Hard Luck Soul

There’s an abundance of time to pick up a new hobby when you’re locked up in the slammer. It’s common for people to get into fitness or religion. Malcolm X famously taught himself to read and write by copying down every word from a dictionary. For Reynard Birtha, that time was best spent leading a band. Alongside his friend Logan Rollins — nephew of jazz royalty Sonny Rollins — Birtha found himself in an Ohio penitentiary at a time when the two of them were playing the local club circuit. Jazz musicians like Kai Winding and Art Blakey would visit the prison and play concerts for the inmates, which gave Birtha and Rollins the idea to start playing their own music. They recruited other prisoners to the group, guiding them to play as a cohesive unit despite their inexperience and inability to read music. The Ohio State University Band, impressed by the prison ensemble during a visitation, made sure to come back later with recording equipment. The resulting album is an incredible testament to persistence in the face of staggering hardship — though unfortunately, nobody involved with the group got paid.