Alonzo Demetrius & The Ego

Focus your rage. 

Alonzo Demetrius certainly has. Tempered by his skill, genius and fiery trumpet playing, his righteous anger at the sprawling, cruel prison system of the United States has created a remarkable document. Live from the Prison Nation is an at turns, beautiful, eerie, disturbing, but always a powerful piece of activism. Drawing from the memories of his Uncle and Cousin who both served prison sentences, Demetrius and his band, The Ego, flow through the murky, Kafka-worth world of the carceral state, their expansive, ecstatic jazz matched by protest chants and sound bites from Angela Davis and Mumia Abu Jamal. Some of these songs are mammoth tracks, epic in length and scope, with danceable opener “Expectations” and closer “F.O.O Shit” (F.O.O meaning Fraternal Order of Oppressors) landing in the upper echelon of furious jazz masterpieces, and in the history of protest music. We sat down with Demetrius and chatted about the album. 

File Under: Interviews