bassmagazine.com ; ISSUE 4 ; BASS MAGAZINE 49
year intervals.” Those four centuries became
the structural components of the suite, with
each era represented by two or three pieces.
The first section, Century One, begins
with “Arrival,” a sort of overture featur-
ing some of the key players who are heard
throughout, including guitarist Kevin Eu-
banks, saxophonist/flutist Don Braden, and
drummer Ronnie Burrage, who has been col-
laborating with Sharpe since the 1980s. After
an opening instrumental theme, we hear the
Extended Family Choir — a six-voice group
that includes Sharpe’s brother, sister, niece,
and nephew — singing “stolen from my land”
in Swahili. After guitar and tenor sax solos,
there is a call-and-response section with
Sharpe’s bass and Tendai Muparutsa’s djem-
be (an African goblet-shaped drum) answer-
ing the choir, as they sing “the new world”
in Swahili. The voices and instruments then
unite for a closing theme.
The second piece is called “Is There a
Way Home” and expresses the longing of the
slaves for their African homeland. “I did that
tune for a play with the actress Jasmine Guy,
called Raisin’ Cane, which was based on the
literary work of Jean Toomer,” says Sharpe.
“It’s not angry — it’s more like a lullaby.”
Sharpe’s solo on the tune is like a griot’s tale,
with flurries of notes, double-stops, and as-
cending phrases that combine to create a nar-
rative arc.
Century Two begins with “Colonial Life,”
a tune that brings to mind another great bass-
ist–composer, Charles Mingus. Reminiscent
of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” the piece is not
a blues in the conventional 12-bar sense but
has, as Sharpe puts it, “tinges of the blues.” He
readily acknowledges the influence of Mingus
on his work — “big time,” he says, “in terms
of bass playing and as a composer and lead-
ing the band. He’s probably one of my biggest
inspirations.” On “Colonial Life,” Kevin Eu-
banks’ guitar is featured, with strong rhythmic
backing from Sharpe and Burrage. “On that
one,” Sharpe explains, “we’re starting to get toAvery Sharpe