Primordial Waters Jamael Dean

• 1 Èṣù 04:07
• 2 Odù Tó Dá Ìwà 06:00
• 3 Orí Apẹrẹ 10:09
• 4 Ifá 03:40
• 5 Akoda 10:00
• 6 Overstood 11:06
• 7 Ṣàngó 04:42
• 8 Ọranmiyan 05:09
• 9 Galaxy In Leimert 11:47
• 10 Ọṣun 01:29
• 11 Ba'Ra'Ka 02:44
• 12 Orí Inu 02:57
• 13 Oye 02:31
• 14 Abyss 03:53
• 15 Galaxy 4 Leimert 04:02
• 16 Ọya 02:07
• 17 Time 03:30
• 18 Thicket 03:40
• 19 Aiku 03:03
• 20 Lake Corcoran 02:25
• Total Runtime 01:39:01

Info for Primordial Waters

Stones Throw is proud to announce Jamael Dean’s debut album, Primordial Waters, out on October 29th. To coincide with the announcement, Jamael shares the album’s lead single. “Èṣù” is a jazz fusion interpretation of a traditional Yoruba spiritual melody. The song tells the story of the wise ancient childlike divinity who was the first to be present during creation, and who currently resides at the crossroads of life and one’s decisions. These Orisha stories and Jamael’s Los Angeles roots are the guiding principles of Primordial Waters. Heavily infused with Yoruba spirituality and celestial themes, the album sees the prodigiously talented young musician take his explorations in jazz and hip-hop to new heights. Frequent collaborator Sharada Shashidhar contributes vocals throughout the album.

It was on his debut EP for Stones Throw, Black Space Tapes, that Jamael Dean first attempted to create music inspired by ancestral Yoruba stories. He continued these ideas on the 2020 cassette Oblivion, combining them with an interest in numerology. On Primordial Waters — whose title refers to the creation story of the Yoruba people, a West African ethnic group with a revered religion — Jamael’s identity witihin Yoruba diaspora takes centre stage.

Jamael currently leads the music collective The Afronauts, has participated in the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra, and has collaborated and performed with the likes of Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Niño. Dean’s passion for music was sparked when his grandfather, legendary drummer Donald Dean, began taking him to see live performances.

Jamael Dean, keyboards, Fender Rhodes
Sharada Shashidhar, vocals
Myles Martin, drums
Jermaine Paul, bass

Jamael Dean
Pianist and producer Jamael Dean is a jazz prodigy who has collaborated and performed with the likes of Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Niño. Jamael's music reflects the dual influence of his Los Angeles contemporaries and jazz ancestors, including Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and soul jazz drummer Donald Dean — who is also his grandfather. L.A., he says, is “the only place I can go in the same day to a jam session with music from the 20s and 30s to another session with music in the 40s through the 80s, and after that play music with my friends from that era onwards."

This album contains no booklet.