People’s People - The People's People Present The Spirit Of David People’s People

Emerging from the depths of private-press obscurity, The People’s People Present The Spirit of David is a remarkable testament to the ambition and discipline of its creators. This singular album, originally recorded in 1974 and released in 1976, marks the first original work by tenor saxophonist Jeff Jones, who also arranged, wrote, and conceptualised the project. That same year, Jones founded The People’s People collective and The Voice of the People Publishing Company, using music and the arts as a platform to give voice to the voiceless.

Performed in one continuous take, The Spirit of David weaves spiritual jazz with elements of soul, world music, and electric funk, producing a hypnotic, emotive soundscape that resonates with the era’s social unrest and a longing for unity and transcendence. The band—featuring Emmons Porter on bass vocals, Jack Spinovich on drums, Leonard Franklin on guitar, Ray Vega on percussion and congas (not the trumpeter of the same name), and Steve Espanosa on piano—delivers a deeply cohesive and textured performance that transcends its time.

Now reissued by Frederiksberg Records—a label founded in 2013 by Danish video journalist Andreas Vingaard in New York—the album’s elusive history only deepens its mystique, inviting renewed exploration. That mystique is further illuminated in the extensive story found on the album insert, written by guitarist and composer Karl Evangelista, whose detailed liner notes provide essential context and insight into the album’s creation and cultural significance.

From the liner notes by Karl Alfonso Defensor Evangelista:

"(Jeff) Jones had musicians commit to three years of preparation, and he was a harsh taskmaster; music was drilled—“like the army,” as Jones describes it. Participants were more or less forbidden from taking paying gigs in the interim, and the bandleader, saving most of his capital for studio time, could not afford to feed or pay the band. The ensemble was so thoroughly rehearsed by the time of the session that the entire record was performed in one take, and the album’s myriad breaks and deft orchestration changes were accomplished without visual cues."