Degi-Degi, the new single from Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble ‘Spirit Gatherer – Tribute to Don Cherry’ is a soulful, deep jazz run from Don Cherry’s sainted Brown Rice LP. David Ornette Cherry opens the track with a rubato intro reminiscent of Alice Coltrane, before El’Zabar’s funky percussion enters to providing infectious forward motion against the trance-like motif of the song. Wilkes solos incisively, and Trible’s vocal generates texture and atmosphere. This is spiritual jazz at its finest.

https://ethnicheritageensemble.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-gatherer-tribute-to-don-cherry

Kahil El’Zabar – multi-percussion / balafon / kalimba / voice

Corey Wilkes – trumpet/ spirit bowls/ percussion

Alex Harding – baritone sax

Dwight Trible – voice

David Ornette Cherry – piano / melodica / douss’n gouni

The phenomenal new studio recording by spiritual jazz shaman Kahil El'Zabar and his legendary Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, ft. Dwight Trible & David Ornette Cherry. This is a tribute to the great spiritual jazz trumpeter & composer Don Cherry, opening up new connections to the wisdom of then ancestors & new spaces onto promising futures. This is spiritual jazz at its finest, dedicated to one of the greatest jazz figures in its history.

https://ethnicheritageensemble.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-gatherer-tribute-to-don-cherry

Lonely Woman, the timeless composition by Don Cherry’s close collaborator, Ornette Coleman, known by the classic performance by Cherry’s, Redman’s, Haden’s & Blackwell’s ‘Old and New Dreams’ is reimagined by legendary percussionist & composer Kahil El’Zabar and superbly performed by his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble ft Dwight Trible & David Ornette Cherry. El’Zabar’s percussion adds gravitas & Trible’s divine and deeply wistful vocals add lyricism, while David Ornette Cherry’s piano adds grace & drama to this Coleman anthem, a tribute to the great Don Cherry, as never heard before.

https://ethnicheritageensemble.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-gatherer-tribute-to-don-cherry

The first single and album opener is a call to the project’s guiding spirit. Built around one of El’Zabar’s sparely beautiful kalimba lines and a stomped beat, the song features Trible’s repeated invocation of Don Cherry by name, while David Ornette contributes an atmospheric melodica solo.

https://ethnicheritageensemble.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-gatherer-tribute-to-don-cherry

Kahil El’Zabar – multi-percussion / balafon / kalimba / voice

Corey Wilkes – trumpet/ spirit bowls/ percussion

Alex Harding – baritone sax

Dwight Trible – voice

David Ornette Cherry – piano / melodica / douss’n gouni

 

Design and Art Direction by Nep Sidhu

All Don Cherry images courtesy of the Cherry Archive, Estate of Moki Cherry

 

Composition and arrangement by Kahil El’Zabar

Recorded in CoLabyrinth, Chicago in February 2022

Recording Engineers: Lee Farmer and Imran Shabazz

Mix Engineer: Lee Farmer

Mastering by: Frank Merritt at The Carvery, London

 

Spiritmuse Records

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