Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, ‘Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit’ (Spiritmuse) | Review

By Jon Garelick Chicago percussionist and former AACM chairman Kahil El’Zabar founded the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble with a simple, endlessly variable concept: “two horns and a drum.” This 50th anniversary recording expands that concept slightly by adding a couple of string players, but the basic musical approach remains consistently spare and elemental. West African percussive...