Wendell Harrison & Phil Ranelin

What We Need / The Wok

“A New Dimension In Cultural Awareness” were the words of Tribe Records’ co-founder and trombonist Phil Ranelin as the label emerged in a vibrant Detroit in 1972. Together with other co-founder and saxophonist Wendell Harrison, the duo delivered the first of what would become a treasure trove of spiritual jazz releases with 1973’s Message From the Tribe.

P-vine has lifted its first track, the bold and socially conscious “What We Need”, for an a-side that highlights the power of Tribe Records as a vehicle for social change as much as it was a label with a driving musical pulse. “We need knowledge and education. We need books with black history” begins a compassionate chorus of needs to right the wrongs of enduring displacement and loss experienced by black Americans. The b-side “The Wok” is taken from Harrison’s 1981 album Organic Dream.