Ra Kalam Bob Moses' "Cozmic Soul Gumbo"

You could say Ra Kalam Bob Moses was born into jazz: Son of a jazz publicist, he grew up in the orbit of bop-era titans Max Roach, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, and Charles Mingus; was present at the creation of jazz-rock and fusion through his work with the Free Spirits, Gary Burton (he's "Lonesome Dragon" on A Genuine Tong Funeral), Compost, and Pat Metheny; made his name as a leader in the '80s with a couple of classic albums for Gramavision (When Elephants Dream of Music and Visit with the Great Spirit). He's a spiritual devotee of guitarist Tsizji Munoz, who famously appeared on Pharaoh Sanders' self-titled India Navigation LP in 1977. Ra Kalam also played on the first Darius Jones Trio album, Man'ish Boy (A Raw and Beautiful Thing). 

After years in academia (teaching at the New England Conservatory), Ra Kalam (whose spiritual name means "the inaudible sound of the invisible sun") settled in Memphis and began practicing his philosophy of "living music," traveling and collaborating with other improvisers. During this time, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, so there is urgency to his mission. A documentary film on his life, Living Music: A Film About Ra Kalam Bob Moses, is currently in production. His new album, Cozmic Soul Gumbo, was recorded in New Orleans while the film was being shot. 

These days, most of Ra Kalam's releases are spontaneous improvisations (dig if you will Rune Kitchen with Jaap Blonk and Damon Smith, for instance), but for this occasion, he and his collaborators recorded a mix of his compositions (five out of 12 tracks on Cozmic Soul Gumbo) and group improvs. There are four saxophonists in the lineup here: Tony Dagradi (Carla Bley, Professor Longhair), Jeff Coffin (Bela Fleck, Dave Matthews), Art Edmaiston (Gregg Allman), and Michael Adkins (two Hat Hut albums as leader, with Paul Motian on drums). All four play tenor and soprano, to which Coffin adds native flutes and percussion, and Adkins alto. Ra Kalam's joined in the percussion section by Bill Summers (Headhunters) and Johnny Vidacovich (Astral Project). The band's rounded out by NOLA guitarist Chris Alford and Oak Cliff's own Aaron Gonzalez (Humanization 4tet, Unconscious Collective) on bass.

The album, with its dense percussion battery and multiplicity of horn voices, has a spiritual vibe like late Coltrane, but with more of a sense of serenity than struggle, as befits the time in life where Ra Kalam is. On the opening "Tony Calls the Drums to Prayer," Moses and Vidacovich's twin trap sets explode out of the gate like Elvin and Rashied on Meditations, with Summers adding color with his percussion array as Dagradi plays with deep soul. "Dancing Bears," the first of the composed pieces, boasts an angular, Eric Dolphy-ish head that the group takes "out" with a dense improvisation. 

Ra Kalam's "Hope" and "The Lioness" feature lyrical themes played in loose unison, then essayed by individual soloists with sparse backing on the former and a choir of voices on the latter. "Africano Libertad" is a nice feature for Coffin and Summers, mixing Afro-Cuban and Brazilian genetics, while "Train to Outer Soulville" is a polyrhythmic jungle waltz that rides on Gonzalez's deep bass song. This and Ra Kalam's "Christmas on Venus" sound like Sun Ra titles to me, and the sound is suitably cosmic. The closing "Blues in the Face" features the leader-composer on piano and brings us back to Earth, with Adkins' alto even taking us to church. This music is rich with humanity and spirit, a healing balm for troubled times.

Album's available now on all streaming platforms, or from Ra Kalam's Bandcamp page.