In the World: From Natchez to New York

In the World: From Natchez to New York
Studio album by Olu Dara
Released	February 17, 1998
Recorded	1997
Genre	Jazz
Length	46:49
Label	Atlantic[1]
Producer	Yves Beauvais, Olu Dara
Olu Dara chronology
In the World: From Natchez to New York (1998) Neighborhoods (2001)

In the World: From Natchez to New York is the solo debut album by the jazz cornetist Olu Dara, released in 1998.[2] Dara also sings and plays guitar on the album.[3]

The album peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums chart.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Robert Christgau	[6]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]

The Washington Post's Geoffrey Himes wrote: "Mixing up sly humor and evocative description, Dara's singing slips and slides around the steady guitar rhythms, which borrow equally from Delta blues, Caribbean calypso and West African high-life."[8]

In a review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow called the album a "fascinating and successful effort," and stated: "Dara emerges here as an effective country-blues singer and guitarist. Fortunately, Dara does not neglect his cornet but the music is definitely much different than one might expect."[5]

Derk Richardson of SFGate commented: "Performing songs about daily life in the 'hood back in the day of okra-selling street peddlers, intoning blues that refuse to separate desire from its cultural context, and collaborating with his rap star son Nas, Dara manifests an aesthetic co-inhabited by Robert Johnson, Tampa Red, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie and Arrested Development's Speech as if they were all members of the same band."[9]

Writing for JazzTimes, Bret Primack described the album as "a cohesive creation that seamlessly weaves diverse elements in new and intriguing ways," and noted: "Flying below the radar of commercial media, Dara has managed to chart a course for his creativity by 'having my hand in many ways of expressing myself'."[10]

A reviewer for CMJ New Music Report remarked: "As warm and as gentle as a summer day in Mississippi, the appropriately named album is a perfect blend of Southern blues, New York jazz and African rhythms... [its] seductive groove, cool melodies and spare lyrics result in pure enchantment."[11]

Track listing

1. "Okra" – 4:48
2. "Rain Shower" – 4:34
3. "Natchez Shopping Blues" – 3:34
4. "Your Lips" – 3:58
5. "Harlem Country Girl" – 5:47
6. "Zora" – 3:14
7. "Young Mama" – 4:44
8. "Bubber (If Only)" – 3:04
9. "Father Blues" – 3:32
10. "Jungle Jay" featuring Nas – 5:02
11. "Kiane" – 4:32

Personnel

• Olu Dara – lead vocals, cornet, trumpet, guitar, bass drum, percussion, backing vocals
• Nas – vocals (track 10)
• Kwatei Jones-Quartey – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion
• Ivan Ramirez – electric guitar
• Rudy "Obadeli" Herbert – organ
• Alonzo Gardner – bass
• Greg Bandy – drums
• Richard James – congas
• Cantrese Alloway, Darada David, Joyce Malone, Melba Joyce – backing vocals

References

1. "Olu Dara by Tracie Morris - BOMB Magazine". bombmagazine.org.
2. "Olu Dara Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
3. Yanow, Scott (October 12, 2001). "The Trumpet Kings: The Players who Shaped the Sound of Jazz Trumpet". Hal Leonard Corporation – via Google Books.
4. "Olu Dara". Billboard.
5. Yanow, Scott. "Olu Dara: In the World: From Natchez to New York". AllMusic. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
6. "Robert Christgau: CG: Olu Dara". www.robertchristgau.com.
7. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (October 12, 2004). "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide". Simon and Schuster – via Google Books.
8. Himes, Geoffrey (February 13, 1998). "Olu Dara 'In the World: From Natchez to New York' Atlantic". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
9. Richardson, Derk (July 13, 2000). "Olu Dara at Yoshi's, Mary Gauthier at the Noe Valley Ministry". SF Gate. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
10. Primack, Bret (March 1, 1998). "Olu Dara". JazzTimes. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
11. "CMJ's Top 30 Editorial Picks". CMJ New Music Report. January 11, 1999. p. 5 – via Google Books.