DaPaul - Kumbaya

Topic: Jazz - Word
DaPaul’s version of "Kumbaya" overlaid a jazz-influenced instrumental background with an American soul singing style. The lead performer, David Philips, said he first thought about doing the song after hearing the Escoffery Sisters sing it with their pianist, Paul Gladstone-Reid. [1] Their father was a Seventh-day Adventist who had migrated from Jamaica to London in 1959. [2] He trained them to sing harmony. [3] One sister remembered when they began

"‘We were more expressive vocally and musically than most groups like us from an Adventist background,’ explains Marcia. ‘They wouldn’t normally have a full band and we don’t use drums in our church like the Pentecostals, so to Adventists we were probably quite radical. Yet in the eyes of the Pentecostals we were conservative! Gradually, as we mixed more with people from other backgrounds we got less restrained’." [4]

They were signed by Atlantic Records as jazz artists in 1990, [5] and were credited with introducing modern Black gospel music from the United States into England. [6]

Philips converted "Come by Here" from a song steeped in Biblical references to a lyrical expression of need. Many versions of "Come by Here," including those of Inez Andrews [7] and Doc MacKenzie, [8] drew on an image of Christ as a healer and asked him for something specific, a healing or a blessing. [9] DaPaul’s version was more like Evelyn Turrentine-Agee. [10] He used a generic "it’s broken" that allowed listeners to apply it to their own problems.

Philips’ also did not make his version a narrative of sin and repentance. His protagonist admitted he had done this before, and, like before, needed help. One is left to assume, it, whatever it referred to, would happen again. There was no expectation or demand that he reform. The only constants were the human condition and Christ’s love, and that human condition did not follow from Eve eating an apple.

Philips came from a background like the Escofferys. He said his stage name, DaPaul, came from his "father’s French Guyanese roots." [11] He spent his childhood in a Caribbean church in South London absorbing its aesthetic, then, as a teenager, listened to popular music. [12] He heard everything with naive ears that were unencumbered by the cultural connotations that have developed around specific songs and sounds.

He drew upon the musical vocabulary of Cool jazz, but used a harmonica rather than a horn or saxophone for the solo instrument. More important, he replaced the piano continuo with a vocal one. The background singers sang "la la la" three times, followed by "come by here." Then they sang "la la la" two times, again followed by "come by here." This was used in the introduction, in the transition when he asked God to fix what has been broken, and more often when he recommended others also turn to Him.

Although DaPaul titled its version "Kumbaya," the word was heard only once, in a deep voice, at the end of the transitional "la la la." The melody was entirely his own. What came from "Kumbaya" was the short-shorter-long rhythm of the "la la la." The repetition pattern also matched the basic meter of "Kumbaya": two "la la la" for line one, one "la la la" and "come by here" for line two, two "la la la" for line three, and "come by here" for line four. Phillips usually sang the "come by here" phrase.

Performers
Vocal Soloist: David Philips, tenor
Vocal Group: unidentified

Instrumental Accompaniment: Clive Mellor, harmonica; [13] guitar, keyboard

Rhythm Accompaniment: drum, cymbal

Credits
"‘Kumbaya’ or ‘Come By Here’ is a folk song from Africa/America which the southern slaves used to sing and has been handed down over generations." [14]

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: short-shorter-long for "la la la"

Vocabulary
Pronoun: I
Term for Deity: you, Lord, God

Special Terms: reference to "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," gospel song by Civilla D. Martin and Charles H. Gabriel that was popularized by Mahalia Jackson. [15]

Basic Form: rhymed couplets
Line length: most were 8 syllables, but some were 9 or 10
Line Meter: followed the spoken word

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: own
Tempo: slow

Basic Structure: little variation in melody or instrumentation once the pattern was set

Singing Style: used melisma and sustained tones

Notes on Performance
Philips produced the record with Michael Collins using Pro Tools, a music-editing software package. [16] They worked on the project for two years. It’s more than likely Collins played the guitar on "Kumbaya" [17] and Philips the keyboard. A drum pattern probably was borrowed from one of the music libraries. More than likely Philips sang the background part. The software probably was used to multiply the effect of his voice in places.

Audience Perceptions
Bill Buckley asked Philips about "Kumbaya" because "everyone’s intrigued by that –thinking it might be the old folk song." He also believed the harmonica part was inspired by Stevie Wonder. [18]

Notes on Performers
Philips said his mother began teaching him to read music and play piano when he was six-years-old, and sang in church. He noted:

"the music that really caught my ear and engaged me was the folk songs from our Caribbean culture. These songs like ‘I’m gonna lay down my burdens’ or ‘Jesus on the mainline’, ‘Glory Glory Hallelujah’ were all handed down aurally to each generation and the musicians who played them at church played by ear and improvised. I found this intriguing and also started to play piano by ear." [19]

When he was older he began

"going to youth clubs and music community projects like Lewisham Music Academy in Deptford and The Basement Music Project in Covent Garden (near to Pineapple Studios). The musical atmosphere then was like a Fame School because there were many opportunities to join groups, bands and to perform." [20]

Once he made his record with Collins, he went from store to store in London trying to get one to carry it. One owner reviewed it on his store website, and that led others to listen. [21] Once one prominent disk jockey made another song his "Track of the Week" in July 20013 DaPaul’s reputation grew. [22] He found a manager [23] who booked him to Qatar and China, and since has produced a second album, London Town. [24]

The Escoffery Sisters made only one album, Opinions. It did not include "Kumbaya" or "Come by Here." [25] So far as I know, no record exists of their version.

Availability
CD: Soulful Spirit. 30 April 2013.

YouTube: uploaded by CDBaby on 7 August 2015.

End Notes
1. David Philips. Cited by Bill Buckley. "Soul Spirit ... DaPaul Speaks." Soul and Jazz and Funk website. 29 October 2013.

2. "George Stephenson Escoffery – d. 15 March 2010." Messenger [Journal of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland]. 28 May 2010. 15.

3. James Attlee. "The Escofferys: British Gospel’s Escoffery Sisters Re-emerge as R&B’s Escofferys." Cross Rhythms website. 1 February 1992.

4. Marcia Escoffery. Quoted by Attlee.
5. Marcia Escoffery. Cited by Attlee.
6. Attlee.
7. See entry dated 27 August 2017 for discussion of Inez Andrews’ version.
8. See entry dated 12 December 2017 for discussion of Doc McKenzie’s version.

9. This was behind Carmen Lundy’s use of the line "people are suffering" mentioned in the post for 12 March 2018.

10. See entry dated 6 August 2017 for discussion of Evelyn Turrentine-Agee’s version.
11. Philips. Quoted by Buckley.
12. "About DaPaul." DaPaul Music website.
13. Philips. Quoted by Buckley.
14. Philips. Quoted by Buckley.
15. Wikipedia. "His Eye Is on the Sparrow."

16. Mike Collins. Pro Tools 11: Music Production, Recording, Editing, and Mixing. Waltham, Massachusetts: Focal Press, 2013. ix.

17. Collins. He mentioned he played guitar on some tracks. ix.

18. Buckley. He asked: "there’s also a Stevie Wonder style harmonica going on... are you a big fan?"

19. Philips. Quoted by Buckley.
20. Philips. Quoted by Buckley.
21. Buckley.
22. DaPaul Music. The DJ was Peter Young, and the song was "She’s So Entertaining."
23. The manager was Gary Parks. ("DaPaul LONDON." Star Now website.)
24. "DaPaul." Rocket Fuel HQ website.

25. The Escoffery’s. Opinions. Atlantic. 7 September 1991. Track list on Amazon listing for CD.