Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Kahil El'Zabar Ritual Trio: Follow The Sun

Kahil El'Zabar Ritual Trio: Follow The Sun

By Hrayr Attarian
May 5, 2014
View read count

Kahil El'Zabar Ritual Trio: Follow The Sun

It is safe to state that the percussionist Kahil El'Zabar has never made a mediocre or a mundane album and Follow the Sun is no exception. On this intriguing and provocative disc El'Zabar leads his group through five originals and four covers that he interprets with his signature, fluid touch.

Oscar Hammerstein II's heartsick standard "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise" gets a raw yet sophisticated makeover as El'Zabar and bassist

Junius Paul

bass, electric

" data-original-title="" title="">Junius Paul lay down rumbling, intricate vamps. Over this rhythmic framework tenorists

Ari Brown

saxophone
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Ari Brown and

Artee Duke Payne

" data-original-title="" title="">Artee Duke Payne trade tense and jagged bars in an exhilarating duet. Their respective turns in the spotlight contrast and complement each other with Brown's cool, thick and airy tone resonating against Payne's grittier, more ardent one. Paul's gingerly walking bass lines quickly evolve to a complex and stimulating display of virtuosity. El'Zabar's primal and energetic drumming marks his own elegant, albeit brief, solo. The result is a thrilling mix of emotion and thought, contemplation and unbridled fervor and a uniquely fresh take on an oft-recorded classic.

Overlapping, deceptively simple, refrains and spontaneous phrases form the building blocks for El'Zabar's dynamic and vibrant compositions. One of the highlights of this uniformly outstanding record is "Great Black Music." This sublimely spiritual yet boldly organic piece opens with the leader's haunting kalimba strikes mixed with Paul's deep reverberating strings and Brown's cascading piano notes. El'Zabar and vocalist

Dwight Trible

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Dwight Trible's murmurs and chants add to its devotional nature and usher in Payne's wailing, melancholic bagpipes. The combination of voices and the Payne's echoing free reeds create an eerily memorable ambience. Trible's rough-hewn singing over the earthy percussion and Payne's wistful and evocative tones make for a perfect conclusion

Trible shines on saxophonist

Wayne Shorter

saxophone
1933 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter's iconic "Footprints" and on pianist Johnny Green's timeless ballad "Body and Soul." On the former Trible enunciates his poetic lyrics with deep passion and dramatic flair. Payne's broad, gravelly saxophone mirrors the spirit of Trible's song while Brown's bluesy simmering piano enhances the elegiac mood. Trible showcases his scatting abilities on the latter tune as his agile vocals take off on a meandering exploration. His band mates, meanwhile, create a backdrop of delightfully dark harmonies

Ever the innovator, through out a career of three decades and sixty recordings, El'Zabar has maintained the singularity of his vision and a stylistic unity without repeating himself or becoming predictable. This CD is yet another integral and representative slice of his unfettered ingenuity.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Follow The Sun; Softly As In A Morning Sunrise; Great Black Music; Footprints; Grandma��s Hands; Inner Heart; Body And Soul; Our Journey; Up Your Mind.

Personnel

Kahil El'Zabar

drums

Kahil El��Zabar: drums, kalimba, earth drum, vocals (3,5); Ari Brown: tenor saxophone, piano; Junius Paul: bass; Dwight Trible: vocals (1, 3�C5, 7, 9); Duke Payne: tenor saxophone, bagpipes.

Album information

Title: Follow The Sun | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Delmark Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Road Shows, Vol. 3
< Previous

Fatoumata Diawara at Nourse Theater
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.