The title really lets you know what you're in for here – a magical, mystical journey in music – served up by keyboardist Surya Botofasina, at a level that's even more heavenly than his previous record on the Spiritmuse label! The set was produced by Carlos Nino, and you can definitely feel his touch in the music as well – as Carlos really helps Surya shape his ideas and spread his wings in a beautifully gentle way – creating long, meditative tracks that also open up to contributions from a very like-minded array of guests who include Angel Bat Dawid, Nate Mercereau, Mia Doi Todd, Randal Fisher, and Turn On The Sunlight. The whole thing works together with a really beautiful sense of spirit and soul, very similar to some recent projects on International Anthem from the LA scene – and titles include "The Circle Of Compassion", "Avatar Bookstore Bal Vikas", "There Will Be Brighter Days", "Our Cottage To Across The Stream", "Your Soul Is Perfect", and "North Triunfo Canyon Road". CD

The title really lets you know what you're in for here – a magical, mystical journey in music – served up by keyboardist Surya Botofasina, at a level that's even more heavenly than his previous record on the Spiritmuse label! The set was produced by Carlos Nino, and you can definitely feel his touch in the music as well – as Carlos really helps Surya shape his ideas and spread his wings in a beautifully gentle way – creating long, meditative tracks that also open up to contributions from a very like-minded array of guests who include Angel Bat Dawid, Nate Mercereau, Mia Doi Todd, Randal Fisher, and Turn On The Sunlight. The whole thing works together with a really beautiful sense of spirit and soul, very similar to some recent projects on International Anthem from the LA scene – and titles include "The Circle Of Compassion", "Avatar Bookstore Bal Vikas", "There Will Be Brighter Days", "Our Cottage To Across The Stream", "Your Soul Is Perfect", and "North Triunfo Canyon Road". LP, Vinyl record album

Kahil El'Zabar reinvigorated his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble a few years back, and the results have been a really stunning reworking of his legacy on the Chicago scene in the 80s – especially on the great run of albums on the Spiritmuse label! All the rhythmic, hypnotic qualities of Kahil's past music informs these sounds – but there's also maybe more majesty and more spiritual power overall – as El'Zabar's work on a variety of percussion instruments is matched with bold baritone work from Alex Harding, and tremendous trumpet from Corey Wilkes! Kahil's vocals are also fantastic – an element that he never used this strongly in the past, and which open up a lost possible career as a soul singer from the more righteous side of the spectrum. The set also features work from James Sanders on violin and viola, and Ishmael Ali on cello – both musicians who add to the majesty of the music – on titles that include "Burundi", "All Blues", "Can You Find A Place", "Great Black Music", "Open Me", "Kari", "Return Of The Lost Tribe", and "Passion Dance". LP, Vinyl record album

The beautiful debut as a leader from pianist Surya Botofasina – an artist you may know from early work in the spiritual Build An Ark ensemble – finally given a chance here to shine on his own! The album's produced by Carlos Nino, with whom Botofasina worked in Build An Ark – and Nino also plays some percussion on the set, and brings some of his own meditative qualities to the music. Yet things are still very much Surya's own, with long tracks that stretch out on lots of sublime piano and keyboard passages that are almost harp-like at times – touched by some of Nino's percussion – and guest vocals on one track by Dwight Trible, and on another by Mia Doi Todd. Titles include "I Love Dew Sophie", "Surya Meditation", "Everyone's Children", "Beloved California Temple", "Waves For Margie", and "Sun Of Keshava". LP, Vinyl record album

A great spiritual jazz group – one put together at the suggestion of Dwight Trible, and which features his amazing vocals as the cornerstone! The group have some sonic roots in the past, but also embrace some of the newer freedoms of the current spiritual jazz scene – modes that would be right at home in both the world of London's Brownswood Records, or Chicago's International Anthem – really moving past the obvious, and in ways that have Trible's vocals maybe sounding more righteous and important than ever before! Dwight's as much a poet as he is a singer – and gets superb accompaniment here from Derf Reklaw on congas and flute, Pablo Calogero on tenor and flutes, Christopher Garcia on indigenous percussion, and Breeze Smith on percussion, drums, and loops. There's a very deep sonic texture to the whole album – one that's echoed by the cover image – a dark tapestry of sound from which the voice, flute, and tenor especially soar out – on titles that include "Nature's Vision", "Blue Skies", "How Long", "Motherless Child", "Water Flow", "Movin On", "Olbap", and "Tragedy Escapes". LP, Vinyl record album

A bold vision for a better version of our nation – served up here by percussionist Kahil El Zabar, but in a mode that also has him working as the conductor of a larger ensemble too! The record has all the sense of pride, power, and optimism of some of the best sessions of this type from the 80s – that feeling that music can actually effect change, especially in the hands of artists like this – a very strong ensemble that features work from Corey Wilkes on trumpet, Hamiet Bluiett on baritone, Tomeka Reid on cello, Josh Ramos on bass, Samuel Williams on violin, and Dennis Winslett on alto sax! The record still has a sense of groove that you'd know from Kahil's smaller group records – imagine a Ritual Trio sense of rhythm with augmented elements – and the set mixes a few well-chosen covers with great originals. The set is dedicated to Bluiette – it was his last recording – and titles include "Prayers For The Unwarranted Sufferings", "Sketches Of An Afro Blue", "Express Yourself", "Freedom March", "That We Ask Of Our Creator", and "How Can We Mend A Broken Heart". CD

The beautiful debut as a leader from pianist Surya Botofasina – an artist you may know from early work in the spiritual Build An Ark ensemble – finally given a chance here to shine on his own! The album's produced by Carlos Nino, with whom Botofasina worked in Build An Ark – and Nino also plays some percussion on the set, and brings some of his own meditative qualities to the music. Yet things are still very much Surya's own, with long tracks that stretch out on lots of sublime piano and keyboard passages that are almost harp-like at times – touched by some of Nino's percussion – and guest vocals on one track by Dwight Trible, and on another by Mia Doi Todd. Titles include "I Love Dew Sophie", "Surya Meditation", "Everyone's Children", "Beloved California Temple", "Waves For Margie", and "Sun Of Keshava". CD

The beautiful debut as a leader from pianist Surya Botofasina – an artist you may know from early work in the spiritual Build An Ark ensemble – finally given a chance here to shine on his own! The album's produced by Carlos Nino, with whom Botofasina worked in Build An Ark – and Nino also plays some percussion on the set, and brings some of his own meditative qualities to the music. Yet things are still very much Surya's own, with long tracks that stretch out on lots of sublime piano and keyboard passages that are almost harp-like at times – touched by some of Nino's percussion – and guest vocals on one track by Dwight Trible, and on another by Mia Doi Todd. Titles include "I Love Dew Sophie", "Surya Meditation", "Everyone's Children", "Beloved California Temple", "Waves For Margie", and "Sun Of Keshava". CD

A creative blend of jazz and other musical styles from David Ornette Cherry – son of Don Cherry, and an artist who really shares a similar sense of boundary crossing as his father! Cherry provides vocals, piano, and "soundscapes" on the record – mixing acoustic and electric modes with other instrumentation from a shifting lineup of musicians all through the set – very much in an Afro-futurist mode, and infused with a nice sense of politics through the lyrics – which are often processed in a way that fit in nicely with David's more electronic elements. There's a lot of acoustic elements in the mix – global percussion and flute elements, plus guitar too – on titles that include "So & So & So & So", "Ancestors Are Calling", "Frame Of Creativity", "Hidden Sounds", "Najour", "Cosmic Nomad", and "Cultural Workers". LP, Vinyl record album

Kahil El'Zabar reinvigorated his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble a few years back, and the results have been a really stunning reworking of his legacy on the Chicago scene in the 80s – especially on the great run of albums on the Spiritmuse label! All the rhythmic, hypnotic qualities of Kahil's past music informs these sounds – but there's also maybe more majesty and more spiritual power overall – as El'Zabar's work on a variety of percussion instruments is matched with bold baritone work from Alex Harding, and tremendous trumpet from Corey Wilkes! Kahil's vocals are also fantastic – an element that he never used this strongly in the past, and which open up a lost possible career as a soul singer from the more righteous side of the spectrum. The set also features work from James Sanders on violin and viola, and Ishmael Ali on cello – both musicians who add to the majesty of the music – on titles that include "Burundi", "All Blues", "Can You Find A Place", "Great Black Music", "Open Me", "Kari", "Return Of The Lost Tribe", and "Passion Dance". CD