Love Is Always Open, by Zeke Nealy

Love Is Always Open

by Zeke Nealy

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
comes in Digipak (paper) case. You know, looks like an little version of an old LP. Feels good to the touch. Looks good. Not cheap plastic that breaks. Includes insert with lyrics and more album info. Art by Zeke Nealy.

Includes unlimited streaming of Love Is Always Open via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Full Digital Discography

10

releases

Get all 10 Bottomfeeder Records releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Mr. Irrelevant, Love Is Always Open, Irene Dogmatic: Songs, Gotta Get Together, Open Up!, The Land of Burning Dreams, Universal Consent, Welcome to the End of the Empire, and 2 more. , and , .

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1.	L'Artibonite (Intro) 02:29	info	buy track
2.	M'ap Pale/ A Good Earth 04:05	info	buy track
3.	Kontradanse 01:58	info	buy track
4.	I Lele 03:20	info	buy track
5.	Bonswa 05:26	info	buy track
6.	Cut a Hand From a Hand 04:44	info	buy track
7.	Africania 1 01:03	info	buy track
8.	L'Artibonite 03:15	info	buy track
9.	QM-CE8-22-00029 - Love Is Always Open 01:23	lyrics	buy track
Love Is Always Open Love is always open Burning shadows of negativity With blinding light, with colors Emanating from the deep recesses Of the cosmos and spirit divine... Love...Your face, your delectable fragrances, your brilliant nuances are the elements of all things Engendering an energy of suns In each delicate leaf and petal that grows in the heart, the mind, Love...the soul of the universe the healer of whole communities, of delayed dreams, of broken minds... Love is and always will be....Love. Zeke Nealy ©2016
10.	Papa Legba 05:19	lyrics	buy track
English translation from the Haitian Creole Alegba papa your bag is on your back, You're sitting at the crossroad Open the gates for the spirits Papa Legba I'm innocent, naive Alegba, Alegba, who's walking with me Papa Legba, my foot is broken My foot is broken Papa Legba I'm still alive I don't have a mother to stand up for me I don't have a father to stand up for me Papa Legba my foot is broken My foot is broken Papa Legba I'm still alive.
11.	Balaphonetic 03:46	info	buy track
12.	Fe Yo Gade Mwen/Blood In My Eye 04:45	lyrics	buy track
English translation of Fe Yo Gade lyrics (from the Creole): I'm a leaf. Look at me on my branch. A terrible storm came and knocked me off. The day you see me fall is not the day I die. And when they need me, where are they going to find me? The good Lord, and St. Nicola, I only have one son And they made him leave the country
13.	Rara 01:51	info	buy track
14.	Colors 02:23	lyrics	buy track
Colors The many ways of love are open sky Ocean deep, waist high in phenomena Like rolling, curling, silvery, bubbly clouds of happiness The faces of love unforgettably bright Their alluring aqua, yellow green, brown and red shades of splendor Blossom and move undetected, escaping sound , evading time Gliding silently under the heart's radar Light fires on thirsty, dry, parched, violent and uncivilzed lands Until the end of suns and moons And starry nights.. Zeke Nealy- ©2016
15.	For Nia 02:57	lyrics	buy track
For Nia.. For the fallen Only you can lift n balance me now Keep me from going off like BOOM I am prayed out marched out Demonstrated prostrated Tired of asking multi-tasking Blogged out have logged it cried shame Shame shame in vain said your name too many times Gathered at too many graves I have no more we shall overcomes No more down by the river sides Left in my right mind I have left that behind On the sidewalks and city streets From holding cells traffic stops From home invasions to BART You have not heard nor seen The often documented violent Plague of racist attacks murders Selective genocide that you hide Behind your legislation of justifiable Homicide the cape and cloak of Mental incapacitation to excuse Your long histories of brutality No more let justice run its course Or he/she was on medication A problem child a misunderstood Kid under a klan neo-nazi hood It is unacceptable it is not gonna Suffice snake eyes on dice It's past time to defend like Black August "Ok gentlemen, we are taking over" The wheel of justice have flat tires And my/our patience has expired... Zeke Nealy ©2018
16.	A Meditation 03:53	lyrics	buy track
A Meditation Going deep inside under The ceaseless city murmuring Reflecting from the interior Of rivers of blood Through aboriginal strands Of RNA/DNA long held The veins define our lives Shadow is outsourced To raucous sunlit corners Weeping bones of light The coded pulse of resistance The epitome of our resilience The shapeless myriad events Forming the core our essence Not looking down But ahead and up Critiques come on all horizons We breathe the ocean bottom Our peace stands calmly inside us On days when life becomes Too loud to hear. -Zeke Nealy 2016
17.	Zépöl 02:40	info	buy track
18.	The C'mon 02:08	info	buy track
19.	Batonelle 07:53	lyrics	buy track
It is out of my hands now The first seeds and flowers are testaments of affection inside every living dream The rich soil bears gifts as earth delights the sky roots of the heart and core of the spirit blossomed before dazzling eyes. And while in meditation prayer I call out your name Flowers of love Ancestors of light -Zeke Nealy 2015

about

Love Is Always Open is Zeke Nealy's amazing blend of traditional Haitian Folk music, jazz and spoken word. It is, at times, completely straight-up Haitian traditional percussion and singing, and at others the traditional percussion and singing blends with jazz guitar and cello, or piano and the poetry of Tongo Eisen-Martin- or Zeke's poetry.

The message is of love, but it does not shy away from the injustices of just being alive and black in America. Tongo (the current Poet Laureate of San Francisco, 2021-22) and Zeke bring a strong message, with great depth of feeling and perspective. I really feel this is one fantastic album.

It is far more than the sum of its parts, and the music rises above the noise of the normal, and takes us to a new place, but also grounds us in the realities and deep history of being black, and just being a human being.

During the making of this album, the Covid 19 outbreak occurred, and we shut down recording. While the Covid shutdown was going on, Zeke became ill, and was diagnosed with lung cancer. The cancer progressed quickly, and Zeke passed away on April 22, 2021, without ever getting back to finish the album. It was unthinkable to me that this album would not get done.

The artists involved who pulled together and put finishing touches, adding some instruments where needed, poems where needed, and love where needed, my undying appreciation to you for your help to bring this to the finish. We hope we did Zeke proud, and that we followed his lead.

The album you hear here was a labor of love by all of us involved to bring this unique blend of perspectives together to make it the work of art that Zeke envisioned.

Enjoy.

-Erik Ian Walker

credits

released July 24, 2022

Zeke Nealy: percussion, bamboo tubes, vocals, congas, bata, balafon, piano
Tongo Eisen-Marten: spoken word
Michele Martin: vocals
Silotte Ravix: vocals
Laurie Fleurentin: vocals
Joyce Lee: spoken word
Skye Tan: piano
Kash Killion: cello
Kai Lyons: guitar
David Boyce: saxophones
Sikiru Adepoju: talking drum
Satoko Nealy: conga
JanJaap Dekker: conga
Erik Ian Walker: piano, bass, ukulele, slide guitar, synthesizer, recording and mixing.

Produced by Zeke Nealy and Erik Ian Walker
Recorded and mixed at WackoWorld Music, San Francisco, CA
all original music and poems ©2021 by Zeke Nealy
all original poems ©2021 by Tongo Eisen-Marten
Bottomfeeder Records BF 16
all music licensing Wiggy Beets Music (BMI)
contact: erikwalker@wackoworldmusic.com
Mastered at Gench (Tom Dimuzio)
Album Art: Zeke Nealy
Layout and Design: JJ Walker/Pioneering Design

license

about

Bottomfeeder Records San Francisco, California

Bottomfeeder records produces local artists in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. It is the official label of WackoWorld Music, the recording studio owned and operated by Erik Ian Walker.