The sixth studio album by the unique poet, novelist and musician, Anthony Joseph 'People of the Sun' sees Joseph return to his roots. Recorded on his native island of Trinidad, it's a tribute to the bubbling Port of Spain (POS), this meeting place of many cultures.
The album features a mixture of legendary local musicians, including Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, Brother Resistance, John John Francis, Ella Andall, 3 Canal, alongside Joseph's his core band of saxophonist Jason Yarde, who co-composed/arranged the album, bassist and composer Andrew John and drummer David Bitan.
With his inimitable talent for blending soul, funk, jazz and Trinidadian ingredients, to tell stories that open calmly and close in a frenzy of rhythms and horns, in fantastic fables and captivating verse, Anthony Joseph now reveals himself as a link between generations of Trinidadian musicians. Thanks to him, the generation steeped in local musical tradition, and the new generation, more open to current trends, joins forces. In 'People of the Sun' you have practitioners of steelpan, soca, Orisha, and rapso (a potent mix of black political verse, calypso and soca) working alongside the musician, following musical paths traced by the elders, fusing it anew with modern R&B, soul, rock, and broken beat.
Far from being an old-fashioned aural sepia rendition of the past, nor a digital reckoning of the present, what we have here is a fusion, resolutely pointing toward the future.
