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ReleaseProduct
Bahir
Artist
Dexter Story
Label
Soundway Records
Catalogue Number
SNDWLP128D
Release Date
March 15, 2019

Dexter Story is an artistic spirit in the truest sense of the phrase. From his work as a multi-instrumentalist for acts like the Sa-Ra Creative Partners, to his management role with Snoop Dogg and his turn producing Daymé Arocena’s 2017 album Cubafonia, Story understands the business from every conceivable angle.

Initially inspired by the music and cultures pervasive throughout the Horn of Africa, Story translated his experiences there into his previous album Wondem, followed closely by the single Wejene Aola featuring jazz luminary Kamasi Washington, both on Soundway Records. If Wondem was a brief glance into Story’s new creative vision, Bahir is a pinpoint refinement of that purpose, the fine-tuning and expanding of the world he created on his Soundway debut.

On Bahir, Story steps in front of those influences and melds his world into the one he fell in love with so strongly while in Africa. One way in which he’s done so is by incorporating musicians from both sides of this coin. LA luminaries are featured throughout, as are African contemporaries he encountered throughout his travels. Sudan Archives gives a show-stealing vocal performance on “Gold”, while the Ethiopian producer Endeguena Mulu adds impenetrable and psychedelic texture to the album’s title track.

So Bahir finds the polymath musician not stuck between two worlds, but as a member of both. We get Ethiopian jazz tonalities, Tuareg grooves, eskista dance rhythms, Afro-funk, Somalian soul and forays into more contemporary jazz rhythms, too. Angelenos like Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Josef Leimberg give the record its backbone, while tributes to Ethiopian devotional music such as "Desta's Groove Pt.II" give Bahir its glimmer and shine.

NOTES FOR VINYL VERSION:

*Please note tracks A1 and A2 merge into each other on the vinyl ("Techawit" & "Bila") *Track B4 "Shuruba Song" is only available on vinyl - the instrumental version of the same song is available on digital as "Desta's Groove Pt.II" *Track "Chemin De Fer" is not available on vinyl - digital release only

Digital Tracklist

  1. 1 Techawit 1:29 Buy

    Techawit

  2. 2 Bila 4:07 Buy

    Bila

  3. 3 Gold 3:19 Buy

    Gold

  4. 4 Ras 3:38 Buy

    Ras

  5. 5 Mamdooh 4:44 Buy

    Mamdooh

  6. 6 Buna Be Chow 3:40 Buy

    Buna Be Chow

  7. 7 Electric Gurage 3:03 Buy

    Electric Gurage

  8. 8 Jijiga Jijiya 4:26 Buy

    Jijiga Jijiya

  9. 9 Chemin de fer 3:37 Buy

    Chemin de fer

  10. 10 Desta's Groove 1:24 Buy

    Desta's Groove

  11. 11 Desta's Groove Pt.II 3:38 Buy

    Desta's Groove Pt.II

  12. 12 Bahir 4:29 Buy

    Bahir

  13. 13 Abebaye 2:56 Buy

    Abebaye

Dexter Story

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