It was big news when International Anthem five-piece Irreversible Entanglements announced a leap from that esteemed label to a legendary one. Now, with Protect Your Light, the quintet is making their mark on Impulse, the one-time home of John Coltrane. The new record seems bolder as a result, more obvious in its ambitions. And that can be considered a good thing.
Vocalist Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother), bassist Luke Stewart, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, saxophonist Keir Neuringer, and drummer Tcheser Holmes are a force together. Their incendiary jazz hits on both sonic and political levels. There's spiritual force here, and a real desire to place their sound in the context of the best free jazz of earlier decades. Protect Your Light seems more intense than their earlier records, more directly on fire with promise. "Soundness" is a highlight here, Neuringer's sax and Stewart's bass sparring around Ayewa's vocals. That one, and "Our Land Back" make their meaning clear, and the band shows how easily music can align with purpose. "Degrees of Freedom" is more moody, but no less intense, as Navarro's trumpet and Holmes' kit find a path to anchor the voice of Moor Mother.
Protect Your Light feels like a statement of purpose, a new (sort of) direction in the path of this quintet towards a direct, yet still exploratory jazz. There's throwback charm here, with the mingling of the political, personal, and spiritual nodding in the direction of Trane, Last Poets, and even Mingus' bigger pieces. Irreversible Entanglements have sort of boiled down their approach in such a way that this album feels like the first record from a new act. That said, there's nothing here that will alienate any of us fans who've been here all along. It's just worth stating how fresh this feels, and how much it seems like a new start for these extraordinary musicians.
Protect Your Light by Irreversible Entanglements is out on Friday via Impulse.
[Photo: Piper Ferguson]