Joy Harjo: “I Pray For My Enemies” (2021) CD Review

I became aware of Joy Harjo when someone gave me a copy of her book She Had Some Horses back when I was in my late teens. I loved the book, and afterward read some of her other work, but somehow missed that she also released albums of music, though that did come later. In addition to being a celebrated poet (the first Native American to serve as U.S. poet laureate), Joy Harjo is a songwriter and musician. On her 2021 release, I Pray For My Enemies, she plays alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, bells, Tibetan bowls, flute, piano and percussion, and provides the vocals. She also wrote the material for the album. A few of these tracks began as poems published in her 2019 book An American Sunrise. She is joined by some other talented musicians, including Peter Buck (of R.E.M.) on guitar, Mike MacCready (of Pearl Jam) on guitar, Krist Novoselic (of Nirvana) on acoustic guitar, Rich Robinson (of The Black Crowes) on electric guitar, and Dave Carter (of Barrett Martin Group) on trumpet. Barrett Martin plays a wide variety of instruments on these tracks, including upright bass, 12-string guitar, drums, piano, organ, clavinet, vibraphone, marimba, and gong. Barrett Martin also co-produced this album with Joy Harjo. The album contains more than an hour of music.

The opening track, “Allay Na Lee No,” starts with a steady beat. “It’s a welcoming song,” she tells us at the beginning of the track. She then sings that title line over that beat. “We’re here to celebrate life, it’s so short,” she says in a spoken word section. Indeed. And so? “Let’s dance,” she says. Oh yes. That’s when the band comes in to provide something to dance to, an instrumental with a bluesy edge. It’s interesting, for you can dance to it, but there is something meditative about it as well. Mike McCready plays guitar on this track. Dave Carter is on trumpet. Lisette Garcia is on the shaker, and Owen Sapulpa plays the surdo drum. Near the end, the track return to that steady drum beat from the beginning, with some vocal work by Joe Sulphur. That’s followed by “An American Sunrise,” which features a seriously delicious groove. Great work by Barrett Martin on drums and percussion. Joy Harjo gets funky here, and Rich Robinson delivers some good work on electric guitar. The lyrics are delivered as spoken word. “We drove to the edge of the mountains with a drum/We made sense of our beautiful, crazed lives under the starry stars.” Lisette Garcia provides some nice backing vocal work here. This is fantastic. How often do we dance to poetry? Well, probably not as often as we should, right? “Forty years later, and we still want justice/We are still America.” She delivers a soulful, beautiful saxophone lead in the track’s second half.

“Calling The Spirit Back” begins with some wonderful work by Rahim Alhaj on Iraqi oud. I love music that transports me, and this track does so immediately. And to aid with our travel, Joy Harjo advises, “Turn off that cell phone, computer, and remote control/Open the door, then close it behind you/Take a breath offered by friendly winds.” Advice we ought to take to heart, particularly in these strange days of anxiety, these days when the world seems to want to shake us all off like some parasites. “Cut the ties you have to failure and shame/Let go the pain you are holding in your mind, your shoulders, your heart, all the way to your feet.” That rhythm seems to move through us. I like that she allows a playful aspect to enter her voice as she says, “And remember, keep the speeches short.” And toward the end, there is more excellent work on oud. Though many of this album’s lyrics are delivered as spoken word, Joy Harjo does sing on some tracks, such as “How Love Blows Through The Trees.” She also delivers some good work on alto saxophone on this one, and Krist Novoselic plays acoustic guitar. This track also features a warm and encouraging trumpet part by Dave Carter. Joy’s saxophone answers the trumpet, and that instrumental section is soothing and beautiful.

I love the percussion on “Earth House.” Barrett Martin plays metallophone, marimba and vibraphone on this one, as well as several other instruments. Joy Harjo plays pueblo drum, and Lisette Garcia plays bell tree. These words stand out for me: “She distrusted computers, said they stole people, kept their attention from what mattered.” How often are we distracted online by things that are of little or no consequence? Joy Harjo shows her talent as storyteller here, easily drawing us in, holding our attention. That’s followed by “Fear.” Peter Buck is on guitar for this one, and there is a tension to the sound from the start, helping to create a compelling atmosphere. I love that work on bass. Joy Harjo’s vocal delivery here is powerful. “I am not afraid to be angry/I am not afraid to rejoice.”  Her delivery is almost mesmerizing at times. “You have gutted me, but I gave you the knife.” Then “Running” has a funky, delicious bass line, and a seriously cool sound and vocal delivery. “I was afraid of the dark, because then I could see/Everything/The truth with its eyes staring back at me/The mouth of the dark with its shiny moon teeth/No words, just a hiss and a snap.” This poem was published in The New Yorker, and then included in An American Sunrise. And on this track, Joy Harjo plays flute. It is another of the disc’s highlights.

“We Emerged From Night In Clothes Of Sunrise” features some beautiful work on alto saxophone. Both Lisette Garcia and Barrett Martin play Balinese gamelans on this track. This is the album’s only instrumental track. It is followed by “Midnight Is A Horn Player,” another track to feature a great groove. Here each hour of night is represented by a different musician. “Two a.m. is a guitar player who is down on his luck.” And it takes us on into the morning, when it is time for the cleaning crew. Mike McCready plays guitar on this track, and Dave Carter is again on trumpet. Am I crazy, or at one point does Joy Harjo give a little nod to “My Funny Valentine” on saxophone? There is yet another delicious groove on “Once The World Was Perfect.” “We destroyed the world we had been given/For inspiration, for life,” Joy sings on this one. But don’t worry, there is hope here. “A spark of kindness made a light/The light made an opening in the dark.” And this track features some wonderful work on saxophone. That’s followed by “Rabbit Invents The Saxophone,” a great jazz piece. “The first thing a musician needs is a band, he said to his friends.” Well, here Joy Harjo’s band is just Barrett Martin, who plays drums, bass, piano, organ and vibraphone. All the instruments other than saxophone. I love the section where Joy sings of the power of the saxophone. “It made old woman dance and girls fall to their knees.” There is a playful ending.

Rahim Alhaj returns on oud for “Remember,” and both Joy Harjo and Lisette Garcia play Tibetan bells. Peter Buck plays tremolo guitar on this one. “Remember the wind, remember her voice/She knows the origin of this universe.” And there is something haunting in her delivery as she sings, “Remember the sky, remember the earth.” This is another of the album’s highlights. Peter Buck is again on tremolo guitar on “Why Is Beauty?” While in the previous track Joy Harjo urged us to remember, here she sings, “Do not forget this beauty, she was told.” This track features a strong and exciting rhythm. “One Day There Will Be Horses” also contains a prominent rhythm, and features Peter Buck again on tremolo guitar. Also on this one, Krist Novoselic plays acoustic guitar, and Dave Carter delivers some sweet work on trumpet. “One day I will be rich, one day I will be lucky, one day I will have horses.” That’s followed by “Stomp All Night,” a cool, fun track featuring some good work by Barrett Martin on bass. There is a playful aspect to this one, and Joy Harjo is joined by Marissa Sapulpa and Sandra Sapulpa on backing vocals and banter. Joy also delivers some wonderful stuff on saxophone. “We take care of the songs, the songs will take care of us.” This excellent album concludes with “This Morning I Pray For My Enemies.”  “An enemy must be worthy of engagement,” Joy tells us here, and I realize I have no enemies. Marissa Sapulpa and Sandra Sapulpa again provide backing vocal work. “The heart is a smaller cousin of the sun.

CD Track List

1. Allay Na Lee No
2. An American Sunrise
3. Calling The Spirit Back
4. How Love Blows Through The Trees
5. Earth House
6. Fear
7. Running
8. We Emerged From Night In Clothes Of Sunrise
9. Midnight Is A Horn Player
10. Once The World Was Perfect
11. Rabbit Invents The Saxophone
12. Remember
13. Why Is Beauty?
14. One Day There Will Be Horses
15. Stomp All Night
16. This Morning I Pray For My Enemies

I Pray For My Enemies was released on March 5, 2021.