Various Artists John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop

• 1. John Sinclair Introduction / Yusef Lateef - – Happy Ology
• 2. Donald Byrd – Christo Redentor
• 3. Donald Byrd – Blackjack
• 4. Detroit Contemporary 4 – Effi
• 5. Detroit Contemporary 4 – The Promise
• 6. Detroit Contemporary 4 – Three Flowers (Cd Only)
• 7. Bennie Maupin Quartet – Water Torture
• 8. Ron English – Bees
• 9. Teddy Harris – Passion Dance
• 10. Lyman Woodard – Deja Vu
• 11. Lyman Woodard – Help Me Get Away

Sinclair and trumpeter Charles Moore, the Artists Workshop Society was formed as a co-operative community, drawing upon the resources of every participating individual in order to perpetuate itself. They began to provide spaces in Detroit for musicians to rehearse and to promote live concerts showcasing a range progressive jazz artists across the city.

Between the mid-‘60s and the early ‘80s, Sinclair amassed a huge archive of recordings from the Workshop concerts featuring Detroit residents like Moore’s Contemporary 5, Ron English and Lyman Woodard alongside many other US jazz luminaries including Donald Byrd, Sun Ra Arkestra and Herbie Hancock. Dormant in the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Brooklyn for many years, Strut and Art Yard began their research into the archives in 2017. This first compilation of Detroit Artists Workshop is a revelation for any fan of jazz, featuring previously unreleased recordings by Byrd, Moore, English, Woodard, Bennie Maupin and Teddy Harris accompanied by extensive sleeve notes from John Sinclair, Robin Eichele and Herb Boyd. All tracks are remastered from the original tapes by Technology Works.