TaxiCab Verses + Kofi Atentenben and the Warriors – Is What You Make It [DENIM-COLOR VINYL Athens, Georgia / Accra, Ghana] - New LP

TaxiCab Verses is a project that was created by Athens musician, Jim Wilson. It’s a genre-defying, world warping, international collaboration between TaxiCab Verses (Athens, GA) and Kofi Atentenben and the Warriors (Accra, Ghana).

  

TaxiCab Verses, Is What You Make It, is a project that was created by Athens musician, Jim Wilson. It’s an international collaborative project between TaxiCab Verses (a name inspired by the phrases covering the backs of taxis Jim observed during his travels in Ghana) and Ghana’s Kofi Atentenben and the Warriors. The 10-track album is named Is What You Make It, and according to Flagpole Magazine it's "aggressive and propulsive, even on tracks lesser musicians would let devolve into simple swing patterns (like the darkly jazz-tinged “Step By Step”)...my only regret is that I didn’t write about it the moment it came out. It’s righteously excellent." Overall, 22 musicians contributed to this between Athens and West Africa. TaxiCab Verses was originally released on CD only in 2012 and became a sort of hidden gem of Athens. The album was mastered by Greg Calbi (Bob Dylan, Drive-By Truckers, Paul Simon, The National) and was produced by Drew Vandenberg (Faye Webster, S.G. Goodman). Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers also had a big role in the creation of this album. He says that he is "so filled with love and pride for what Jim, Drew and all of those amazing musicians from two continents have created. Kudos to George Fontaine and the Strolling Bones Records folks for spotlighting this amazing chapter of Athens music history (and beyond) and finally making this record available for the whole world to hear."

“Some years ago, Jim told me about a trip to Ghana he was planning where he hoped to get deeply acquainted with the vast, local music scene there. He always had a deep interest in the music of West Africa and although his trip was initially to do field recordings of local musicians there, it soon morphed into an all-encompassing project with Jim taking phrases he saw on the backs of the various taxicabs he rode in like “Be Wise, Think Twice” and “First Things First,” then writing them down and turning them into the basis of a series of songs. He then took his field recordings of Ghana’s extremely talented Kofi Atentenben and the Warriors and had the idea of cross-pollinating them with musicians from his Athens hometown. The results became the TaxiCab Verses.” — Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers)