The American Music Project: On The Bright Side

DeJuan “D Priest” Everett, rap/poetry
Curtis Isom, vocals
Curtis Isom, alto saxophone
Keith Javors, piano
Dave Ziegner, bass
Alex Brooks, drums

The barrier-breaking brainchild of Motor City urban rapper/poet Dejuan “D Priest” Everett and alto saxophonist/composer Dane Bays, the American Music Project (A.M.P.) brings together the worlds of jazz, hip hop, poetry, R&B, gospel, funk and Motown in an open minded marriage of words and music, wherein each form is represented at its highest level. Since making its first recorded appearance on pianist Keith Javors’ critically acclaimed ArtistShare album “The Free Project,” the Detroit-based group has evolved into a truly cooperative unit in which each member- " D Priest, Bays and Javors, and their colleagues, bassist Dave Ziegner, drummer Alex Brooks and vocalist Curtis Isom - " contributes equally to the band’s “dialect spinning jazz concepts.”

“This is our music - American music - Miles, Coltrane, Billy Holiday, Stevie Wonder, Tupac Shakur,” proclaims D Priest, during the date’s opening track, “Welcome,” on which he introduces listeners, emcee style, to the band’s individual members and their group’s musical outlook. Bays explains A.M.P.’s creative philosophy - “We try to meet the non-standard jazz listener half way, by playing music that appeals to a broader audience while maintaining the level of integrity for which traditional jazz is known.” D Priest speaks to the group’s message of optimism, a conscious alternative to the mindless rage of much modern rap music. “I believe in positive feelings, positive thoughts,” he says. “It’s the truth and the truth don’t stop.”

With musical antecedents in the revolutionary black jazz of the sixties and seventies, the American Music Project is forward-looking. Completely contemporary in its distinctly modern sound, the group’s potency is nevertheless strengthened by its awareness of the tradition out of which it has emerged and its undeniable desire to affect constructive change, now. Centered around the rhythmic, rapid-fire rapping of D Priest, A.M.P.’s music aggressively demands attention, while delivering a message that is more positive and conciliatory than that generally heard in rap. This is empowering mind-expanding music for the era of Obama.

Contemporary in its flavor, tradition-intensifying in its scope, the sound of the American Music Project’s “On The Bright Side” is one whose time has come. Its goal - to bring the harmonious message of jazz to wider spectrum of largely unaware younger listeners while playing the music with the honesty and passion to which rap claims to aspire but seldom achieves - is much more than laudable, it’s essential if jazz is to continue to grow and rap is to reach its full potential. The first full-length effort by the group should find A.M.P. a receptive audience among fans of all kinds of music.