Â
Whispers from the Archive
The new release from
Juma Sultan’s
Aboriginal Music Society
  Porter RecordsÂ
“(T)he legacy and true masterful presence of a living legend is brought to the public’s attention…” soundcolourvibration.com
“(T)he release is a much-needed look at his mighty talents back in the day – and a picture of a very underground level of American jazz that goes deeper than even some of the more-recorded avant players of the time!” www.dustygroove.com
  
Father of Origin Â
Aboriginal Music Society
Eremite Records
“A cool, collected document…” Ben Ratliff, New York Times
“It’s thrilling stuff…” Dusted Magazine Review
“…the veil has just been lifted…. a stunning box….” destination-out.com
                                               ”…mind blowing and inspiring… these monumental and historical recordings…”
                                             soundcolourvibration.com
For Ipad via Apple Ibooks or Kindle Fire via Amazon:
             Reel History: The Lost Archive of Juma Sultan and the Aboriginal Music Society
          Stephen Farina, Wesleyan University Press   
Â
Recent Samples From Juma’s Archive:
Â
JUMA SULTAN
“July 8, 1973: This day should be dedicated to all of the musicians who dedicated their lives to music. This includes all of the greatly known and unknown innovators of the past, the present, and the future.
All should come together and make a joyous sound of love and peace…”
Juma Sultan’s planning notebook for the 1973 New York Musicians Jazz Festival.
The sounds–joyous and otherwise–that Juma Sultan called for on that summer day in ’73 arose during one of the least documented and most misunderstood eras of 20th Century progressive music: the so-called “Loft Era” of American Jazz. With its roots in the 1960′s avant garde, the Loft Era emerged during the early 1970′s in venues such as Studio We, Studio Rivbea, Artist’s House, The Ladies Fort, Ali’s Alley, and Studio WIS.
This website begins to open a new window on the era by providing a small set of samples from a large unpublished cache of audio recordings, film, and photos produced and recorded by musician, social activist, and documentarian, Juma Sultan. This collection was stored privately in an old barn for years and is only now being uncovered by Juma Sultan with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Communication & Media Department of Clarkson University.
Juma began recording in the 1960′s and continued this work for over twenty years. Here you will find samples from recordings of rehearsals and concert dates from 1968 through 1974.
Shot mostly during the New York Musicians Festivals of the early 1970′s. Here you will find samples of concert footage from a variety of venues, including Studio We, Studio Rivbea, Central Park, and Marcus Garvey Park.
These images span musicians and performances from Woodstock, NY to the New York Musicians Organization Jazz Festivals of the early 1970′s.
“…to capture that particular spirit was something that I just innately felt responsible to do. Since I had ears, I could hear the music.  And so many young musicians knew that I had this equipment, and they asked me to come and record…”
An interview with Juma Sultan, Summer 2006
We invite you to explore this website to discover some of the music, images, and history that emanated from New York City and from Woodstock, NY in the late 1960′s and 1970′s – captured in a collection of recordings, films, and photographs that few knew still existed. Herein lies a small sampler of Juma Sultan’s Archive.