Dawkins, Ernest – New Horizons – “Cape Town Shuffle ” – [Delmark]

AACM chairman Dawkins (tenor/alto sax) leads this veteran quintet through a set of his compositions, recorded live in Chicago 2002. Inspired playing from everyone. The front line horns are loose and freewheeling, and the rhythm section swings every which way. New bassist Darius Savage fits in as though he’s been here forever. Four long tracks draw from the African-American musical experience in many of its forms: jazzy rhythms from the mother continent on #1, New Orleans parade swing and heavy-duty preaching on #2, dissonant bebop straight out of Dolphy/Monk on #3, and a guest on #4 with some in-your-face poetry breaking down what’s what about Music, Revolution, and Freedom. Can I get a Amen?