Kenwood Metajam Allstars official Release 9/22/2018!

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: Unity of purpose (K. Dennard) 11:11  •,••,••••,† 

2: Hair (W. Lugg, S. Anello, A. Enders, J. Marro, J. Kummer) 4:38  •••, ††

3: Sensei (K. Dennard)  5:34 •,••,†

4: Show No Fear (K. Dennard) 5:20 •,••,†, †† 

5: Heart of the Ocean (D. Brown) 6:01 •••, ††

6: La Toalla (K. Dennard) 5:12 •,••,†, ††

7: Just Advance, the Poem (K. Dennard) 4:29 •,••,••••• †,

8: Advance morse code intro (K. Dennard) 0:15  •,••,† Just

9: Just Advance (K. Dennard) 7:12 •,••,•••, •••• †,

• produced by Kenwood Dennard

•• co-produced by Cherie Dennard

••• co-produced by Delmar Brown

•••• co-produced by Brian Coombes

••••• production consultant, Alexander Anderson

†  recorded by Brian Coombes and Josh Kimball at Rocking Horse Studio, Pittsfield, NH

†† recorded mixed and engineered by Akihito Yoshikawa at Studio Dede, Tokyo, Japan.

All songs mixed by Brian Coombes at Rocking Horse Studio, Pittsfield, NH

All songs mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME

Cover artwork Anthony Ahearn

Cover Design: Kristina Craig

Photo Credits: Cherie Dennard

Kenwood Dennard (drums, vocals, keyboards, jaw harp)

Alexander Anderson (keyboards)

Stanley Jordan (guitar)

Vernon Reid (guitar)

Wes Wirth (bass percussion background vocals)

Delmar Brown (Keyboards, acoustic piano, background vocals)

TM Stevens: (electric bass and lead vocals)

Cherie Dennard (percussion, background vocals, handclaps)

Marco Martino (bass, background vocals)

Alice Brown (Background vocals and handclaps)

Ken-Ichi Brown (background vocals and handclaps)

Sand Edwards (background vocals and handclaps)

Jonathan Escalona (percussion)

Produced by Kenwood and Cherie Dennard for Groove Economy Records

© 2018 Whole Being Music ASCAP All Rights Reserved

Endorsements:  Pearl Drums, Willoughcraft drums, LP, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo, Beato, Vic Firth, Rhythm Tech, Zendrum, Pigtronix, Triplet Drum Glove.

Vernon Reid appears courtesy of Mascot Records

www.kenwooddennard.com

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Special thanks to:

Cherie Dennard for being the love of my life and for being a massive galaxy of support and inspiration, and for teaching me so much.

Gloria DeNard for bearing me, raising me to love others and teaching me to eat healthy food.

Dale Sims for helping raise me and being my big sister.

Toni Willoughby for being my “MOTHER in love”.

Frederick Dennard for being my father and teaching me unconditional love,

Delmar Brown for being my lifelong best friend and for teaching me to “shtack baboons”.

Alice and Ken-Ichi Brown, I love you both.

TM Stevens for being Sansho Kang and being the best in the world.

Stanley Jordan for being so awesome and for nailing the blues.

Michelle Coombes for lending us Brian.

Marco, Vince, Vicky and Pete Martino for being our New Hampshire Famiglia.

Jonathan Escalona for support and sincerity.

Bob, Gail, Adam and Tom at Gateway for being legendary and gracious.

Elijah Pratt for being part of our extended family on violin.

Narada Michael Walden for being a precious and respected inspiration.

Kristina Craig for doing a super job with CD and merch artwork

JM Zervoulei, John Ward and Chris Florio for helping up capture the precious moments.

Also to Tim Peterson, Joan Bansen, Heidi Vierthaler, Richard Cummings, Eloise and Russell Barnes and all the others who showed support to us so early in the game. Thank you for your Anonymous donations, you know who you are :)

Notes from my heart:

Song 01: UNITY OF PURPOSE!

This song is an example of metajamming – an improvisational technique I’ve developed over the years as a professor at Berklee College of Music.

Please check out my educational materials.

Let’s show the world how we “metajam”.

My friends, let us undertake this wonderful journey of life together.

No matter what race, gender, religion or lack thereof-

No matter what country, class, financial status, POLITICS or lack thereof,

We are still human beings!

Let’s seek a deep win/win paradigm together! Let’s share our common ground and let’s Jam on it:

Peace! Security! A Happy Life! True Prosperity!

Song 02: Hair!

Regardless of the length of your hair –or the lack THEREOF.

I extend my love and respect to your deepest humanity.

Song 03: Sensei!

Featuring TM Stevens on bass and lead vocals, this song is a beautiful example of the amazing musicianship of TM, who has now retired from his massive and musical career.

This song was one of Delmar’s last recordings before he passed away.

Although, at the time, he was fighting cancer, he was valiant, vibrant and masterful.

His son Ken-Ichi and wife Alice joined in on the background vocals.

Rest in peace, O mighty celestial Polyphonic Orchestrator.

Sensei means teacher!

Let’s make a world where we can learn from one another and call each other Sensei.

Song 04: Show No Fear

Within days of learning of our dear friend Delmar’s death, Vernon Reid flew up to New Hampshire and put the powerful finishing touches on this song.

This is dedicated to Vernon Reid and Delmar Brown for the special musical legacy we all share with Living Color and Bushrock.

Let’s fearlessly lay down a groove, America!

Let’s get our “SHIP” together. Let’s use A win/win/ paradigm!

                       Noon

(K. Dennard)

Hatred freezes hearts.

Let us listen, smile and love

Like the noonday sun.

-K. Dennard-

                      Midnight

                   (C. Dennard)

Stars in the heavens,

Courage in the dark of night.

Symbiotic life.

-C. Dennard

Song 05: Heart of the Ocean

This one is dedicated to Alice and Ken-Ichi Brown, who took such utterly heart warming and loving care of my best friend Delmar.

Song 06: La Toalla This one is a playful exploration of the Tao.

This song features another dear and special musical collaborator of mine, Stanley Jordan. He truly put his heart into this and I deeply appreciate it.

Stanley Jordan achieved a “metarhythm” by serendipitously driving down a near by highway at the precise moment when my wife, Cherie were working in the studio.

This song is dedicated to the memory of Lew Soloff who first featured La Toalla on his recording, “Hanalei Bay”, 1983.

Song 07: Just Advance (The Poem)

Shout out to Alexander Anderson for the suggestion that I create a tone poem with this poem. *Excerpt from the lyrics of the song Mercy me by Marvin Gaye

Special thanks to Wes and Cherie and Jonathan for helping me create a metajam soundscape for my debut spoken word performance.

Song 08: Just Advance (Morse Code Intro)

On this song I play the word justice in morse code, then I play it again while singing morse code offset by one 16th note.

Let’s not JUST advance, let’s advance JUSTICE! Let’s make a JUST advance!