’s a pleasure to welcome Raph and his musical partners as new members of the Ubuntu Music Family.”

For further information, please contact:

Raph Clarkson (Artist):  raphaelclarkson@gmail.com

Emma Perry/UK Publicity:  emma@ecnmusic.com

Martin Hummel/Ubuntu Music (Worldwide):  martin@ubuntumanagementgroup.com

Artist: Tehlai X (Botswana)

EQUAL SPIRITS

The Equal Spirits project has its beginnings in Raph Clarkson’s love of South African Township Jazz. With the huge legacy gifted to UK Jazz by South African exiled musicians from the 1960s onwards, British/London jazz of the 2000s and 2010s naturally supported music making inspired by South Africa and South African musicians. Raph found himself playing the music of the SA jazz greats in a variety of ensembles, before developing a connection with SA harmonica and piano player Adam Glasser.

Raph’s interest developed to a point where he wanted to delve deeper, and with the support of funding from Help Musicians UK, developed a project with Adam’s help that led to him touring South Africa in 2018 with three different sets of musicians in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, and for which he wrote a set of original material. Such was the success of this trip, that Raph asked Sonny Johns to produce a recording on a return trip in 2020.

The core rhythm section/ensemble was drawn from the 2018 Johannesburg band, with Nosihe Zulu an audience member for the 2018 Durban gig, who then took on one of the tracks - ‘Skip’ - and wrote her own melody and Zulu lyrics in 2018-19. This led to Raph inviting her to be part of the core 2020 recording.

When it came to the 2020 recording project, there were three essential creative-process threads:

-    fully formed compositions (from 2018) by Raph that gave space for improvisation and creative contributions from the core musicians

-    compositions (from 2018) that became Equal collaborations alongside Nosihe and NoZaka, with the vocalists often contributing melodies and lyrics to Raph’s (and Amaeshi Ikechi’s) instrumental sketches

-    completely democratic group improvisations, that were later edited into structures by Sonny and Raph, and added to with arrangements for and by UK and SA musicians

The 2020 Johannesburg recording took place at Peter Auret’s famed Sumo Studio - and it became just the first step in an organic process of continued editing, mixing, arrangement, further recording and layering, rearrangement, re- editing, re-mixing, etc, over the next year and a half. A series of UK musicians added their creative and instrumental voices to the record, as did core SA band musicians, with Sonny shaping the process towards the album’s final iteration.

UK contributions ranged from a string quartet, an SATB four piece ‘choir’, to sampling/processing by Elliot Galvin, three different percussionists, synths/church organ/Hammond organ, and a horn section including Mark Lockheart and Chris Batchelor (who was part of Chris Macgregor’s Brotherhood of Breath and has toured South Africa with Tete Mbambisa).

At its heart, the Equal Spirits ensemble and Wise and Waiting are creative endeavours that seek to celebrate our shared humanity, our connectedness, and the precious equality of our deepest artistic expressions.