Wave From The WOOniverse
Wave From The WOOnivers is a posthumous album by Bernie Worrell, released physically on vinyl on April 20, 2024 as part of Record Store Day 2024.
Background
In 2022 the former bandleader for the Bernie Worrell Orchestra, Evan Taylor, was contacted by the family of Worrell. They had found several tapes and drives of unfinished material made by Worrell, and were hoping Taylor could possibly turn them into a posthumous release. The project slowly evolved in scope to include many of Worrell's former collaborators, including Bootsy Collins, Jerry Harrison, Fred Schneider and Steve Scales. Taylor described the process of working with Worrell's music after his passing as "a little difficult."[1]
After receiving a hard drive of digitized tape recordings that were mostly from the 1990's, Taylor and his team began to listen and work towards figuring out what was missing. While the team thought the process would be quick, it ended up taking roughly two years to complete.[1]
Recording
After the planning and organization periods were completed, the project began to record with the collaborators. While most of the recording were made in New York City, New York or Los Angeles, California, Steve Scales' sessions were done in Charlotte, North Carolina.[1]
For the direction during these sessions, Taylor described the "first rule of this project: We’re not going to just do what we want to do. We’re going to do what we think Bernie might have wanted and also throw in some surprises [...] a lot of the project was thinking of what Bernie would have really been excited about."[1]
Track Listing
- "Intro (Reflections On A Bird)"
- "Distant Star" (Featuring – Jerry Harrison)
- "What Have They Done To My Funk" (Featuring – Bootsy Collins, Buckethead, Michael Moon Reuben, Ouiwey Collins)
- "Heapin’ Bowl Of Gumbo" (Featuring – Fred Wesley, Leo Nocentelli, Stanton Moore)
- "Re-Enter Black Light (Phase II)" (Featuring – Sean Ono Lennon)
- The Big Woo (Featuring – Fred Schneider, Marco Benevento, Steve Scales)
- "Greenpoint" (Featuring – Steven Bernstein)
- "Soldiers Of The Stars" (Featuring – Daru Jones, Eric McFadden)
- "When The Rain Subsides" (Featuring – Will Calhoun)
- "Pedro Woo" (Featuring – Mike Watt)
- "Contusion" (Performer – Funkadelic)
- "Transcendence" (Featuring – Norwood Fisher, Marc Ribot)
- "Wave From The Wooniverse" (Featuring – Miho Hatori)
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Means-Shannon, Hannah. “Purple Witch of Culver’s Evan Taylor on the Legacy of Kindness behind Bernie Worrell’s Posthumous Album “Wave from the WOOniverse” (INTERVIEW).” Glide Magazine, 1 Aug. 2024, glidemagazine.com/303348/purple-witch-of-culvers-evan-taylor-on-the-legacy-of-kindness-behind-bernie-worrells-posthumous-album-wave-from-the-wooniverse-interview/. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.