Search - Khan Jamal :: Cubano Chant

Who will gainsay Khan Jamal?

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 08/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not me.



I love quirky jazz artists like Khan Jamal. Always an iconoclast, parked outside the mainstream, issuing musical missives every two or five years which he purveys on his own label, Jambrio, he defines artistic freedom much more so than poseurs like Charlie Haden with their bloated Liberation Jazz Orchestra shtick.



On this disc, he includes a track ("J.A.Z.Z.") featuring his son, rapper Tahir Jamal. OK, it's not my favorite, but there's a kind of spunk, an insouciance, a je ne sais quoi that completely disarms the listener. The rest of the set features relaxed, groovin', casually brilliant pieces that define a certain jazz aesthetic that I'm just a sucker for. Jazz beatish, Philly groove-oriented, laid-back luminosity, that's what's going down here. You'd be a fool to pass it by."