FREEDOM SERENADE by MALONE & BARNES & SPONTANEOUS SIMPLICITY

Limited edition re-mastered re-issue of this 1976 album (originally out on Humpin’ International). Super spacey spiritual jazz funk bearing the hallmarks of contemporaries like the Blackbyrds (flutist Allan Barnes was a member of them), Mizell Brothers or Oneness Of Ju-Ju. Tip!Singer and songwriter Johnny Malone met saxophonist and flautist Allan Barnes while they were students at Howard University in Washington DC in the 1960’s. In addition to being under the tutelage of Donald Byrd who was head of Jazz Studies, they were classmates with future stars like Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson, and Angela Winbush. Barnes was already a member of the hugely popular soul jazz pioneers The Blackbyrds. When the two friends formed Malone Barnes and Spontaneous Simplicity (named after the tune by Sun-Ra, whose band Barnes regularly appeared with when in Washington, DC) the collaboration yielded Freedom Serenade, an album of super spacey and spiritual jazz funk. Released in limited quantity in 1976, on their Humpin’ International label, this rare and underground album bears the hallmarks of contemporaries like the Blackbyrds, the Mizell Brothers and DC neighbors Oneness of Ju-Ju. “Warp Ten” features a solo battle between Barnes and trumpeter Curtis Pope (of the Isley Bros and Wilson Pickett bands). Songs such as “Moonstruck” and “Journey to the Stars” are DJ-friendly futuristic funk tracks with a sci-fi flavored nod to peers Funkadelic and Parliament.