Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble – Black Unstoppable / Delmark
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicans’ motto is “Great Black Music, Ancient to the Future.” It is a sentiment strewn through and lived to the fullest by its acclaimed roster of musicians, composers and educators, among them Muhal Richard Abrams, Phil Cohran, Fred Anderson, Anthony Braxton, Malachi Favors and Roscoe Mitchell to name a select few. The organization is fully devoted to nurturing original music; students are trained in tradition and then encouraged to push it into realms never before explored. Listening to Nicole Mitchell, the AACM’s current co-president, the Chicago Tribune’s 2006 Chicagoan of the Year, and arguably jazz’s greatest living flutist, this aesthetic is clearly evident. Black Unstoppable, recorded with her multi-ethnic, genre-weaving group Black Earth Ensemble, may be Mitchell’s most realized recording to date. It encapsulates a multitude of phases throughout the history of African-American music, from blues to jazz to R&B, as well as African grooves, Eastern modes and Western 20th century classical. Mitchell’s arrangements skillfully balance it all, never relying on one single approach and in turn crafting a sultry, challenging and enlightening piece of music.
Joining Mitchell in the Black Earth Ensemble is long time compatriot and skilled saxophonist David Boykin, rising trumpeter David Young, jazz and post-rock guitarist Jeff Parker, textural cellist Tomeka Reid, multi-talented bassist Josh Abrams, drummer Marcus Evans, vocalist Ugochi and pianist Justin Dillard.
During “February,” Mitchell leads a silky, subdued groove while Boykin wrestles with his saxophone creating an oddly settling contrast; one that makes avant-garde jazz all that more digestible and slips soul-jazz a dose of challenge. “Love Has No Boundaries” is practically a trip in Doc’s De Lorean through black music history, beginning with soul-baring blues and swiftly traveling through swing, early R&B, mellowed post-bop and just brief touches of atonal avant-garde jazz. On the other hand, “Sun Cycles” is more of a meditation through the exuberant musical excursions of Sun Ra (an approach again seen on “Navigator”); the piece builds slowly with increasing tension before Boykins forcefully rips through Justin Dillard’s sheets of piano pounding and Evans’ shimmering use of his entire drum kit. The final track, “Thanking the Universe”, is practically a modern R&B song but stripped down to its bare essentials. When Parker lays down a wicked electric guitar solo during the bridge, early Prince comes to mind – I kid you not – but less in a King of Sex kind of way, more in terms of his patient R&B meets bare-boned electric rock arrangements.
“Life Wants You to Love” kicks off with a sultry, harmonic vocal outburst from Ugochi and Mitchell before Parker, Abrams and Evans lock into an engaging, near-Afrobeat groove. First Mitchell displays her lyrical flute soloing before Boykin once again matches wits with his sexily growling saxophone. “Your body is a woman, but your mind is still a child” sings Ugochi in a deep, gospel-leaning tone; perhaps Mitchell is trying to express that love is an essential part of life, but it’s important to reach a mental maturity with the subject (i.e. understanding exactly who you are and what you are capable of) before determining yourself ready to love another. The lust, want and passion is unmistakable throughout the track with Ugochi acting as the voice of reason. It is a song aimed at young women, but it's sound advice for anyone. Expressing inner turmoil and ways to resolve it via music may be Mitchell’s greatest talent.
Black Unstoppable is a caringly forceful statement of African-American art. Mitchell’s music exudes a positive energy out of a tumultuous past, encapsulating the strength of both emotional poles and balancing them in an expression devoted to those who care to listen, no matter their ethnicity. It verges on being an enlightening listen, and I could not give it a more heartfelt recommendation.
POSTED BY MPARDAIOLO AT 11:11 AM 0 COMMENTS LINKS TO THIS POST