| Rebirth Cycle | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1977 | |||
| Recorded | 1974 | |||
| Studio | Minot Sound | |||
| Label | Third Street Records | |||
| Producer | James Mtume | |||
| James Mtume chronology | ||||
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Rebirth Cycle is the second studio album by American musician James Mtume. It was produced by Mtume himself, and released on the Third Street Records label.[1] It is one of a number of contemporary albums described as "some of the most compelling artifacts of the Black Power-Black music nexus", with "explicit endorsements of radical nationalist principles" and "of a very high artistic level and featuring some of the best musicians".[1]
After Mtume's death in 2022, The Guardian, in a retrospective, remarked on the album: "Just as his career as a R&B songwriter and producer was taking off, Mtume put out one final burst of spiritual, Afrocentric jazz, the album Rebirth Cycle. Never reissued legally and unavailable on streaming services, a bootleg or YouTube are your only real options, but it's worth checking out: the lengthy version of 'Sais' is great, and the collection of shorter, soul-influenced tracks on side two – including Umoja – are fabulous, complete with vocals from Jean Carne of 'Don't Let It Go to Your Head' fame."[2]
- ^ a b Umoja, Akinyele; Stanford, Karin L.; Young, Jasmin A., eds. (2018). "Black Music". Black Power Encyclopedia: From "Black is Beautiful" to Urban Uprisings. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781440840074.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (January 11, 2022). "Jazz, R&B and 'sophistifunk': James Mtume's greatest recordings". The Guardian. Retrieved February 2, 2022.