This song began as a simple drum exercise. As a drummer, I'm always eager to explore new styles, but I often find myself falling into repetitive grooves. To shake things up, I turned to YouTube and found a Drumeo video titled "5 Drumming Styles You've (Probably) Never Heard." One of the styles featured was "Poinciana," a rhythm I was already familiar with, but hadn’t spent much time focusing on before. This song was originally performed by drummer Vernel Fournier in the 1950s popularized by Ahmad Jamal - a jazz pianist I cherish.
Inspired, I recorded myself playing this groove and then layered a bassline to complement the rhythm. With that foundation in place, I reached out to my good friend and Yellow Couch comrade Lars Haake, an accomplished saxophonist, asking him to add some color. I shared a few melodic ideas I’d written, and Lars took it from there, improvising and soloing over the track. The result was an abstract and unconventional piece I found to be undeniably fun and fascinating.
Desiring more experimentation, I thought of my middle school art teacher, H. Alonzo Jennings, who I’ve always referred to as Mr. Jennings. I had kept in touch with him over the years and remembered that, in addition to being an incredible visual artist and photographer, he also wrote poetry and performed spoken word. I reached out to see if he’d be interested in contributing one of his poems for the song.
Now, let’s rewind to the summer of 2021. Jonathan Glass, a fine artist/illustrator who specializes in drawing live concert sketches in real time, invited Lars and I to see the free jazz and avant-garde alto saxophonist Marshall Allen at Smalls in the West Village. Best known for his work in the Sun Ra Arkestra, Marshall Allen’s performance that night was one to remember as it was my introduction to his music and my first time at this legendary jazz club. Jonathan has also contributed a poem to Yellow Couch Music, which I’m planning to be included in my forthcoming full-length album. During the Marshall Allen set, I recorded a quick video on my phone and sent it to Mr. Jennings, who was in the hospital recovering from surgery at the time. I thought a little dose of Sun Ra might lift his spirits, and it did.
Fast forward to summer 2023. When I reached out to Mr. Jennings for a poem, he surprised me by sending a voice recording of him reciting his tribute piece to Sun Ra titled "Icarus On Locust Walk," a cappella without having heard the music I composed. His tone and cadence matched perfectly with the track when I imported his audio into my recording software. It felt very serendipitous. From a production point of view, this entire process of creating and composing was a bit unreal as it felt as though I was behind the wheel, but someone else was steering the ship.
Once I had everything recorded and ready to mix, Jonathan introduced me to Kevin Ramsay, the Lead Sound Engineer at Harvestworks in NYC. During a tour of the studio, Kevin shared its rich history, highlighting notable artists who recorded there, one of them being Sun Ra, which I took as a sign, leading me to ask him to mix my track. Kevin elevated the song to a new height and I was just about ready to be done with it, but something about my performance wasn’t sticking and I realized the groove wasn’t aligning with Mr. Jennings' raw energy. The rhythm section needed a stronger drum beat and a funkier bassline, so I decided to scrap it entirely and write new parts.
Feeling a heavier rock vibe, I reached out to Jeff Berner at Studio G and invited bassist Grant Zubritsky to re-record the rhythm section live in-studio with me. This time, we infused the track with fresh energy, leaning into my rock, funk, and hip-hop roots. The result was a hard-hitting sound that perfectly matched the intensity of Mr. Jennings' vocals—a unique rock/jazz/funk fusion unlike anything I’d created before.
Since that night at Smalls and collaborating with Mr. Jennings, Sun Ra’s influence seems to have permeated my life. Whether it’s randomly hearing his songs on the radio, spotting someone in a Sun Ra t-shirt, celebrating Marshall Allen's 100th birthday, or the recent surge of projects dedicated to Sun Ra—like Red Hot & Ra’s "The Magic City"—it feels like the universe is pointing me toward his cosmic ethos.
Although I didn’t set out to create a tribute to Sun Ra, his presence has undeniably guided this music, transforming what started as a playful experiment into a bold journey into the unknown. SUN RAAAAAAAA!!!!!! - Layton Weedeman, Yellow Couch Music
Written by L.Weedeman, L. Haake, H. Alonzo Jennings
Produced by LHW
Mixed by Jeff Berner
Recorded by Layton Weedeman & Jeff Berner
Arranged by Layton Weedeman
Drums: Layton Weedeman
Bass: Grant Zubritsky
Saxophones: Lars Haake
Words: H. Alonzo Jennings
Additional vocals: B. Valentin, Layton Weedeman
Artwork by Erik Weedeman
Mastered by Alex DeTurk
