Saxophonist James "Plunky" Branch was the
visionary behind Oneness of Juju. He'd already done the complete
subversive anarchist bit, giving up his scholarship at Columbia
University, evading 'Nam, relocating to San Francisco, hanging with The
Black Panthers, and joining far left wing jazz groups of the early 70s.
No doubt, he found himself on a variety of US Gubmint watch lists in the
day. Eventually he settled back into his hometown of Richmond,
Virginia, and realized conservative southern local audiences weren't
going to be too enthralled with his current blend of political and
musical radicalism. So he decided to blend the best of all worlds.
Maintaining the integrity of the deep funk sound, while paying heed to
serious African culture, Oneness of Juju was born (out of the former New
York City based free jazz group Juju). Branch is to be commended for
sticking to his core principles while also appealing to much wider
audiences, bridging and forging new relationships across all cultures.
As such, the private release gained more popularity in Europe and Japan
than in the US in its own era, though today everyone can appreciate the
quality of this forward thinking jazz/funk/African-centric set of
compositions.
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