Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: The Continuum auf CD

Featuring Kahil El'Zabar. Serenely centered one moment and passionately confrontational the next, this iconoclastic guerilla band has replaced one member and added another, and thus charted its course into the next century. The material they play, most of it composed by El'Zabar to reflect both African and African-American traditions, has a dramatic sweep despite its simplicity. And the ability to create meaningful music from their small grab-bag of an ensemble...the darkling timbres of saxophone and trombone on top, a lone percussionist supplying the fundament, without benefit of piano or bass, always lends a nobility to the proceedings.