Name: Elegia
Brand: Lloyd McNeill

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

SJRCD429

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

1000

Release date

2019-09-27

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Redeye

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

5026328104294

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Total Cap

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Lloyd McNeill

Genre US

Jazz

Label US

Soul Jazz

Lloyd McNeill is a multidisciplinary artist, well known for his drawing and painting. He was born on April 12, 1935 in Washington, DC, USA and sadly passed away on November 5, 2021 in Brooklyn, NYC, USA. In addition to being a talented musician and composer, he was also a music anthropologist, poet, teacher, and producer.

During the 1960s, McNeill actively participated in the civil-rights movement while producing music for ballet performances as well as creating paintings and installations. His unique musical style combines jazz with Latin, Brazilian and African rhythms that he learned during his travels through Africa and Brazil. Throughout his career as a musician, he collaborated with notable artists such as Nina Simone, Naná Vasconcelos, Ron Carter, Cecil McBee, and many more.

Living in Paris in 1965 allowed McNeill to become friends with Picasso himself. This connection greatly influenced his artistic journey. His deep understanding of various cultures shaped not only his music but also his approach to visual arts. Lloyd McNeill's legacy encompasses not only his contributions to the world of music but also his impactful work as a painter and teacher.

Soul Jazz Records release flautist Lloyd McNeill’s album Elegia (1980). Originally released on the artists’ own private press Baobab label in New York, the album is a serious collector’s piece, a heavyweight and fascinating fusion of deep spiritual jazz with Brazilian and rhythms and melodies. The album has been out of print for nearly 40 years.

This groundbreaking album is the culmination of Lloyd McNeill’s many years involved with Brazilian musicians and features the great percussionist Nana Vasconcelos alongside fellow Brazilian’s Portinho and Dom Salvador alongside US jazz musicians including bassist Cecil McBee. In a 50-year musical career, McNeill has worked with many artists including Nina Simone, Eric Dolphy, Mulatu Asatke and Sabu Martinez.

McNeill grew up during the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and his life and work is a reflection of those ideals. All of his music was only ever released on his own private-press record label, echoing the Civil Rights and African-American themes of the era - black economic empowerment and self-sufficiency - and there is a beautiful spirituality in all his music. In the late 1960s McNeill became a teacher of both jazz and painting at the New Thing Art and Architecture Center in Washington and in 1969 was the first African-American professor hired to teach African-American Music History, at Rutgers University.

This album is fully re-mastered from original source and is re-released on Soul Jazz Records for the first time ever.

Elegia

Music US