From an experimental music perspective, Ches Smith brings life to sounds never before unleashed upon the jazz scene. By applying that same approach to traditional Haitian music, he brings life to music that was already established when jazz itself took its first …

Percussionists Daniel Brevil and Ches Smith combine traditional Haitian Voudou rhythms and songs with contemporary improvisation in We All Break

Remarkable….blending vocals that have a deeply uplifting quality with rhythms that are coursing with irresistible vitality…Path of Seven Colors sees him go to the next level in terms of flourishing ideas and focused application.

Sumptuous in content and appearance, Path of Seven Colors is actually an aural tale of two albums bridged by successive iterations of a singular band. As chief architect behind each, drummer Ches Smith approached the projects from refreshing positions of deference and …

These eight players had no proper systemic template to draw from, so they simply invented one. As such, it’s not a fusion of jazz and Haitian vodou music, but a reflection of the complexities and rewards resulting from close cooperation …

Jazz drummer Ches Smith has been studying Haitian music with vodou master drummers for two decades. He kept his activities confidential as he learned the vast 500-year-old polyrhythmic and complex harmonic system. He studied in Haiti and engaged with its …

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED

Jazz history is intertwined with that of the Caribbean. Those profound cultural connections were best exemplified by a trade route that once existed between Cuba, Mexico and New Orleans. But a big part of that history has to do with …

Haitian traditions inspire the percussionist’s exhilarating hybrid of melodic drums, evocative vocals and fiery improvisation

The COVID-19 pandemic may have contorted jazz into an unrecognizable shape, but it was powerless to derail these ten brilliant labels from around the globe.