Trombonist Phil Ranelin and saxophonist Wendell Harrison are among the last people to be surprised at jazz’s resurging popularity. Together, they have dedicated over half a century to making jazz education and concerts accessible to all. In the early 1970s in Detroit, Ranelin and Henderson founded Tribe Records, a small jazz label that grew to become a model of independent enterprise and ownership. For its time, it was nothing short of revolutionary. Working together with a tight-knit community of supporters, Tribe engineered a platform that placed artists in control of marketing and selling their own works. The results are some of the most soulful and urgent jazz records of any era, timeless classics whose ethos and ambition have guided generations of musicians that followed.
Today, the legacy of Tribe lives on in labels like Jazz Is Dead, making these recordings at Linear Labs Studio in Highland Park all the more significant. In their latest dispatch, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad craft a poignant batch of new material that celebrates the lasting impact of Tribe, and the perpetual greatness of Phil Ranelin and Wendell Harrison. Together, they partner for the next installment in Jazz Is Dead’s Series 2: Phil Ranelin and Wendell Harrison JID016.