Jeff Majors / FOR US ALL (YOKA BOKA)

Inspired by a trip to West Africa’s Gambia, For Us All (Yoka Boka) and its title track finds Majors coming fully into his own as an artist, fusing the lofty sensibilities he absorbed from the cosmic jazz masters Coltrane and Brother Ah with an accessible sonic palette drawn from the synth-driven electronic sounds of 1980’s soul music, as well as traditional African instruments. Each song on this album is an inspired vision of the personal and the devotional via the harp’s universal glistening tones, shimmering synths, LinnDrum machine and African percussion. The album opener Yasmeen is a pulsing, arpeggiated journey that is genre-defying and absolutely transcendent in its glissando-driven momentum, setting the stage for the album’s unique nexus of sounds, all led by the refined virtuosity of Majors’ harp playing. The rest of the album’s originals and covers (check the sublime arrangement of the Gershwins’ Summertime) are equally as unique and compelling.
Newly remastered limited pressing with new artwork by Tom Henry. Includes 8-page booklet with a detailed interview with Jeff Majors by Prince Language.