Episode 34: The Mtume Conversation

Mtume….Musician,Producer,Composer,Political Activist,Radio Show host. Mtume is not someone that can be put in one box. That’s just not gonna happen. Mowo! had the absolute pleasure of being able to sit down with Mtume after Mtume finished his weekly radio show. 8am on a Sunday morning in NYC made MOWO! think of the famous Lenny bruce bit where Lenny gets called at 8 am and the caller says “Did I wake you up Lenny?” and Lenny says “Of course not, I always get up 14 hours before I go to work……”. There was no set of circumstances that were gonna keep this episode from happening. Along with his incredible stint with Miles Davis during the 70’s he also had a band under his own name that had some massive hits. Look up “Juicy Fruit” …….you’ve heard it 45,985,957 times on its own and sampled by many hip hop artists. We purposely didn’t even touch on this because there were so many other things to talk about. McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard , Roberta Flack , Stephanie Mills , etc, etc. We touched on Mtume being a young black competitive swimmer in the 60’s. We touch on his now famous debate with jazz critic and prickly know it all Stanley Crouch and many many other things. Also joining us from time to time is Mtume’s partner Melody Fox so don’t be surprised by the occasional female voice. We are extremely proud to have Mtume now be part of the Compared To What family. So is Nile Rodgers…….

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