Artist: Ami Taf Ra
Album: The Prophet And The Madman
Label: Brainfeeder
Link: https://amitafra.com/
Style: Contemporary Jazz
American artist Ami Taf Ra is part of the spiritual jazz scene based in Los Angeles. In her first album, The Prophet And The Madman, her North African roots are particularly evident in her musical interpretations of the writings of Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran. Among the many guests featured on these tracks is her regular collaborator, saxophonist and ensemble director Kamasi Washington. A musician who seems to be everywhere, given his presence on so many recent albums, he honors a jazz that builds the future while remaining conscious of its rich past.
Apart from a few passages that show a subtle simplicity, The Prophet And The Madman is a dense album, a rich tapestry woven with instrumental lace, where the arrangements combine richness and an airy style. While a few Arabic accents can sometimes be heard, such as in the drawn-out chant of “Khalil,” it is above all the legacy of spiritual jazz that blends with free jazz. In the middle of the album, numerous inspirations from African-American culture, such as funk and gospel, seem to inhabit the rhythms and vocals. In fact, it’s easy to imagine certain tracks being part of the soundtrack of a film in the vein of Shaft or Trouble Man.
Richness and luxuriance are the words that best characterize the music of The Prophet And The Madman. From “How I Became A Madman,” the first real track on the album, we know what to expect: a multitude of rhythms and percussion, a multitude of sounds and instruments. All the musical lines intertwine and stand out according to the musical convolutions. The voice, quite high-pitched, seems to both fly over and guide all these vibrations in motion. Saxophone, electric guitar, and piano arrive quietly before blending into a texture that is never muddled, where everything remains clear in music that is as lucid as it is complex.