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Sweet Tooth

by Mali Obomsawin

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ccselavy
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ccselavy Incredibly talented young group! They have achieved a perfect blend of Native American music with jazz. I highly recommend seeing/hearing them live!
Grzegorz Werner
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Grzegorz Werner A very good album. I am really impressed with the whole team, but words of appreciation are due to the Leader, who I feel has much more to share. This album affects not only the music, but also the words.
I hope to hear this music live someday. The best in Poland. Kind regards.
antok
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antok Stunning. A strong tale of dignity and sorrow. My favourite tracks: Lineage and Blood Quantum.
Josée Deschênes
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Josée Deschênes I discovered Mali through Mélissa Mollen Dupuis, who I want to EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE to for educating me on Native musicians, actors and other artists and leaders. Mélissa is an Innu who hosts a show called Kuei!Kwe! on Radio-Canada that I have been listening to for the past 2-3 years. Pour l’album Sweet Tooth, je le trouve Totalement dépaysant! C’est une aventure pleine de nouveaux sons pour moi qui me fait voyager. Thank you Mali for your work.
jiristepan
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jiristepan Improvisation based on old melodies. A deeply emotional and sad album, if you experience music like I do, you will go through a deep emotional journey of redemption and probably even tears. Tight and radical beauty.
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  • Streaming + Download

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    First pressing, limited (500) 12" vinyl of Mali Obomsawin - Sweet Tooth (OOYH 017) on black vinyl, featuring layout/design by TJ Huff (huffart.com), photography by Abby Lank and Jared Lank, and liner notes by Mali Obomsawin on a 2-sided 11 x 11 insert. Orders now shipping!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Sweet Tooth via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 500 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $22 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Second pressing, limited (500) 12" vinyl of Mali Obomsawin - Sweet Tooth (OOYH 017) on SILVER vinyl, featuring layout/design by TJ Huff (huffart.com), photography by Abby Lank and Jared Lank, and liner notes by Mali Obomsawin on a 2-sided 11 x 11 insert.. Orders now shipping!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Sweet Tooth via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 500 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $22 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    This is a very special and super limited edition of 180g Mali Obomsawin - Sweet Tooth LPs. We ordered 100 and the plant came up one short, so there are 99 total out in the world. This 180g edition of the album features a pop art redesign of the jacket by TJ Huff, and includes the original liner note insert. Layout/design by TJ Huff (huffart.com), photography by Abby Lank and Jared Lank, and liner notes by Mali Obomsawin on a 2-sided 11 x 11 insert.. These sound AMAZING on 180g black vinyl. Orders now shipping, these will go fast!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Sweet Tooth via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 99 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $30 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Second pressing CD of Mali Obomsawin - Sweet Tooth (OOYH 017), featuring liner note insert with words by Mali, limited run of 500.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Sweet Tooth via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 500 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
Odana 04:15
2.
Lineage 07:50
3.
Wawasint8da 04:46
4.
Pedegwajois 05:41
5.
Fractions 03:10
6.

about

Movement One:

Odana:
“The Village,” Learned from the singing of Alanis Obomsawin, arranged by Mali Obomsawin.
This ballad, likely as old as the early 1700s, is an homage to the Abenaki reservation in Quebec, Odanak, which was founded by our Sokoki and Abenaki ancestors in 1660.

Lineage:
Composed by Mali Obomsawin.

Movement Two:

Wawasint8da:
“Religious Song,” Arranged by Mali Obomsawin.
Wawasint8da is a Catholic hymn translated from Latin into the Abenaki language by one of the early French Jesuit priests who lived among the Abenaki. It tells the story of Jesus’ Descent into Hell or Hades (also known as ‘The Harrowing of Hell’) to liberate souls who had died outside of the Catholic faith. Ethnologist Gordon Day documented Odanak’s Ambroise O’Bomsawin singing the hymn in the mid-1900s. Folded into this arrangement is also an ancient Wabanaki mourning song called “Sami’metwehu,” which Mali learned from Dwayne Tomah of the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

Pedegwajois:
“Little Round Mountain,” Told by Theophile Panadis, composed by Mali Obomsawin.
This story is from ancient times before colonization. In the field recording (by Gordon Day), Theophile Panadis of Odanak recounts the tale of a young man receiving a teaching from a metawelinno, which brings him to the middle of Betobagw (“Lake Champlain”) during a thunderstorm.

Movement Three:

Fractions:
Composed by Mali Obomsawin.

Blood Quantum (Nəwewəčəskawikαpáwihtawα):
Composed and arranged by Mali Obomsawin, additional arr. by Lancelot Knight of Muskoday First Nation. Nəwewəčəskawikαpáwihtawα This contemporary chant, folded into the Blood Quantum arrangement, is co-written by Mali Obomsawin, Lokotah Sanborn and Carol Dana of the Penobscot Nation. Dana, a grandmother and language keeper for her community, aided in the chant’s translation:

“I stand to face him, I face him defiantly, unflinchingly, I confront him.
We remember our matriarchs
We remember our grandmothers.”

Thank you / kci wliwni: to Taylor for all your help and encouragement in making this record; Savannah, Miriam, Allison and Noah for bringing yourselves to the music; to my family for teaching the stories; to Alanis, Dwayne, Carol, Conor, and Lokotah who helped directly and indirectly with this material. Thank you to the Hopkins Center & Real Art Ways for your support in workshopping the music, and New England Foundation for the Arts for supporting its release.

credits

released October 28, 2022

Mali Obomsawin - bass, lead vocals, hand drum
Savannah Harris - drums, vocals
Miriam Elhajli - acoustic and electric guitars, lead vocals
Allison Burik - bass clarinet, alto saxophone, vocals
Noah Campbell - tenor, soprano, alto saxophones
Taylor Ho Bynum - cornet, flugelhorn

Produced by Mali Obomsawin and Taylor Ho Bynum.
Recorded at Firehouse 12 on January 22 & 23, 2022.
Engineered and mixed by Greg Dicrosta at Firehouse 12.
Additional mixing by D. James Goodwin.
Mastered by D. James Goodwin.
Photography by Abby Lank and Jared Lank.
Layout by TJ Huff (huffart.com).

Out Of Your Head Records | OOYH 017

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about

Mali Obomsawin Portland, Maine

MALI OBOMSAWIN is an award winning songwriter, bassist and composer from the Abenaki First Nation at Odanak. With an expansive background in American roots, jazz, and indie rock, Obomsawin carries several music traditions. Their bandleader-composer album debut, "Sweet Tooth," was released October 28, 2022 on Out Of Your Head Records! ... more

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