A day for the hunter, a day for the prey Leyla McCalla

• 1 A day for the hunter, a day for the prey 03:18
• 2 Les plats sont tous mis sur la table 03:13
• 3 Far from your web 02:26
• 4 Little sparrow 03:16
• 5 Manman 04:24
• 6 Peze Café 03:51
• 7 Bluerunner 02:09
• 8 Vietnam 03:18
• 9 Salangadou 02:55
• 10 Let it fall 02:50
• 11 Fey-O 03:14
• 12 Minis Azaka 04:09
• Total Runtime 39:03

Info for A day for the hunter, a day for the prey

Leyla McCalla - A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey - Leyla McCalla's new album A Day For The Hunter, A Day For The Prey, takes it's title by a book of the same name that the singer and cellist read while pregnant with her first daughter. Taking it's title in turn from a Haitian proverb, the book analyzes the intersection of politics, power and music in Haiti.

McCalla, a former member of The Carolina Chocolate Drops who now calls New Orleans home, was struck by how political crisis can create a scene for music to be born. Through deeply felt originals and interpretations of traditional songs from Creole, Cajun, Haitian, American folk and jazz canons, the album depicts a diverse American experience and Leyla's struggles with and acceptance of her own identity.

A Day For The Hunter, A Day For The Prey includes guests Rhiannon Giddens (a bandmate in the Carolina Chocolate Drops), guitarist Marc Ribot, fiddler Louis Michot of Lost Bayou Ramblers and more.

„…one of the most memorable things you ll hear all year...an impressive and important artist for our times“ (5 Stars, fRoots)

Leyla McCalla, cello, tenor banjo, guitar, vocals
Daniel Tremblay, 5 string banjo, guitar, ti fer, vocals
Free Feral, viola, vocals
Jason Jurzak, bass, sousaphone
Additional musicians:
Louis Michot, fiddle (on „Les plats sont tous mis sur la table“, „Peze Café“, „Bluerunner“)
Aurora Nealand, clarinet (on „Far from your Web“), accordion (on „Peze Café“)
Rhiannon Giddens, vocals (on „Manman“)
Marc Ribot, electric guitar (on „Peze Café“)
Sarah Quintana, vocals (on „Salangadou“)
Sabine McCalla, vocals (on „Vietnam“)
Shaye Cohn, cornet (on „Fey-O“, „Minis Azaka“9

Recorded November, 2015 at Dockside Studios in Maurice, LA and The Music Shed in New Orleans, LA
Engineered and mixed by Justin Tocket and Ben Lorio on Manman
Mastered by Heba Kadry
Produced by Leyla McCalla

Leyla McCalla
Named 2013’s Album of the Year by the London Sunday Times and Songlines magazine, Leyla McCalla’s debut album, Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes, made a profound impression upon all who heard it. The record, which set some of Hughes’ poems to Leyla’s music, and also included original compositions and Haitian folk songs, received rapturous reviews for its haunting mixture of music and message.

A Haitian-American who sings in French, Haitian Creole and English, Leyla McCalla plays cello, tenor banjo and guitar. Deeply influenced by traditional Creole, Cajun and Haitian music, as well as by American jazz and folk, her music is at once earthy, elegant, soulful and witty — it vibrates with three centuries of history, yet also feels strikingly fresh, distinctive and contemporary.

Offbeat called Vari-Colored Songs “ambitious, deep and gorgeous,” while the Boston Globe described the record as “at once varnished and sparse, like field recordings in high definition.” The track “Heart of Gold” was featured on NPR, which noted that the song’s instrumentation “sounds like lonesome nighttime.” But it was the New York Times who perhaps put best, characterizing the album’s material as “weighty thoughts handled with the lightest touch imaginable.”

Born in New York City to Haitian immigrant parents, and raised in suburban New Jersey (with a couple of teenage years spent in Accra, Ghana), Leyla experienced a renewed sense of connection with her Haitian heritage after moving to the Crescent City in 2010. “I feel very at home here,” she says. “The more I learned about the history of Louisiana, its ties to Haiti and French speaking culture, the more sense of belonging I felt and continue to feel.” The relocation led to her appearance on the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ GRAMMY-nominated 2012 album Leaving Eden, as well as extensive concert dates as a touring member of the group. It also deeply enriched Leyla’s own music and sharpened her sense of purpose, setting her on the path that ultimately resulted in the making of Vari-Colored Songs.

Now, having toured extensively in the U.S., Europe and Israel in support of Vari-Colored Songs, Leyla is focusing on her next album. Titled A Day For The Hunter, A Day For The Prey, the album will be released in the spring of 2016 by Jazz Village/Harmonia Mundi. Named after the Haitian proverb that also provided the title of Gage Averill’s 1997 book about popular music, power and politics in Haiti, A Day For The Hunter, A Day For The Prey will continue to explore the themes of social justice and pan-African consciousness that marked Vari-Colored Songs. “I can’t help but be inspired by history, as well as what’s going on today,” Leyla says. Featuring songs sung in English, French and Haitian Creole, A Day For The Hunter, A Day For The Prey will include guest appearances by legendary guitarist Marc Ribot, Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Louis Michot of the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and New Orleans singer-songwriter/guitarist Sarah Quintana. “There’s a lot of goodness around this record,” Leyla says. “There will be new arrangements of traditional songs, but maybe a third of the album will also be original material. I’m really interested in continuing to develop that part of my work — and I’m really excited to be moving forward creatively.”

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