For The Love Of Peace

It has yearning hymns such as "I Love the Lord" (evoking the spirit of John Coltrane) and the instructive litany "Go Placidly". It also has a sermon—"Who Took My Shopping Cart" by Jessica Shih—read in a commanding, yet reassuring voice by Angela Moffett (who also reads "Go Placidly"). This service's processionals, "Spirit of the Blues" and "The Shepherd", prance. And throughout Moffett and his fellow celebrants, principally a quartet of pianist Scott Brown and the leader's brothers Cody and Mondre—on drums and trumpet respectively—engage in lively call and response.

Moffett knits all this together by reiterating musical motifs and themes. The quartet tracks "Free Spirit" and "The Movement of Freedom" employ the same darting dance figure as the brief bass solo that serves to lead into "Who Took My Shopping Cart". The arco melody that opens the disc returns as a solo after "Who Took...", and then serves as the opening theme to the mammoth bass statement that concludes the session.

While the elevated tone of this set may seem above matters of technique, it should be noted that Moffett is masterful throughout, whether tapping out dance rhythms with his bow on "The Shepherd", plucking dazzling figures from his fretless bass on "The Movement of Freedom", or ranging far in his closing ten-minute bass sermon. In that closing testament, he both reflects and summarizes on the spiritual matters of the preceding 45 minutes and asserts his place at the forefront of American bassists. But more than his enviable skills as an instrumentalist and composer, Moffett has a profound message to communicate.