Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake - From The River To The Ocean

Following up on their 2004’s acclaimed ‘Back Together Again’ on Thrill Jockey, Drake and Anderson set out to show just how much they‘ve grown, how beautifully their work together has evolved.·The closest of relationships gives its members space to expand, change, develop, and play. Tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson and drummer Hamid Drake have just that kind of partnership, one that has seen them periodically move apart and work extensively on other fronts. Over the course of some three decades, master saxophonist and prodigy percussionist have continued to reconfirm their commitment to their joint project.·Drafting an all-star band consisting of fellow-Chicagoans, the twosome entered John McEntire's Soma Studios and proceeded to record their most relaxed, perfectly balanced date yet. In a discography that has gone from a handful of rare LPs fifteen years ago to a staggering number of discs on various labels today, it may seem hyperbolic to call ‘From The River To The Ocean’ Fred Anderson's greatest album yet, but the empathy and cohesiveness of the ensemble, coupled with the saxophonist's brilliant, searching improvisations, makes it a ringer.  ‘From the River to the Ocean’ is an especially varied outing, ranging from Anderson's classic ‘Strut Time’ to the meditative track ‘For Brother Thompson’, dedicated to the late trumpeter Malachi Thompson and featuring bassist Harrison Bankhead on brooding piano and Drake chanting in Arabic. The record's title track and the closer, ‘Sakti / Shiva’, find bassist Josh Abrams laying down an astounding bed on guimbri, the three-stringed Moroccan acoustic bass familiar to fans of Gnawa music. Another of the CD's delights is guitarist Jeff Parker, displaying an immense sensitivity and melodic genius, sharing solo spotlight with Bankhead's cello on ‘From the River to the Ocean’ and ‘Planet E.’ Underneath is all is Hamid Drake, an intensely creative soul who has continued to challenge himself.

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