Heroes Are Gang Leaders was founded in 2014 by poet, photographer and professor Thomas Sayers Ellis and saxophonist James Brandon Lewis as a tribute to the late poet, activist and Jazz Critic Amiri Baraka. Ellis and Lewis opened for Baraka at the St Marks Church (The Poetry Project) in 2013. HAGL is a Literary Free Jazz Ensemble of writers, artists and musicians dedicated to the sound extensions of literary text and original composition. Between 2014 and 2019 HAGL recorded six projects: “The Amiri Baraka Sessions,” “The Avant-Age Garde I AMs of the Gal Luxury,” “Highest Engines Near / Near Higher Engineers,” “Flukum (Your Book Sucks)” and the yet to be released “POPschutz” (recorded in Berlin, Germany) during HAGL’s first European Tour.
Artificial Happiness Button finds HAGL moving from tribute-mode into the wider realm of integrating and expanding, in meaning and mode, what it means to be a literary jazz band once described as “a version of Funkadelic playing the Archie Shepp song book.”
credits
released March 20, 2020
01 “Artificial Happiness Button”
James Brandon Lewis, Sax
Luke Stewart, Bass
Janice Lowe, Keyboards
Brandon Moses, Guitar
Heru Shabaka-ra, Trumpet
Warren “Trae” Crudup, Drums
Melanie Dyer, Viola
Devin Brahja Waldman, Synthesizer
Margaret Morris, Vocals
Poems by Crystal Good and Randall Horton
Background Vocals
Nettie Chickering
Christian Black
Bonita Penn
No Land
Crystal Good
Janice Lowe
Randall Horton
Devin Brahja Waldman
Thomas Sayers Ellis
James Brandon Lewis
Words by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Composed by James Brandon Lewis
Arranged by James Brandon Lewis and Thomas Sayers Ellis
Ambrose Bye, Engineer
Title and Song Lyrics by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Excerpt from Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein, Read by No Land
02 “Mista Sippy”
James Brandon Lewis, Tenor Sax
Luke Stewart, Bass
Janice Lowe, Keyboards
Melanie Dyer, Viola
Brandon Moses, Guitar
Heru Shabaka-ra, Trumpet
Warren “Trae” Crudup, Drums
Devin Brahja Waldman, Alto Sax
Janice Lowe, Lead Vocals
Nettie Chickering, Vocals
Poem by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Poem Support by Crystal Good, Randall Horton, Bonita Penn and Christian Black
No Land, Voice
Matthew Alexander, George Wallace Reenactment (Song Intro)
Anonymous woman talking about lynching recorded by Thomas Sayers Ellis at Amtrak Station, Tampa, Florida, September 22, 2016
Background Vocals
Janice Lowe
James Brandon Lewis
Crystal Good
Title and Song Lyrics by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Composed by Luke Stewart
Arranged by TSE / Produced by TSE
Ambrose Bye, Engineer
03 “Hurt Cult”
Margaret Morris, Voice
James Brandon Lewis, Sax
Luke Stewart, Bass
Heru Shabaka-ra, Trumpet
Janice Lowe, Keyboards
Warren “Trae” Crudup, Drums
Title by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Original Bass line by Luke Stewart / Improvised by Heroes Are Gang Leaders
Recorded by Thomas Harris
Reproduced and Reengineered by Ambrose Bye
04 “London Butterfield”James Brandon Lewis, Tenor Sax
Luke Stewart, Electric Bass
William Parker, Upright Bass
Heru Shabaka-ra, Trumpet
Janice Lowe, Keyboards
Devin Brahja Waldman, Alto Sax
Sean Berry, Drums
Margaret Morris, Lead Vocals and Voice
Thomas Sayers Ellis, Lead Vocals
Background Vocals:
Margaret Morris
Janice Lowe
Randall Horton
No Land
Em Rose
Crystal Good
London Butterfield
James Brandon Lewis
Thomas Sayers Ellis
Composed by James Brandon Lewis
Music by James Brandon Lewis
Words by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Arranged by James Brandon Lewis and Thomas Sayers Ellis
Ambrose Bye, Engineer
Song Title and Lyrics by Thomas Sayers Ellis
05 “The Day We Gave the Globes Back”Jamie “Breezy” Branch, Trumpet
James Brandon Lewis, Tenor Sax, Vocals
Devin Brahja Waldman, Alto Sax
Luke Stewart, Bass, Vocals, Wood Blocks
Janice Lowe, Keyboards, Flute, Vocals
Margaret Morris, Lead Vocals
Randall Horton, Poem
Nettie Chickering, Vocals
Warren “Trae” Crudup, Drums, Cocoapods
No Land, Poem, Vocals
Crystal Good, Vocals
Jenna Camille, Vocals, Background Singing
Samantha Riott, Vocals
Thomas Sayers Ellis, Vocals, Whistle
Ambrose Bye, Background Vocals
Anne Waldman, Background Vocals
Part 1 Composed by James Brandon Lewis
Part 2 Composed by Janice Lowe
Title and Song Lyrics by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Poems by Thomas Sayers Ellis, Randall Horton and No Land
Composed and Arranged by Janice Lowe and James Brandon Lewis
Ambrose Bye, Engineer
06 “The End of the Babysitting of Traumatized Grown Ass Men”James Brandon Lewis, Piano
Luke Stewart, Electric Bass
Heru Shabaka-ra, Trumpet
Devin Brahja Waldman, Alto Sax
Savannah Grace Harris, Drums
Improvisation by Thomas Sayers Ellis, Randall Horton and Savannah Grace Harris
No Land, Voice
Janice Lowe, Vocals
Savannah Grace Harris, Vocals
Composed by James Brandon Lewis
Title by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Arranged by James Brandon Lewis
Ambrose Bye, Engineer
07 “Internet Kill Switch”Thomas Sayers Ellis, Poem, Background Vocals
James Brandon Lewis, Tenor Sax, Background Vocals
William Parker, Upright Bass
Luke Stewart, Electric Bass
Melanie Dyer, Viola
Jamie "Breezy" Branch, Intro Poem Trumpet
Janice Lowe, Keyboards
Margaret Morris, Voice and Improvised Vocals
Cecilia Vicuna, Voice
No Land, Background Voice
Em Rose, Background Voice
Heru Shabaka-ra, Trumpet
Devin Brahja Waldman, Alto Sax
Warren “Trae” Crudup, Drums
Randall Horton, Background Vocals
Title by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Composition Foundation by Luke Stewart & Warren “Trae” Crudup
Song Improvised by Heroes Are Gang Leaders
Ambrose Bye, Engineer
supported by 83 fans who also own “Artificial Happiness Button”
I was brought here after listening to a live performance of Makaya's on you tube. I instantly loved the song Holy Lands so much that I had to see if the album version was the same rendition as the live one. Then I listened to the whole album! Universal Beings is a just a groove... It's a mix of traditional and something new, very nice. pandr1900
Jazz, funk, and hip-hop grooves drive the latest release by a world-class Dallas collective steered by Snarky Puppy's percussion duo. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 21, 2024
supported by 64 fans who also own “Artificial Happiness Button”
Intriguing, enchanting and terrifying all at once. To me it's the perfect soundtrack I'd envision for waking up in a strange nation and not knowing the name of the place, or any contextual understanding about the culture, or even remembering how you got there in the first place. It has the capacity to be a negative or positive experience in equal measure, a testament to the two talented women behind this record. Ben Harris
