Call to Action / Call to Prayer

The ambience is one of primal spirituality...sparse conversations over the controlled yet riotous ensemble performance. The result is contemplative and thrilling.
All About Jazz

The Griots Speak's sound is at once cosmic, earthbound, and ancestral. Though new, it's familiar, a continuation of the collective creations of New York City's 1960s Loft scene, developed by the electric bands of the 1970s, and propelled into the future by Charlie Apicella & Iron City, one of New York's more enthralling Hard Bop rhythm sections. Call to Action / Call to Prayer is the companion piece to 2023's Destiny Calling. Both captured during the same session in Brooklyn, Destiny Calling highlighted the compositional scaffolding present in collective improvisation, while Call to Action —propelled by drones & grooves within hypnotic swirls and percussive incantations—is presented as an uncut 40-minute improvisation event presented in 8 "movements." The Griots—Daniel Carter, Charlie Apicella, Juma Sultan and William Parker—draw together the indigenous sounds, with organist Brad Whiteley and drummer Austin Walker of Iron City painting in moments of urban energy.

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