Kahil El’Zabar celebrates 50 years of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble with new album

Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble — Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

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Kahil El’Zabar celebrates 50 years of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble with new album

Legendary multi-percussionist, bandleader, vocalist, composer, educator, and former Chair of the Association of Creative Musicians (AACM), Kahil El’Zabar has been a staple among the Chicago jazz scene for over half a century. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of his pioneering group, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, he has released a brilliant new album on the Spiritmuse label, titled Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit.

The EHE was founded by El’Zabar in 1974 originally as a quintet, and yet through a number of lineup changes and instrument configurations, the group has always featured an incredible cast of musicians, like Light Henry Huff, Kalaparusha Maurice Macintyre, Joseph Bowie, Hamiett Bluiett, Craig Harris, and others. On Open Me, that continues to be the case with the session also including trumpeter and percussionist Corey Wilkes, and baritone saxophonist Alex Harding, along with the addition of string players Ishmael Ali on cello, and James Sanders on violin and viola.

The incredible twelve track recording, which blends layered hypnotic percussion rhythms and grooves with improvised and soulful horns and strings, contains a mixture of originals and jazz classics, including some El’Zabar classics such as “Barundi,” “Hang Tuff,” “Ornette,” and “Great Black Music”, along with superb new renditions of Miles Davis’ “All Blues”, McCoy Tyner’s “Passion Dance” and Gene McDaniels’ “Compared to What”.

As of all Ethnic Heritage Ensemble recordings, the music transports the listener to a higher spiritual realm unlike many other artists and groups can achieve. Even after five decades, El’Zabar continues to be one of the most creative and forward-thinking artists in the world.