| A brilliant tribute to the late Malcolm X -- served up by Chicago's legendary Artistic Heritage Ensemble! The record's got an even farther-reaching sound than the group's self-titled effort -- a flowing style that unfolds as their tribute to Malcolm rolls on -- starting spare and earthy at first, then picking up a fuller, prouder, much more righteous groove as things really get going! As before, there's plenty of heavy percussion at the bottom of most tracks -- topped by complicated horn passages that often verge on the exotic -- and which have a tremendously captivating sound. The ensemble's led by the great Phil Cohran, who played with Sun Ra for a bit, and also plays cornet on the record -- the rest of the group includes Charles Williams, Don Myrick, Louis Satterfield, Pete Cosey, Henry Gibson, Willie Woods, and Aaron Dodd -- a lineup of players who also worked with Sun Ra, The Pharoahs, and Earth Wind & Fire! The LP's a suite of 4 tracks dedicated to Malcolm X, each capturing a period of his life, "Malcolm Little", "Detroit Red", "Malcolm X", and "El Hajj Malik El Shabazz". (Packaged in a cool record-style sleeve.) |