Percussionist, composer, vocalist, and bandleader Kahil ElZabar is a force of nature. For nearly five decades hes led Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Ritual Trio. He was a member of the Bright Moments collective with Joseph Jarman, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntrye, and Steve Colson, and worked as a sideman with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie and Cannonball Adderley to Eddie Harris and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Spirit Groove features ElZabar in the company of saxophonist and longtime collaborator David Murray, bassist Emma Dayhuff, and pianist/keyboardist Justin Dillard on synth, organ, and piano. This outing shines a light on the accessibility and vision of ElZabars abundant creativity. Whether playing kalimba, drum kit, congas, shakers, vibes, or singing, he is in pursuit of the ancient universal groove, and its twin manifestations as spiritual and aesthetic entities in the contemporary world. Opener In My House establishes trancelike qualities early in its 20-minute duration. Kalimba and bass accompany a chanted vocal thats drenched in soul. Murrays tenor saxophone emerges straight from the modal blues at about four minutes. The call-and-response between vocals, rhythm, and Murray becomes a threaded interaction; its spontaneous even through a trancelike groove. Various solos -- including Murrays deep emotional wail -- emerge as the vamp, not apart from it, as the whole thing travels the outer reaches of song. Nektar intersects with much of the new jazz emerging from the U.K. Its a celebration of the ancestral fueled by a modern pulse initiated by Murrays post-bop blowing, ElZabars ticking snare and hi-hat, and vamping electric piano that seeks to express all sides of a groove, from dependent interactive origination to unbounded communication. Songs of Myself emerges modally from silence with ElZabar offering a drenched-in-mystery, muted shuffle on his drum kit, answered by Dillards exploratory piano and effects, and Dayhuffs slowly hovering yet pulsing bassline. Organ flits in and out, as do off-mike vocals and spacy vibes. Murrays smoky, investigative lyricism clocks in to sum up everything that has come before, pushing the ensemble to take it further. In the Spirit is spiritual soul-jazz at its best; where Roy Ayers, Leon Thomas, Les McCann, Eddie Harris, and Joe Lee Wilson all mingle with Booker Little and Pharoah Sanders in riff-centric and obsessively assonant modal jazz. It stirs emotionally as poignant questions emerge from the mix about our attentiveness while affirming the spiritual truth of rhythm. While Trane in Mind is self-explanatory, its also notable for Murrays blowing. Its aware and plugged in with the rhythm sections emotional expression. Murray traverses post-bop, modal, and free jazz with a focus that -- like its namesakes Expression album -- frames abundance as the result of gratitude and unity. Spirit Groove is at once in keeping with ElZabars welcoming, prophetic look at jazz as a life force and also as a new chapter that seeks to simplify and express fully how the groove unites us. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi