Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble

With his intense vocalizations and trance-inducing percussion, Kahil El’Zabar made his mark in American jazz. For fifty years he has been active with his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble from Chicago, and still new audiences are discovering him, for example last year at the Dutch festivals Le Guess Who? and North Sea Jazz. His recent album Open Me—A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit includes free improvisations and original compositions alongside variations on ‘All Blues’ by Miles Davis and ‘Compared to What’, originally sung by Roberta Flack.

‘Compared to What’ was the favorite tune of Kahil’s first music teacher, his father Clifton Blackburn Senior. In Chicago, Kahil was connected to different groups, such as the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). Throughout the years his ensemble has included a range of musicians, for example Joseph Bowie, Hamiett Bluiett and Craig S. Harris. His current band has a remarkable line-up with Corey Wilkes on trumpet, Kevin Nabors on tenor sax and Ishmael Ali on cello.

Kahil El’Zabar drums/percussion, Kevin Nabors tenor sax, Corey Wilkes trumpet, Ishmael Ali cello