The name of the group is also the name of the god of inspiration in the mythology of the ancient African kingdom of Dahomey. But more importantly for jazz lovers, it’s a collaboration between bassist Dave Holland, saxophonist Chris Potter, guitarist Lionel Loueke, and drummer Eric Harland. Look for it on Friday in physical form including vinyl while an exclusive stream is available on Apple music between now and then.
The four players are among the most insightful and influential voices in modern jazz and their experience spans decades. Holland is the veteran of the group. He will be honored as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master next year. His deep resume includes performances and recordings with household names such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Bonnie Raitt.
The other three musicians are younger with growing reputations. Potter and Harland are two of the most in-demand musicians of their generation and both have performed with a staggering array of artists.
Lionel Loueke is the most intriguing member of the group for several reasons. The first is close to home, as he has performed and recorded with New Orleans’ own Terence Blanchard. A native of Benin, a West African country forged from the lands of the former kingdom of Dahomy, his sound is as unique as any to emerge in modern jazz in years.
The album features eight cuts, two from the pens of each of the musicians. Loueke’s tunes stand out for his incredible guitar technique and his unusual vocalizations which recall sounds of the forest to my ears. Fittingly, the image of the mythical Aziza is a small, elusive woodland creature that lends its magic to artists and hunters in the woods.
The group is a real band unlike some of the other so-called “supergroups” to grace the landscape of jazz and other genres. They toured together during the summer of 2015 and discovered the various connections between the members (Potter and Harland play with Holland; Harland and Loueke with Blanchard; and all but Potter toured with Herbie Hancock) conjured a special amalgam.
“What’s interesting to me,” Holland says, “is the dynamic that’s formed by where all of us are coming from musically, the different backgrounds we all come from, and the different experiences we’ve had. We all share a respect for the tradition but at the same time the drive to try to create something personal and new out of it. We’ve all done that in slightly different ways, but there are enough points of convergence to create a cohesive language.”
