An extraordinary step forward from her own extraordinary The Oracle, multi-instrumentalist and band-leader Angel Bat Dawid has returned with Requiem for Jazz. A suite in 12 movements inspired by Edward O. Bland's 1959 film The Cry of Jazz, the International Anthem offering is an immersive listen, and a remarkable document of what jazz is capable of.
Bringing together more than a dozen players and performers, Angel Bat Dawid structures the album as a journey, one which mourns for both black lives lost, and black art erased. The pieces here are both mournful and euphoric, with a spirituality that's natural, and a political force that's unforced and direct. "INTROIT- Joy n' Suff'rin" uses an operatic style to put forward a spiritual to ease a listener into a state of awareness of what's at stake, and what's been lost. "DIAS IRE- Chain Around the Spirit" continues that vibe, though this time the music underneath is more complex, shades of Oliver Nelson in the stylings here. "CONFUTATIS-Repression" is choral, nearly classical in genre, while "OFFERTURIUM-HOSTIAS-Humility" a bit later in the journey adds a blues-y piano-hook to the approach.
Requiem for Jazz reaches a peak on the epic "LUX AETERNA-Eternal Light" with percussion from Knoel Scott and sax from Marshall Allen. The two Sun Ra Arkestra vets bring a gravitas to the material. They link this to the jazz tradition, and a lineage that has sustained this most vital of African American art-forms for so long. The track is the artistic pay-off of the entire work, with the assembled players injecting fire to the requiem, such that things move from a mournful mindset to a celebration. Angel Bat Dawid guides the players here, and has shaped this journey so that the overall effect is a profound one. Less obviously a jazz record than one might expect, Requiem for Jazz is still an important work, and a trip that's necessary for any attentive listener to undertake.
Requiem for Jazz by Angel Bat Dawid is out on International Anthem on Friday.
[Photo: Marc Monaghan]