12/07/2021
has released his new single “What’s Happening Brother”, taken from his sophomore album “What’s Going On”, a response record to Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece of the same name to be released on its 50th anniversary this year.
Many thanks to for the playlist love, the track features in their excellent Jazz Scene: UK playlist.
🎧 link in bio
Some words from on the track:
Whilst working on my arrangement of 'What's Happening Brother' during the first lockdown in 2020, it struck me how relevant Marvin Gaye's lyrics from the original were to the unfolding events in the world.
My father used to often tell me a story about John Coltrane, apparently he would always learn the lyrics to jazz standards he was re-interpreting, as a means of connecting with the emotional journey of the melody. This is something I tried to put into practice when I was responding to Marvin's masterpiece.
“When will people start gettin' together again?
Are things really gettin' better, like the newspaper said?
What else is new my friend? Besides what I read
Can't find no work, can't find no job, my friend
Money is tighter than it's ever been
Say, man, I just don't understand
What's going on across this land
Ah, what's happening, brother?”
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