But despite the significant overlap of staff between Realize its Beauty and New Blue Sun—Andre himself appears in a piece here, as does his own New Blue Sun collaborator Surya Botofasina, while this project's creative catalyst Carlos Niño is featured throughout – the two albums have little in common. While New Blue Sun extensive sound environments are offered, Realize its Beauty features more focused episodes, thoughtfully sequenced to move from the abstract and spacious to the pulsating and upbeat and back again. (Also, we should say: As an instrumentalist, André 3000 is a proud novice, while Shabaka is a classically trained professional with years of professional experience and a deep dedication to the craft.)
The album's parade of guest stars might feel like a distraction if each of these artists weren't so well integrated into Shabaka's overall vision. Opener “End of Innocence” and fifth track “The Wounded Need to Be Replenished” feature different piano luminaries (respectively, Jason Moran, known for his brilliant reprises of jazz history, and Nduduzo Makhathini, the South African leader of the band and once a member of Ancestors ), but each achieves a similar kind of brooding beauty. On the former, Shabaka's clarinet traces wet arcs over the dark, abstract textures of Moran and drummer Nasheet Waits, while on the latter, the leader's flute hovers as if hovering between Makhathini's spare phrases, with Niño's percussion and the feeling of Botofasina to increase. . In both cases, as much as Shabaka's tone on these instruments differs from his steely projections on the tenor, the artful attitude of his phrasing remains completely intact.
Of the album's many vocal tracks, the most moving are those that treat the guest vocalists more like fellow instrumentalists. On “Insecurities,” Moses Sumney seems to channel the timbre of Shabaka's flute as he joins leader and harpist Charles Overton with unusual lines. On “Kiss Me Before I Forget”, Lianne La Havas combines her voice with Shabaka's clarinet, creating a wonderful interweaving of sounds, and on “Living”, Eska Mtungwazi's multi-part singing joins Miguel Atwood's strings -Ferguson to create a rich, orchestral feel.
Tracks with poets Saul Williams (who contributes a serene monologue on “Managing My Breath, What Fear Had Become”) and Anum Iyapo (Shabaka's father, who tenderly declares on the album's “Song of the Motherland”, referring to self-titled track from his own 1985 album) and rapper Elucid (who brings clear lyrics to “Body to Inhabit”) feels a little less interactive, with the vocals sitting in front of the ensemble. But each piece leaves room for exciting interplay between Shabaka's flute and Charles Overton's harp, with Brandee Younger, a harpist partner who has brought the instrument a new wave of jazz attention in recent years, adding to the richness of “Body to Inhabit”. along with Esperanza Spalding, who contributes an insistent bass. On “I'll Do Whatever You Want,” André 3000's flute ends up having less of an impact than producer Floating Points, who gives the track his psychedelic synth pulse, and ambient pioneer Laraaji, who adds vocal excursions and a characteristic laugh. at the end.
Among the ever-changing personnel, the confidence of Shabaka's vision and the power of his play leave the strongest impression. Throughout Realize its Beauty, we hear him confidently breaking out of the boundaries not only of jazz but of any easily defined genre and finding a solid footing. Taking a track that defies category like “As the Planets and the Stars Collapse” – another instrumental standout, with its lush bed of harps and strings, and Shabaka blowing his flute over the top with such muscular power – it doesn't you'll miss the big, loud, shiny horn or the in-your-face sound of a band like Sons of Kemet, in the slightest. The incarnation may be new, but the underlying spirit of the music, its animating power, is largely the same.
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