With the reactivation of the iconic jazz label, Flying Dutchman, veteran singer and songwriter Billy Valentine becomes the perfect artist to reintroduce the imprint with his sensational new album, Billy Valentine & The Universal Truth.
Possessing an empathic, lissome voice, Valentine draws upon the soul-jazz legacy of such iconic Flying Dutchman singer and songwriters as Gil Scott-Heron and Leon Thomas as he delivers testifying renditions of message songs originally recorded and written by Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Kendricks, War, Prince – and of course, Scott-Heron and Thomas.
Valentine says that he’s always been drawn to message songs. He remembers witnessing the civil rights protests through the Deep South in the United States, the Kent State University shootings in 1970, and the Vietnam War and its devastating aftermath on many military veterans returning to civilian life. “The music on my album speaks to me,” Valentine says, “I think this is the most important music that I’ve done yet in my life.”
Produced by Bob Thiele, Jr. – the son of Flying Dutchman Records’ founder, Bob Thiele – the album features an array of jazz luminaries that included tenor saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, trumpeter Theo Croker, bassist Linda May Han Oh, guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Joel Ross, percussionist Alex Acuña, pianist/keyboardist Larry Goldings, bassist Pino Palladino, and drummer James Gadsen, among others.
The album opens with a plaintive makeover of Mayfield’s 1970s “We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue,” a sobering ballad about projecting racial pride and Black humanity in the face of insurmountable odds. That theme continues on Valentine’s righteous rendition of Kendricks’ 1972 Black Power anthem, “My People Hold On.”
Valentine tips his hat to Scott-Heron and the Flying Dutchman legacy with his haunting take on “Home Is Where The Hatred Is,” a soul-stirring testament about the struggles of kicking substance abuse. The label’s rich legacy continues with Valentine’s mesmerizing cover of saxophonist Pharaoh Sander’s signature song, “The Creator Has A Master Plan,” which originally featured vocalist Leon Thomas, who co-wrote the classic, and later recorded his version on his 1970 Flying Dutchman Records debut LP, Spirits Known and Unknown.
The album continues with Valentine’s poignant reading of Prince’s 1987 socio-political masterpiece, “Sign O’ The Times” followed by a biting rendition of Stevie Wonder’s sardonic 1974 hit, “You Haven’t Done Nothin’.” Valentine then draws upon his own past with his enthralling version of “Wade In The Water,” a Black American jubilee gospel tune that has been covered by many musicians, including the Young-Holt Unlimited, whom with Valentine once sang background. The album continues with a razor-sharp cover of War’s 1972 signature tune, “The World Is a Ghetto.”