Leyla McCalla - Breaking The Thermometer [LP]

ANTI

£22.93

Cat. no: 279121
Format: LP
Barcode: 8714092791211
Release Date: 24 Jun 2022
Genre: Folk

Black vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.Leyla McCalla fnds inspiration from her past and present, whether it is her Haitian heritage or her adopted home of New Orleans, she — a bilingual multi-instrumentalist and alumna of Grammy award-winning African-American string band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops — has risen to produce a distinctive sound that refects the union of her roots and experience

McCalla has produced a multi- disciplinary music, dance and theatre work, Breaking the Thermometer to Hide the Fever, which follows her personal journey as she uncovers the history of Radio Haiti, the frst radio station in Haiti to report news in Haitian Kreyol - the voice of the people. Through this juxtaposition of
voices - the personal and political, the anecdotal and the journalistic - McCalla gives expression to the enduring spirit of Haiti's marginalized poor in the face of several centuries of political oppression. Performances of the theatre work are currently scheduled in New Orleans and Philadelphia with more to be announced in soon. The process of creating Breaking the Thermometer to Hide the Fever included listening to countless archival recordings of interviews by Radio Haiti's journalists, and McCalla specifcally wrote "Fort Dimanche" after listening to a testimonial interview that Michele Montas - the prominent former journalist and station director at Radio Haiti - had conducted with a survivor of Duvalier's political prison. In the interview, the man outlined his living conditions, the daily terror and torture that these political prisoners were subjected to and the events that led to his arrest. This album is a soundtrack of sorts to the theatre piece, featuring the songs that Leyla McCalla wrote and performs in this work.

CD Tracks: Nan Fon Bwa / Fort Dimanche / Bon Appetit Messieurs / Le Bal Est Fini / Dan Reken / Dodinin / Ekzile / Pouki / You Don't Know Me / Jean And Michele / Vini Wé / Artibonite / Still Looking / Memory Song / Boukman's Prayer

LP Tracks: Nan Fon Bwa / Fort Dimanche / Bon Appetit Messieurs / Le Bal Est Fini / Dan Reken / Dodinin / Ekzile / Pouki / You Don't Know Me / Jean And Michele / Vini Wé / Artibonite / Still Looking / Memory Song / Boukman's Prayer