Renell Shaw returns with Echo in the Bones

Echo In The Bones is a new body of work composed by Renell Shaw to be broadcast on 31 October at 7.30PM as part of Black History Month 2020. The music will be broadcast on Youtube and other social media platforms with a specially created montage of visuals. The music will be available for download on Bandcamp and other digital service providers.

Following on from the success of Shaw’s Windrush Suite (see below), Echo In The Bones forms the second suite in a trio of compositions written and arranged by Renell Shaw, and funded by the Arts Council of England in association with The Shape of Jazz to Come and the Vortex Foundation.

The pieces take their themes from the routes of Black History: ‘The Ages of Enslavement’, ‘Colonialism’, ‘Empire’, and the ‘Felling of Icons’. Publicity for the work describes the motivations behind the music:

“Diasporic movement and trauma as well as creativity and resilience are written on the bodies and minds of the generations affected by the treacherous “triangular trade” across the Atlantic. The lives that were stolen in the enforced exodus from Africa are being re-made with new cultures in the Americas (including the Caribbean) Britain and Europe. Those imprisoned in the bowels of the mercantile ships still carried their cultures (including music) within them. Over time, scattered across the Americas, the music reverberated and morphed in the echo chamber of that new continent with sounds bouncing back and forth to the original continent (just look at the similarities between Caribbean Calypso and West African High Life). Ultimately, the rhythms also made their way to the belly of the beast – to the continent of the enslavers – and were re-made again with different harmonies and styles. This music is a movement, circulating and innovating as it moves within and between continents but always driven by the echoes of the past. We present Echo in the Bones, a journey of experiences throughout time translated by compositions and improvisors searching through the rhythms of the past and future.”

To watch the Echo in the Bones event visit: www.vortexjazz.co.uk/event/echo-in-the-bones/