Marcus Strickland Twi-Life Announces The Universe’s Wildest Dream Newest Album Out January 13, 2023

Single “Dust Ball Fantasy” Featuring Lionel Loueke Out Today

Stream here: https://lnk.bio/marcusstrickland

Jazz legend and Grammy-award-nominated artist Marcus Strickland has announced a new Twi-Life album, The Universe’s Wildest Dream, dropping January 13, 2023, via his own Strick Muzik. Comprised of works Marcus wrote during the 2020 NYC lockdown, the sound (shaped by production from both Marcus Strickland & Charles Haynes), lyrics and titles resonate with the spiritual realm and praise our existence within this vast universe. The ambitious work is also an urgent call for humans to focus on climate change. 

“I figure if there’s any message that can recruit more Earthlings to acknowledge, comprehend and take action towards global warming and sustainability, it is the realization that we may be the only planet that harbors life, that we are probably the universe’s wildest dream,” states Marcus Strickland.

To accompany the announcement, Strickland shares the project's first single “Dust Ball Fantasy.” The upbeat, groove-heavy track features prolific Benin-born guitarist Lionel Loueke on both guitar and vocals. The title and lyrics poke fun at powerful figures–namely Elon Musk–for choosing to explore other planets like Mars, when we could be redirecting our resources towards enjoying and sustaining the miraculous life we have on planet earth. Loueke’s lyrics, sung in his native tongue Fon, translate to, “Let's stay here and take care of the Earth. Life enjoyment is right here.”

The Universe’s Wildest Dream is the third album from Marcus Strickland Twi-Life. It features Strickland on soprano, alto, tenor saxes, and bass clarinet, Mitch Henry on keys, piano, and organ, Kyle Miles on bass, and album co-producer Charles Haynes on drums. A fitting evolution from People of the Sun and Nihil Novi, The Universe’s Wildest Dream showcases luminous grooves that encapsulate Black World Music: a mixture of jazz, hip hop, soul, Afro-Caribbean and African Music. Dynamic, dramatic and rooted in Afrofuturism, Strickland meditates on life’s biggest questions and ideas, from technology to aliens to sustainability and race, all while emphasizing the fragility of existence and the miracle that is human life.

Coming off of recent performances at the inaugural Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa Valley and the Jazz Music Awards, Strickland is set to celebrate his new album with headline dates at New York City’s Blue Note Jazz Club. Stay tuned for more tour dates to be announced. 

UPCOMING TOUR DATES:

Tuesday, January 17, 2023 – New York, NY – Blue Note Jazz Club

Wednesday, January 18, 2023 – New York, NY – Blue Note Jazz Club

Friday, January 20, 2023 – Boston, MA – Sculler’s

Friday, January 27, 2023 – Miami, FL – Banyan Bowl at Pinecrest Gardens

The Universe’s Wildest Dream Tracklist

1. Prayer

2. Dust Ball Fantasy (feat. Lionel Loueke)

3. Bird Call

4. Matter (feat. Christie Dashiell)

5. Infinity (feat. Stimulant)

6. You and I, an Analomy 

7. Amygdala

8. Joy For Jupiter

To pre-order vinyl, purchase concert tickets and Marcus Strickland merchandise, please visit: http://bit.ly/LnkBioMarcusStrickland

ABOUT MARCUS STRICKLAND

A central fixture of New York City’s jazz scene since the 1990s, Grammy-nominated tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland continues to morph as an artist, consistently releasing tracks about relevant topics as times change. Growing up in Miami, FL hearing his identical twin brother E.J. Strickland and his lawyer father both play the drums, Strickland developed a unique familiarity with many instruments. He learned specifically about saxophone through a love for three-time Grammy-winning American saxophonist Branford Marsalis, and his early influences included Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. He received a scholarship to attend The New School and moved to New York in 1997, paving the way for his involvement in New York City’s freshly budding ‘90s jazz and hip-hop scenes. He earned his B.A. in jazz performance in 2002, and took Jazz Orchestra Ensemble with Blue Note Records veteran Charles Tolliver and Blakey Ensemble with Coltrane band double bassist Reggie Workman. Strickland launched his own label, Strick Muzik, in 2006, and was signed to the legendary Blue Note Records in 2015. In his band, Twi-Life, which exists at the intersection of hip-hop and jazz, Strickland is a multi-instrumentalist, beat maker, and composer. After releasing his album Twi-Life on his own label in 2006, he was named “Best New Artist” in the JazzTimes Readers’ Poll. Strickland’s albums often combine many genres like hip-hop, Afro-beat, funk, jazz, rock, and jungle. He has performed consistently at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York among other legendary venues, with the likes of McCoy Tyner, Tom Harrell, Nicholas Payton, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride's New Jawn & Chucho Valdez "La Creación,” Dave Douglas, Keyon Harrold, and Mos Def, among others. He is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Studio Music at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. As a result, he splits his time between Miami and New York.

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