ETHNIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE - OPEN ME, A HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS OF SOUND AND SPIRIT [LP]

SPIRITMUSE RECORDS

£45.34

Format: LP (180g vinyl, gatefold, orig. A/W & obi strip)
Catalogue No.: LPKEZ011X
Barcode: 634457161474
Release Date: 08 Mar 2024
Genre: Jazz-Blues

Celebrating 50 years of Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble's legacy and unwavering contribution to Great Black Music - 'Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit' is a new Ethnic Heritage Ensemble sound, constantly shifting gears and tempos in a jazz-blues continuum, in perpetual spontaneity, combining their meaningful music history with an innovative approach to arrangements, performance and improvisation.

This is Ancient / Future Music for the Now and Beyond.

Open Me is a joyous honouring of portent new directions of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble; it's a visionary journey into deep roots and future routes, channelling traditions old and new. It mixes El'Zabar's original compositions with timeless classics by Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, and Eugene McDaniels. Thus, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble continues affirming their indelible, half- century presence within the continuum of Great Black Music.

For Open Me, El'Zabar has chosen to push the sound of the EHE in a new direction by adding string instruments --the addition of strings opens new textural resonances and timbral dimensions in the Ensemble's sound, linking the work to the tradition of improvising violin and cello from Ray Nance to Billy Bang, Leroy Jenkins, and Abdul Wadud.

Open Me contains a mixture of originals, including some El'Zabar evergreens such as "Barundi," "Hang Tuff," "Ornette," and "Great Black Music" (often attributed to the Art Ensemble of Chicago but is, in fact, an El'Zabar composition).

As a milestone anniversary celebration and a statement of future intent, Open Me effortlessly carries El'Zabar's healing vision of Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit.

Tracks:
1. All Blues
2. Barundi
3. The Whole World
4. Return Of The Lost Tribe
5. Hang Tuff
6. Can You Find A Place
7. Great Black Music
8. Passion Dance
9. Ornette
10. Compared To What
11. Kari
12. Open Me