Song Of Happiness b/w Stranded In Space…

We’re delighted to offer up the debut solo-single from Dap-Kings sax-man and long-time Daptone Family fixture, the peerless player with palpable provenance, Cochemea Gastelum. Recorded entirely in his humble bedroom studio, Cochemea masterfully blends the drum-machine-laden soul-explorations of artists like Shuggie Otis and Sly Stone, with the avant-garde, electric sax permutations of Eddie Harris. Side A, “Song Of Happiness,” finds Cochemea drawing inspiration from his Native American roots, via a homage to the late 19th Century Navajo song, Shi naashá – which translates to, I am going/walking around – and was written to commemorate the release of the Navajo people from internment at Fort Sumpter. Unlike most other Navajo songs, Shi naashá is almost entirely translatable, giving it a universal message that Cochemea interprets instrumentally. On Side B we have “Stranded in Space.” Propelled by the insistent pulse of a Maestro Rhythm King and fortified by Cochemea’s pleading, saxophone lament – “Stranded in Space” is a relaxed trip into the galactic intangibles of “The Great Beyond.”