Results for "Kahil El'Zabar"

Kahil El'Zabar

Born: November 11, 1953

Internationally renowned percussionist and composer Kahil El'Zabar is considered one of the most prolific jazz innovators of his generation. Indeed El'Zabar is a true "Renaissance Man," with a musical style and content that flows from ancient Africa to the modern world. In his own words, "The spirit of one's approach comes first before the technical. All the facility in the world with nothing that comes from the heart doesn't make good music. The basis of the strength of any artistic evolution has come from ethnicity."

Even though he is fully grounded in the history and music of his African American community, he has taken his studies deeper, ingeniously incorporating African music and instrumentation, producing a unique and wonderfully engaging sound. He credits his community with providing some direction towards African sensibility. "I grew up in a period when African Americans, as a large body, finally started addressing our roots. With African drums there was such an appeal in the way of playing with the hands and the sense of the entire body being involved in the playing of the instrument." El'Zabar is an accomplished musician with mastery of a variety of instruments, from the elementary - congas, bongos, African drums, shekere, gongs, and trap drums - to the esoteric - balaphon, marimba, sanza, kalimba and berimbau.

Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

By Kahil El'Zabar

Label: Spiritmuse
Released: 2024
Track listing: All Blues; Barundi; The Whole World; Return Of The Lost Tribe; Hang Tuff; Can You Find A Place; Great Black music; Passion Dance; Ornette; Compared To What; Kari; Open Me.

Chris May's Best Jazz Albums Of 2024

by Chris May
December 3, 2024

In case you missed the sad news, our dear friend and compatriot, Chris May, passed away in November (read our tribute). Below are the albums he considered extraordinary in 2024--a final testament to his discerning taste and love of sound. -mR Rob LuftDahab Days Edition Records

Freedom & American Themes + Captain Black Big Band

by David Brown
July 23, 2024

Here is the show from Independence Day weekend with American and freedom themes as explored by jazz artists. From there, we'll check out some works from the Orrin Evans Captain Black Big Band, and more. Welcome friends and neighbors to The Jazz Continuum. Old, new, in, out... wherever the music takes us. Each week, we will ...

Peter Van Huffel, Mary Halvorson & Liba Villavechia

by Maurice Hogue
May 7, 2024

Canadian expat-saxophonist Peter Van Huffel has found a place amidst that hotbed of free-wheeling music in Berlin, and his latest release with his band Callisto reinforces his position as one of the exciting voices working today. Meandering Demons out on Clean Feed introduces a newer band with (Clean Feed) with another Canadian who spends a lot ...

James Brandon Lewis, Kenny Drew, Satoko Fujii, Julian Lage

by David Brown
April 5, 2024

We kick off the show with some works that blur the lines of genre from James Brandon Lewis, Mary Halvorson and the Chicago Underground Duo; move into a set of late '50s recordings by pianist Kenny Drew, and then take off in all directions from there: piano trios from Satoko Fujii, Marc Copland and Matthew Shipp; ...

Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

by Chris May
February 23, 2024

The first few bars of Open Me: A Higher Consciousness Of Sound And Spirit promise the listener is in for a treat. Corey Wilkes' muted trumpet plays Miles Davis' “All Blues" counterpointed by Alex Harding's rugged baritone saxophone and Kahil El'Zabar's ankle bells and kalimba. Here is Ethnic Heritage Ensemble in all its enchanting bare-bones singularity, ...

Spirit Gatherer: Tribute to Don Cherry

By Ethnic Heritage Ensemble

Label: Self Produced
Released: 2023
Track listing: Don Cherry; Lonely Woman; Evocation; Degi-Degi; Sketches of A Love Supreme; Bop On; Holy Man; Well You Needn't; The Opening; Harvest Time; Spirit Gatherer.

Chris May's Best Albums Of 2023

by Chris May
December 4, 2023

Another great year for recorded jazz. Fourteen of 2023's most special albums are presented here. Eight are new recordings and six are reissues or previously unreleased archive items. Joint Number One Best New Albums Of 2023 Irreversible Entanglements Protect Your Light Impulse! There are two contendors for the slam-dunk ...

Vilhelm Bromander: In This Forever Unfolding Moment

by Chris May
September 15, 2023

Ornette Coleman's haunting “Lonely Woman" is becoming something of a 2023 soundtrack. At the time of writing, we have had memorable versions from Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble on Spirit Gatherer (Spirit Muse), and Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter on The Iridescent Spree (Edition), plus another couple of efforts about which the less said the better. ...