Grand Union Orchestra - The Song Of Many Tongues (1986)

The Song of Many Tongues was commissioned by the GLC in 1984 to celebrate its ‘Year Against Racism’. It was first performed in Covent Garden Piazza on Sunday 2 September, and produced by Alternative Arts as part of their Music Festival. The Grand Union Orchestra was formed specially for the occasion; we recorded the work the following year, and continued to tour it across the whole of the UK. The Orchestra was made up of musicians from Ghana, South Africa, Chile, Trinidad and the USA, together with musicians from the British Isles, and it was their ‘tongues’ – languages, musical cultures, individual voices, and above all their experience – which gave, and still gives, the music its flavour. Since then, musicians of other nationalities such as India, Bangladesh, China, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Portugal and other African and South American countries have been added, giving the music many more musical dimensions and textures. The music, however, is not ‘ethnic’ or ‘world music’, but original, largely written by the Orchestra’s composter/director Tony Haynes. It belongs within the generous spirit and tradition of jazz, celebrating the richness and diversity of musical and other cultures which make up today’s multi-cultural Britain. It expresses, too, the depth of collective feeling of those who perform it. Originally released on cassette in 1986 and reissued on CD in 2014.

lison Limerick (England) voice, percussion
Andy Grappy (England/Caribbean) tuba
Avelia Moisey (England) trumpet, flugelhorn, voice
Butch Potter (England) bass guitar
Carlos Fuentes (Chile) percussion, guitar, voice
Chris Biscoe (England) soprano/alto saxophone, flute
Claude Deppa (South Africa) trumpet, flugelhorn
Courtney Pine (England/Jamaica) soprano/tenor saxophone, flute
Dave Adams (England) drums, tuned percussion, trombone
Gail Ann Dorsey (USA) voice, guitar
Gerry Hunt (England) soprano/baritone saxophone, guitar
Keith Morris (Wales) soprano/tenor saxophone, voice
Ken Johnson (Trinidad) steel drums, percussion
Rick Taylor (England) trombone
Ros Davies (Wales) trombone, piano
Sarah Laryea (Ghana) congas, voice, percussion
Tony Haynes (England) piano, tuned percussion, trombone
Vladimir Vega (Chile) voice, charango, panpipes, quena

Tracklist:
1.01 - Grand Union Orchestra - I Live In The City (5:38)
1.02 - Grand Union Orchestra - By The Waters Of Babylon (5:25)
1.03 - Grand Union Orchestra - Guinea Corn (4:38)
1.04 - Grand Union Orchestra - Dolce Catalunya (10:50)
1.05 - Grand Union Orchestra - Ballad of William L. Moore (6:04)
1.06 - Grand Union Orchestra - Hymn for the Homelands (4:52)
1.07 - Grand Union Orchestra - Spidertown (12:01)
1.08 - Grand Union Orchestra - Love That Day (5:41)