NEWS
Plunky & Oneness of Juju Made Through Ritual Strut Records presents the latest release by legendary Afro-jazz group Plunky & Oneness of Juju with their new album Made Through Ritual. Since the 1970s, Plunky has produced 30 albums on several labels, including Strata-East, Black Fire, and N.A.M.E. Brand Records. Building on his 50-year recording career, Plunky reaffirms his legacy with Made Through Ritual, a bold new album that bridges past and future.
“The album explores the art of deconstruction and reconstruction in music - sampling, sequencing, and live improvisation merge with multi-track recording to craft intricate harmonies and arrangements,” explains Plunky. “The process became a ritualistic expression of creativity and transformation.” The resulting album is a fascinating listen.
Opening with the meditative soul chant ‘Share This Love’ voiced by regular Oneness vocalist Charlayne “Chyp” Green, the album opens into a series of jazz vignettes including the title track, ‘In Due Time’ and ‘Free Spirit’. The powerful album closer, ‘Children Of The Drum’, celebrates black culture and legacy through the poetry of Roscoe Burnem.
Released on LP and CD with specially commissioned cover artwork by contemporary Ivorian artist Maxime Manga, Made Through Ritual represents an important new chapter in the Oneness story.
MADE THROUGH RITUAL - REVIEWS ARTICLES INTERVIEWS ETC.
BANDCAMP - Feature/Review https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/oneness-of-juju-made-through-ritual-interview
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“The sons of Black Fire Records grew up in the long shadows of their fathers. The Afrocentric jazz label, founded in the 1970s by D.C. radio host and promoter Jimmy Gray and James “Plunky” Branch, founding member of Oneness of Juju, had a lasting impact on the D.C. music community—even if Gray and Branch’s sons didn’t quite understand just how significant it was back when they were kids in the 1980s. Both boys grew up around their father’s work. As grown-ups, they forged their own careers as artists and producers.
Now, Jamal Gray and Jamiah “Fire” Branch, along with Plunky, are bringing that family legacy into the future with Made Through Ritual, the first Oneness of Juju album in over 30 years.
”DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE – SEPTEMBER 2025 Plunky & Oneness of Juju - Made Through Ritual STRUT RECORDS (Three Stars)
Made Through Ritual, a pleasantly varied Afro-pop funk/fusion album, is reeds and winds player Plunky Branch’s first recording of new material under his own name since Drive It in 2008; he released the historic work Live At The East 1973 in 2019. Having co-founded the multi-kulti band Oneness with DJ-producer Jimmy Gray (now deceased) in San Francisco in 1971, debuted as a soloist on Strata East in 1973, and fronted European dance hits in the ’80s, Branch has both avant-garde and crossover cred aplenty. He’s also been a TV studio musician, jazz educator and celebrated creative force in his native Richmond, Virginia. Plunky has rearranged digital samples by Jamal Gray, Jimmy’s son, for live performers, sometimes punctiliously multitracking tenor, alto, soprano saxes and flute parts over glistening keyboard fills, occasional synth flourishes and beds, taut electric guitar and bass and solid drumming. Several tunes here invite radio play, especially the title number and backbeat “Broad Street.” Though it opens with seductive vocalist “Chyp” Green and ends with provocative poet Burnem, Plunky is the album’s heart and smarts. — Howard Mandel Made Through Ritual: Share This Love; Made Through Ritual; In Due Time; Free Spirit; Shades Of Light; Freedom’s Call; Broad Street Strut; Cosmic Dust; Children Of The Drum. (34.19)Personnel: James “Plunky” Branch, saxophones, flutes, vocals, percussion, producer; Jamal Gray, sequenced sample tracks, co-producer (with Jamiah Fire Branch); Fabian Lance, electric keyboards; Carl Lester, electric guitars; Michael Hawkins, bass; Ty Onley, drums; Abdou Muhammed, djembe, percussion; P. Muzi Branch, electric bass; Bee Boisseau, keyboards, tracked instruments (1); Charlayne “Chyp” Green, vocals (1); Roscoe Burnem, poem (9); DJ Punisha Anderson, tracked instruments (7).Ordering info: www.onenessofjuju.bandcamp.com
ECHOES MAGAZINE Review:echoesmagazine.co.uk/magazine/Echoes-J
FAR OUT UK magazine Review:
The Big Indie Playlist curated by Medium Build - FAR OUT Magazine: Plunky & Oneness of Juju – ‘Share This Love’: There are few situations which cannot be improved tenfold by the presence of lush brass tones, particularly when rendered in the kind of timeless Afro-jazz style which the Oneness of Juju have been perfecting since back in the 1970s. ‘Share This Love’ is the opening track of their newly released album Made Through Ritual, and it reaffirms the jazz-funk excellence of the Virginia-based group. [4/5]
STYLE MAGAZINE - Plunky Day in RVA at Dogwood DellJames “Plunky” Branch has been an avatar and champion of the Richmond music scene for over half a century. He grew up in Richmond, left in the 1960s, and then returned after a picaresque odyssey through student demonstrations, the San Francisco counterculture, a brief stint in the military and even longer getting away from it. (See his incredible biography, “Plunky,” for details.) Along the way, he encountered innovative musicians and forged his own unique style leading bands playing innovative jazz with deep African roots. His historic contributions to music – particularly jazz and go-go – are finally getting the mainstream respect they deserve. But in his late 70s, he retains the energy of a player decades younger. His band, the once and future Oneness of Juju, just released a new recording, “Made Through Ritual [Strut].” The album incorporates an omnivorous banquet of styles from idealistic funk and R&B to instrumentals with Miles Davis “Bitches Brew” vibe. Over the years, his annual summer concert has become such an RVA tradition that it has become known as “Plunky Day.” His band, which includes both family members and longtime sidemen, embodies the upbeat unity Branch celebrates in his songs. At this stage of his life, as a saxophonist, writer/poet and positive community force, Branch has nothing left to prove. But, based on his recent performances, he has a lot left to give. Bring your children, they’ll have fun, and someday they’ll want to be able to say they saw Plunky in his prime.
—Peter McElhinney
JuJu Jazz Poetics
3.7.2022
Juju Jazz Poetics is a collection of soulful and evocative poems written by acclaimed musician, songwriter, and producer J. Plunky Branch. Most notably associated with his group Plunky & Oneness (of Juju) and his record labels, Black Fire and N.A.M.E Brand Records, Plunky has personally curated the 30 works in this book from the over 500 songs and poems he has written during his career.
About his book, Plunky writes, “Poetic license is what I have taken with these verses, and maybe I have stretched the boundaries by assuming to call myself a “poet”. But if these words grant you a smile or an agreeing nod or one good feeling, no matter how fleeting, perhaps I will have earned the title.”
Here’s what others are saying:
“Your poetry book is like having a personal “inspiration guide” that one can pull out when a quick fix of grace in needed!” – Mary Mudiku Greer, poetess and Black Fire artist
“…as lyrical as his music” – An DMV fan
“It was a vicarious adventure, and I'm sure it will appeal to a wide audience. Yes, you are a 'poet.' Well done!” - Lisa
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GET THE BOOK HERE :
Black Fire Documentary
3.1.2022
The Black Fire Documentary uncovers Washington, DC’s music and cultural heritage by highlighting the music, message, and art of the people behind Black Fire Records — a Black-owned independent jazz record label started in Chocolate City, aka the nation’s capital in the 1970s.
Established by DJ and record producer Jimmy Gray, and Saxophonist James “Plunky” Branch, who led the band Oneness Of Juju, Black Fire Records followed in the footsteps of other influential Black-owned independent labels like Strata-East and Tribe.
The Black Fire Documentary is a story about the early days of DC radio. It’s also a story about Black entrepreneurship and Black independent record labels of the time, especially boutique Jazz labels. Black Fire Records released the Experience Unlimited – EU’s first album in 1978. Black Fire is a story about the Spiritual Jazz Movement through highlighting Plunky’s contemporaries such as Sunra. Black Fire is a story about the Black Cultural Movements of the time, specifically in DC, but also in California and New York. Black Fire is a story about an independent jazz label and its connections to modern music through Hip Hop & Neo-Soul; via artists
that sampled or were influenced by Plunky/Black Fire (J Dilla, J Cole, Madlib, The Roots, Questlove, KRS ONE etc.). Finally, Black Fire is a story about family and legacy — how Jamiah Branch and Jamal Gray carry on the lineage of Black Fire Records, passing the torch for generations to come.
In a time of gentrification and cultural erasure in DC and beyond, Black Fire is a powerful piece of the once predominantly Black city’s history. Through the use of primary and secondary research methods, in-person interviews, album cover art, archival and media footage, photography and animation the Black Fire story is being told in the burning spirit of preserving the music, the people and the culture.
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Check Out The Official Website :
https://www.blackfiredocumentary.com
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