60 Years

60 Years celebrates six decades of his radical and uplifting musical and social vision. Digging deep into the Arkestra’s archives, the album gathers breath-taking unreleased material, including previously unheard compositions, from every stage of the band’s development – from Tapscott’s earliest iterations of the group, recording at home in 1961, to the current incarnation of the band, led by the new generation of young musicians. Tapscott passed on in 1999, but the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra was built to outlast him: over more than half a century it has stayed true to its roots and to Tapscott’s vision, welcoming multiple generations of players into its fold, and celebrating their music. And with current leader Mekala Session – son of the Arkestra’s veteran altoist Michael Session – at the helm, the Ark is still going strong. 60 Years selects a song from every decade of its life, show-casing a musical family tree that includes renowned musicians such as Arthur Blythe, Dwight Trible, Phil Ranelin, Butch Morris, Kamau Daáood, Sonjia Maia Harper, Nate Morgan, Linda Hill, Adele Sebastian, Michael Session, Jesse Sharps and of course the late, great Horace Tapscott himself.