What was simmering and exploding on the streets of Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles in the sixties and seventies? Social unrest and protests, but musical experiments and awareness as well. Citizen X brings back the sound of those days in poignant, film-like soundscapes reminiscent of Sun Ra, and with socially aware lyrics. Guitarist Jean-Paul Bourelly laid the foundations of his avant-garde blues in Chicago's South Side, and later played with Miles Davis and Pharoah Sanders in New York. Vocalist Sadiq Bey wrote poetry and experimental music in Detroit, and bassist Reggie Washington has played with Steve Coleman and Roy Hargrove, among others. Drummer Kenny Martin worked with the funk group Defunk and others. Put them all together and you have Citizen X: experimental, swinging and innovative with an awareness of history. At the North Sea Jazz Festival, the group is part of the Steve Coleman Curates project.
