An obscure fusion jazz vintage album from Oakland, California is getting a long-awaited reissue. Frederiksberg Records, which specializes in bringing back to market out-of-print underground cult classics from around the world, is set to give new life to the only album by saxophonist, composer, bandleader and social activist Jeff Jones’ pet project The People’s People. The People’s People Present The Spirit Of David never enjoyed wide release but the well-conceived and well-executed set of recordings impressed everyone who came across it at the time of original release and over the years.
The music is a direct outgrowth of the social activism that flourished in the Oakland and Bay Area during the 60s and 70s. Jones’idea was not to write protest anthems but rather, “use entertainment to both educate and interface with the local community.” At first that came in the form of outdoor free concerts but Jones soon realized he needed a more organized, focused approach and thus started a grassroots enterprise he called The People’s People. Understanding the need to expand reach to raise funds, he knew he needed to make and self-release a record. Jones and some local musicians wrote all the music for The Spirit of David in 1973, just a year after arriving in Oakland upon his discharge from the Army.
Next, Jones enlisted a second set of musicians from the area for recording the music: Emmons Porter (bass, vocals), Jack Spinovich (drums), Leonard Franklin (guitar), Ray Vega (percussion) and Steve Espanosa (keyboards). They spent the next three(!) years rehearsing the material under Jones’ strict guidelines.
Given all that time preparing, it’s unsurprising that all four tracks were recorded in a single take, no one needing any cues for even tricky breaks and changes. What’s more, the recording was ‘live’ in the studio packed with an invited audience of more than fifty people and mixed live as well. There was little room for error and the risk for error was high. Fortunately, a lot of preparation and a little bit of luck averted any notable glitches or disasters.
The gentle, soul soothing number “Monica” named for Jones’ daughter has a melody similar to “Europa (Earth’s Cry Heaven’s Smile)”, a Santana tune popular around that time. Instead of the audacious display of chops for chops’ sake that became the order of the day for fusion in 1976, Jones opted for a deeply lyrical approach, using his saxophone as a singing voice.
“Q Street” starts with a moving, flawlessly executed sax soliloquy leading into a Spanish-tinged riff, and Espanosa’s thoughtful Rhodes solo is followed by Franklin’s biting, tube-y guitar chain of notes. “Fritz” is compositionally more sophisticated, traversing through moments of blistering hard bop of the 50s, peaceful spiritual jazz of the 60s and the R&B-filtered funk-jazz prevalent in the 70s before coming full circle. Espanosa and Franklin again make notable contributions on the solo front, the former opting for a blues approach and the latter channeling Eddie Hazel.
“Where Is My Autumn Love” has an idyllic ballad to match the setting of a stroll around Oakland Lake Merritt; a fitting way to end the album.
A lone 45 came forth two years later from The People’s People and then that was it for this project. But Jeff Jones’ vision and extensive legwork that went into this one-off album resulted in a quality electric jazz record that’s held up pretty well over the years. And now, everyone can find out this music Oakland has known about for almost half a century.
Pre-order/order The People’s People Present The Spirit Of David — out September 26, 2025 — from Bandcamp.
- Peter Somuah – ‘Walking Distance’ (2026) - March 13, 2026
- Soft Machine – ‘Thirteen’ (2026) - March 4, 2026
- Devin Gray – ‘Hz Of Gold‘ (2026) - March 2, 2026
