Fasteau, Kali Z. – “Animal Grace” – [Flying Note]

Thurston Hunger   7/21/2010   CD, Jazz

Her band, her label, her world. It starts out with Kali’s mesmerizing mizmar over Louis Moholo just charging on the drums, and the album never relinquishes that persistent quest for creativity. I was a little worried that a live album might reign in some of the wild nature of earlier recordings but the full array of her multi-dimensional, multi-instro mentality is in effect. Maybe some of the voices spontaneously rising from the band would have been better captured, but
they would pale in contrast to the digito-glotto incantation on “All Things” and “They Speak Through Me.” Two different live sets (the first a two piece with Moholo, the second a quartet) both compelling, but the first seemed more organic, proving a (bo) tree of sound grows in Harlem.

-Thurston Hunger