Michael Boothman: a rebirth beyond nostalgia

Listen Here:



Or Read Here:

Liner notes for Michael Boothman's 2018 EP, Break Away.

Seminal Caribbean jazz musician and recording artist Michael Boothman has, with the production of Break Away, his EP of new music, presaged the return of the musician to the focal point of creation and performance in the continuing exercise of the fusion of Caribbean rhythms and melodies with the tropes of jazz and popular Black music in the Americas — kysofusion is Boothman's name of that sound and music. His partner in this current exercise is Howard 'Howie' Lindeman, celebrated live and studio engineer with a who's who list of major credits, who worked on Boothman's pioneering album for Tabu/RCA Records in 1976.

The rekindling of this important relationship between these two stars in their respective fields has allowed for a rebirth of that kysofusion sound and music that convinced the US music industry that Boothman was worthy of signing. These four new tracks are a continuation of the aesthetic of excellence in music and the clear understanding of the role of the musician that both Boothman and Lindeman understand and personify

To "break away" is to liberate from the strictures of a kind of conformity. In the mind of Michael Boothman, it is also a celebration of that peerless Caribbean lifestyle and a return towards a freedom to be the best we can be.

© 2017, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.