Black Spirituals by Zachary James Watkins

DAT#14 was originally released on 23 July 2010 by The Tapeworm as TTW#22 in a cassette-only edition of 250 copies.

Here is the original press release:

Zachary James Watkins writes… “Black Spirituals was recorded during fall 2009 in Northern California. These four works grew out of intense dialogue with sound artist Morgan Craft that dealt with our mutual interests in questioning the stakes and pushing our art amidst a landscape of sameness... It’s these spaces where ideas on race, gender, sex, politics etc. inform the imaginations of artists in communities and influence new works. Also around this time, I found a dusty tape recording of a lecture from the late 70s on the topic of Black Spirituals given by scholar and musician Bernice Reagon an original member of the vocal group Sweet Honey on the Rock. This tape has helped me incorporate into my performance, stories and voices of New America. These improvised tapestries are tuned by ear and offered as meditations. What does Black Spirituals mean to you?” - Zachary James Watkins, Santa Cruz, CA, 24 March 2010.

Tracklist

1.	Black Spirituals I-IV	7:39

2.	Black Spirituals II-IV	20:10

3.	Black Spirituals III-IV	9:23

4.	Black Spirituals IV-IV	9:50

Credits

released July 23, 2021

Zachary James Watkins: PAiA analogue synthesiser (I-IV, IV-IV), guitar (II-IV, III-IV), bass (II-IV), SuperCollider (II-IV), cassette (III-IV), percussion (III-IV), Casio (III-IV, IV-IV). Jordan Glenn: drums and percussion (III-IV).

Tracks II-IV and III-IV engineered by The Norman Conquest in October 2009. Mixed and mastered by Zachary James Watkins 2009-2010.

Illustration – Sav X.

"he weighed nine pounds eight ounces and was 21¾ inches long"

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