SANKOFA If Wishes Were Gold (Feat. Allison Russell); UTNE Video Premiere

On Wednesday June 27, UTNE Reader will world premiere the music video for If Wishes Were Gold by modern string band SANKOFA at UTNE.com with a corresponding digital single to be released July 10th via Cleveland-based Kingswood Records.

Sankofa’s Allison Russell, whom penned Wishes, provides a sultry lead vocal on the track while adding acoustic guitar to compliment an understated harmonica by John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful and the resplendent brushes of percussionist Sule Greg Wilson. The result is a warm glow engulfing a cool summer eve in the city.



Allison recalls the genesis of the song, "If Wishes Were Gold’ is about as straight forward a song as I've ever written. There's no ambiguity to the particular kind of blues I am feeling there...I was ready to give myself to someone I loved and that person just wasn't ready the way I was READY."



"To some extent, it also stems from the vagabond existence I was living at that time. There's kind of a double yearning going on, not just for someone to love, but for a place that felt like home, ever elusive. The song was written during a sojourn in Chicago and came to life under the deft musical guidance of John Sebastian. We arranged and recorded it together at Nevessa Studio in Woodstock, NY.”

Sankofa member Dom Flemons, from Grammy Award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, sums up the mood beautifully, "This original by Allison is wonderful, honest and bittersweet.  The understated harmonica by John Sebastian, and Paul Rishell’s exquisite slide, float atop Alli’s guitar and Sule’s cool brushes."


Sankofa

If Wishes Were Gold

(Allison Russell/Po’ Girl Music, Inc./ASCAP)

Allison Russell - Vocal, guitar
John Sebastian - Baritone guitar, harmonica
Sule Greg Wilson - Drum set
Paul Rishell - Slide guitar

Ch:
Oh sweet, sweet I wish you could be sweet on me
Oh sweet, sweet the timing’s wrong an old story

I’ve dealt my share of disappointment
Not to be cruel, I couldn’t help it
Now it’s my turn , my turn to learn
The sad,sad sweet of love unreturned

Ch:

Geese on the grass flew from my country
Lake like an ocean lake like the sea
My feet are firm I hear the call
I could walk from Chicago up to old Montreal

Ch:

A restless mind a restless body
A restless love just not for me
But if I could you know I surely would
Take from you such pain so undeserved

Ch:

Oh sweet, sweet I wish you could be sweet on me
Oh sweet, sweet the timing’s wrong an old story
the timing’s wrong an old story
It’s just that same old sweet sad story 

Wishes appears on THE UPTOWN STRUT, a 15-track album that showcases reinterpretations of songs by Sly Stone, Ray Charles, Jimmy Cliff, Minnie Wallace, Charlie McCoy, Bessie Smith and Louis Jordan.

In addition to Russell, Flemons and Wilson, STRUT features Canadian singer Ndidi Onukwulu with ivory key contributions from Blues Hall of Fame Inductee Professor Louie.

From Pandeiro and Bodhran drums to accordion and maracas to kazoo and tambourine to jugs, bones and washboard, The Uptown Strut deftly glides the gamut of instrumentation with banjos augmenting a couple of classics from the early seventies, on “Can’t Strain My Brain” by Sly Stone and Jimmy Cliff’s seminal “Sitting In Limbo” (from The Harder They Come), with flat-picking syncopation by Sebastian, whom also covered Limbo on his 1974 album Tarzana Kid.

Mining further precious metals, The Strut saddles up at a sonic hookah as Sebastian and Professor Louie hydroponically blend with Wilson and Flemons on “Weed Smoker’s Dream,” a sophisticated traipse of the Harlem Hamfats tune from 1936 that clocks out at exactly four minutes and 20 seconds after an extended exhale of Cab Calloway’s “Minnie The Moocher”.

Further 420-friendly cuts include a Gospel-infused re-working of Ray Charles’ number one hit “Let’s Go Get Stoned,” with a soul-baring lead vocal by Ndidi Onukwulu, “What’s The Use of Getting Sober,” Louis Jordan’s first number one hit in 1942, and the 1930s-era Dixieland roll of “Don’t You Make Me High” set to sail by a sublime melody on clarinet.

Other storied sign posts in downtown Uptown are “The Old Folks Started It,” a take on the 1929 Minnie Wallace tune which also references Shelton Brooks’ 1917 hit “Darktown Strutter’s Ball,” “Sing Sing Prison Blues,” a nod to Bessie Smith’s 1924 recording and a, literally, bare-boned rendition of “Jump Jim Crow,” an early American treasure originally “collected” by blackface minstrel Thomas “Daddy” Rice in 1828.

SANKOFA
THE UPTOWN STRUT
1. The Old Folks Started It (ft. Dom Flemons & John Sebastian)
2. Ha-Ha Blues (ft. Ndidi Onukwulu)
3. Weed Smoker's Dream (ft. Sule Greg Wilson & John Sebastian)
4. If Wishes Were Gold (ft. Allison Russell & John Sebastian)
5. It's A Good Thing (ft. Dom Flemons & John Sebastian)
6. Can't Strain My Brain (ft. Ndidi Onukwulu)
7. I Can Tell The World About This (ft. Allison Russell)
8. Brown Skin Girl (ft. Sule Greg Wilson)
9. What's The Use of Getting Sober? (ft. Sule Greg Wilson)
10. Jump Jim Crow (ft. Sule Greg Wilson)
11. Sing Sing Prison Blues (ft. Allison Russell)
12. Sitting In Limbo (ft. Sule Greg Wilson, Ndidi Onukwulu & John Sebastian)
13. Don't You Make Me High (ft. Allison Russell)
14. You Got Me Rollin' (ft. Dom Flemons & John Sebastian)
15. Let's Go Get Stoned (ft. Ndidi Onukwulu)

SANKOFA QUOTES
“Sankofa breathes new life into old Americana.” UTNE

“Sankofa offers a spontaneous, raunchy barnyard romp that bridges the gap between hillbilly country, gospel, and soul.” SSG Music

“A common theme of The Uptown Strut is that the instrumentation complements the songs perfectly. The result is an album that is every bit as fun and mirthful as immersed in heritage and history.” Press Plus 1

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