There are two bands sharing the name Birthright:

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1.

From Indianapolis, Indiana; Birthright was a hardcore band dedicated to the vegan straight edge philosophy, as well as to fighting sexism, racism, specieism, homophobia and nationalism. Musically less metal-influenced than many of the bands from the genre, Birthright’s sound is more grounded in straight forward hardcore.

Birthright had three releases, a self-titled 7” EP, Ascension,a MCD which included the first EP along with additional tracks, a song on the “Ceremony of Fire” benefit compilation CD, and a final MCD, Out of Darkness. The first two releases were put out by Catalyst Records, and the final by GoodLife Recordings. BR also did a split with the band Unconquered, released on Words of War.

Birthright called it quits not long after their first European Tour, in 1999, due to continuing line up problems. Members of Birthright went on to be in Anthem Boy, Fall Out Boy, Angelville, and Risen (also on Catalyst Records) among others.

2.

As promised, the second and final album by the Buffalo, NY band Birthright from 1976, once again a private press release on Freelance Records, and apparently I'm not the only one who wants this. This time we've got Greg from Blackclassical to thank for the rip - thanks also to Reza for some details and again to KG from Killergroove for alerting me to this in the first place.

Quite a different album two years on from the previously-posted "Free Spirits" - with not so many free excursions, this is more of a band, with Greg Millar's guitar adding a new layer. Although we're still floating on the spiritual cloud, there's a greater concentration on song structures and overall textures this time around, with vocals from Beverly Simms on some tracks.

Highlight for me is the track "Love", Strata-East-goes-samba with Kenny Barron-ish rhodes from Tom Schuman, with Simms sounding like she's on her first E with her lyrical celebration of nature and happiness. Many other great tracks here too - the communication between saxophonists Joe Ford and Paul Gresham's saxaphones is as strong as ever.

Where are they now ? I talked about Paul Gresham, Joe Ford and Nasar Abadey in the "Free Spirits" post. Of the new people here, keyboardist Tom Schuman and guitarist Greg Millar both sadly moved on to smooth-jazz "pioneers" Spyro Gyra; and vocalist Beverly Simms seemingly vanished into thin air.

Bassist Gerry Eastman released his first solo album "Songbook" in 1996, which featured Birthright members Joe Ford and Nasar Abadey alongside Andy Bey on vocals - Bey fans : check the "Blackaphobia" preview there. Eastman is also a member of Abadey and Ford's "Supernova" band, and Ford appeared on his second solo album "Brown Skin Gal" last year. Hope you enjoy this one!

TRACKLIST

01. ‘Travis’ (5;57)

02. ‘Love’ (4:42)

03. ‘Breath of life’ (5:08)

04. ‘Hope’ (3:59)

05. ‘India’ (6:19)

06. ‘So To Speak’ (7:30)

07. ‘Left foot rag’ (7:39)

MUSICIANS

Nasar Abadey – drums

Paul Gresham - tenor saxaphone

Joe Ford- alto and soprano saxaphone

Beverly Simms - vocals & percussion

Greg Millar – guitar

Tom Schuman - piano & fender rhodes

Gerry Eastman – bass

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