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The above tracks are samples. An MP3 player (WinAmp for the PC or iTunes for the Mac) is required to listen.
CENTURIAN, is Idris Ackamoor's sophomore album. Released in 1999, the album features drummer Fred Harris, bassist Mark Williams, percussionist Baba Duru, vocalist Daria Nile, violinist Sandy Pointdexter, spoken word artist Kamau Abayomi, harp player Destiny Muhammad, vocalist Ajuana Harrison, and pianist Art Hirahara.
The opening "Libation Song" is brimming with sleek Afro-rhythms and some ferocious chromatic runs compliments of the leader's brawny sax. His bursting lines drench the dense rhythms with vigorous energy.
"Beckoning" slows things down and benefits from the presence of Pointdexter whose sound recalls the strong influence of Billie Bang in a solo that balances muscularity with fragility.
"Island Dance" is introduced by a chorus of percussion fronted by conga and bata drums and revolves around the multifaced contributions of Duru.
"Our Voices" works well off the presence of a solid bass groove and syncopated drums. Abayomi's Afro-centric rap sounds a little forced and deriative, but the band at least gives him a solid musical foundation to rhyme atop and Ackamoor's recurring alto riff is undeniably contagious.
On "Awakening" plucked violin and harp create a delicate Afro-Asian lattice-work, and an intriguingly intricate interlude for the players to explore a quieter side.
Muhammad's harp also introduces "Move Toward the Light" in a shimmering series of
strums that sets the stage for the more conventional blowings to follow. Hirahira moves to electric keys on this one, making good use of the reverberating sustain available to fill out the group sound.
The closing "New Born Dance" demonstrates Ackamoor's tap dance skills and serves as a calming coda to a disc.
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