Tarus Mateen is a name that makes people’s heads nod in reverence in many circles of music. The legendary bass player has played with everyone from Betty Carter and Jason Moran to Terence Blanchard, Common, and many more. Without a doubt, his resume as a prolific sideman speaks for itself many times over, but he also has an equally resonant voice as a leader, and his recent release Arising Saints Volume 1: Family, is just but a glimpse of the genius of this amazing artist!
The album features his two older brothers Radji Mateen on saxophone, and Umar Mateen on drums, as well as longtime bandmate Jason Moran on Rhodes. Tamika Love Jones is the vocalist on Still, Brittany Tanner singing on Be You, Tara Alesia vocals on Arising Saints, Ray Arbuckle dropping the beats on Tracks 6, 10, and 12, Mondo Arbuckle rapping on Soundcheck, and of course, the maestro himself on bass guitar and a plethora of other instruments heard. The twenty-track album pays homage to many things dear to Tarus including his family, special moments in his life such as the birth of his son, his spiritual beliefs, and of course the love for his bass. Mateen envisioned the music from this project to be “meditation for the soul” and it definitely takes one on a journey. With a myriad of influences from African music, to jazz, to Soul, R&B, and Rap, it is music that embodies his evolution on this earth as an artist and a human being.
This biographical soundtrack starts with Mateen paying homage to the bass, which is the backbone of any music. They don’t say it is all about that bass for no reason! Africa Tarus not only is a tribute to the motherland of Africa, but also to Thelonious Monk, who would often title songs with his own name in them. Ode for Yusef Lateef and Idris Muhammad, a.k.a West Afro East, features Mateen playing a wooden flute from Indonesia on this composition in honor of Yusef Lateef and Idris Muhammad. My personal favorite, Still, features the soulful voice of Tamika Love Jones and I love the flow of this song. It’s lyrical and Tarus’ playing behind it is simply exquisite as it just flows nonstop! Lights on Blast, tells of a dream Radji Mateen had about seeing their deceased father with their spiritual leader from Senegal, and they were surrounded by light, which Tarus says makes him happy. He recalls the past and how much his father had a hand in shaping his musical life, as his father was a percussionist. The twenty-track album pays homage to many things dear to Tarus including his family, special moments in his life such as the birth of his son, his spiritual beliefs, and of course the love for his bass. Friday Zikr Chant is almost 12 minutes in length, and I for one, appreciate that he does this as not a lot of artists just let the music flow like this anymore. This selection is full of amazing melodies and harmonies that it seems like could be the basis for an album by itself. All these compositions are very personal in nature and one can definitely feel the emotional state of Mateen through all of his music.
In his Instagram recount of his vision of this album, Mateen talks about how he chose this title to deal with the subject of melanated people and how they can and are becoming illuminated people, which is something that I truly found interesting and very inspiring. I think Tarus is one of the few rare artists whose humanity and musical voice are on in the same and are intrinsically intertwined. Tarus speaks of the development of spirituality needing time much like his process of making this record. Well if that is the case, I say it was time very well spent as this album speaks to the listener on so many levels, and I can’t wait until he shares more of this uplifting music to take us to the next realm!
For further information on Tarus, please visit.
- https://www.tarusmateen.com
- https://www.tarusmateen.com/album-store
- http://www.instagram.com/tarusmateen
- https://youtu.be/MKP97VQ0h7s
Photography by Marlon Hightower
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