Soul Food
Mahakala, 2021
9/10
The revered pianist Christopher Parker aligns himself with Kelley Hurt’s vocals, Daniel Carter’s winds, Jaimie Branch’s trumpet, William Parker’s bass and Gerald Cleaver’s drumming for this adventurous jazz excursion that’s entirely improvised.
“Morning Ritual” opens the listen with Carter’s impressive wind presence alongside Hurt’s strategic wordless vocals in the avant-garde climate, and “Guardian Angels” follows with a busy free jazz delivery that mashes frantic keys, wild drumming and a whole lot of imagination.
The middle track, “Over Your Own Two Feet”, then places bouts of trumpet from Branch amid the well timed bass from Parker, while “Truth And Fiction” rumbles playfully in a brass fueled and key driven display of controlled chaos. “Soul Food” then exits the listen with a calmer, atmospheric demeanor that showcases all the players respective talents in an indeed soulful and mysterious fashion.
A very iconoclastic outing, Parker and company’s spontaneity and creative vision makes for an unpredictable and muscular outing of free jazz that comes with plenty of charm and memorableness
Travels well with: Cecil Taylor- The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert; The Art Ensemble Of Chicago- Tutankhamun