[youtube id=”yDBIvE9J4xk”]Phil Clendeninn formed the jazz group Tarika Blue in 1973 when he was a student at Syracuse University. They signed a contract with independent label Chiaroscuro in 1976 and would release two albums with them. Lisa Fisher, Dolores Smith and Irene Datcher were vocalists who worked with the group but their self-titled debut album was instrumental. “Dreamflower” fit into the realm of fusion jazz being made by people like Pharoah Sanders and was labeled spiritual because of its mystical laid-back sound. Tarika Blue’s wonderful musicianship did not stop them from breaking up and becoming an obscure band. Clendeninn also worked in the Big Apple Band which included Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards before they founded Chic. Decades later “Dreamflower” would be unearthed by J.Dilla for Erykah Badu’s “Didn’t Cha Know” and create new interest in the band. Tarika Blue’s albums were reissued by Chiaroscuro in 2002 and Clendeninn now works as a product specialist for Yamaha.
