Beverly Glenn-Copeland announces new album, The Ones Ahead

Beverly Glenn-Copeland has announced his first new album in nearly 20 years. On July 28, he’ll release The Ones Ahead via Transgressive, and the first song he’s shared is “Africa Calling.” Hear it below.

Glenn-Copeland said in a statement, “In the ‘80s I had the honor of performing with an incredible artist named Dido, a master of the drums indigenous to West Africa. The beauty of this drumming tradition is explored in ‘Africa Calling’. Over the years, in many conversations, I have come to understand that I share an undefinable, unnamed feeling — a calling — with many other members of the African diaspora, a bone-deep need to explore and express our heritage. Alongside the grief, there is a longing to know our roots, hidden from us as family lines were torn apart in the terrible days of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In a world still caught in the ties of colonialism, I know I am not alone in needing to heed the call of this generations-old longing.”

Glenn-Copeland’s last album was 2004’s Primal Prayer, released under the name Phynix. The last album under his own name was 1986’s …Keyboard Fantasies…, which was recently reissued and rediscovered, and which we chose as a hidden gem on Bandcamp.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland The Ones Ahead tracklist:

1. Africa Calling
2. Harbour (Song For Elizabeth)
3. Love Takes All
4. People Of The Loon
5. Stand Anthem
6. The Ones Ahead
7. Prince Caspian’s Dream
8. Lakeland Angel
9. No Other