NEW RELEASES: ETHNIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE - BLACK IS BACK; YUSEF LATEEF - VOICE PRINTS; RED GARLAND TRIO - MOODSVILLE 6

ETHNIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE - BLACK IS BACK: 40TH ANNIVERSARY PROJECT

The 40th Anniversary of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble – but celebrated by a wonderfully fresh version of the group! The lineup here features the solid, soulful percussion of Kahil El Zabar – who also wrote and arranged all the music too – plus the great Ernest Dawkins on reeds and the bold Corey Wilkes on trumpet! The mixture of trumpet and saxophone is sublime – stretching out over Kahil's spacious percussion at a level that unlocks a spiritual sound that the AACM never even expressed this strongly back in the 70s – a nicely open vibe that stretches out, but still hangs inside at most moments too – a bit like some of El Zabar's famous collaborations with David Murray, but with the addition of trumpet in the mix. Titles include "The Awakening Of 2012", "Creole Peppa Stew", "Walk The Talk", "Can You Find A Place", "Black Is Back", and "Be Bop". ~ Dusty Groove

YUSEF LATEEF / ROSCOE MITCHELL / DOUGLAS EWART / ADAM RUDOLPH / VOICE PRINTS

Some of the most spiritual work we've heard from Yusef Lateef in years – a set cut with AACM legends Roscoe Mitchell and Douglas Ewart, and done with a sound that takes us back to the legendary sounds of both players in the 70s! Adam Rudolph also joins the quartet, bringing in some great percussion – and the album's a really collaborative affair, with all the musicians shifting through a wide range of instrumentation in their own spheres of expertise – at a level that recalls the work of the Art Ensemble of Chicago at their best. Lateef plays tenor, flutes, oboe, and even vocalizes a bit – as does Ewart, who along with Roscoe Mitchell plays a range of reeds and percussion instruments. Titles include "Voice Prints", "Sound Search", "Harpers Ferry", and "Morning Moves".~ Dusty Groove

RED GARLAND TRIO - MOODSVILLE 6

Red Garland's sound was already often mellow and laidback in the late 50s, but it takes on a whole new sense of that style here in a rare session for Prestige's Moodsville label! As with others on the imprint, the focus here is on the gentler sounds of the late nite scene – more ballads and easygoing numbers, but still played with a strong degree of jazz – and not the kind of cocktail modes that other labels would use when putting "moods" on the front of a record! Red's trio here is the familiar one from other Prestige albums – Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums – and the only change, really, is that the tracks are all mellower ones, but still done with plenty of bluesy inflections on the keys from Red! Titles include "I Love You Yes I Do", "And The Angels Sing", "Blues For Ann", "I'll Never Stop Loving You", and "Bass-ment Blues". ~ Dusty Groove