Path of Seven Colors

Listening to this groundbreaking album on the day the news reveals that Haiti’s president has been assassinated by a group of foreign mercenaries adds a desperate poignancy. Haiti possesses great musical and cultural riches, yet brutal governments – and US meddling – have left it the poorest nation in the Western world. Thus Haitian music struggles to be heard. Thankfully, Ches Smith, an American jazz drummer, has helmed this stunningly good fusion of jazz and Haitian music. Here Smith leads We All Break, an American and Haitian ensemble and the results are fluid, unforced, exciting; Path of Seven Colors contains the sounds of surprise.

Essentially, We All Break approach each number as an opportunity for improvisation based on the rhythms and vocal melodies that the Haitian musicians push forth. Within American jazz these cross cultural dialogues have long been under way – Randy Weston worked closely with Gnawa musicians while Roy Ayers recorded with Fela Kuti – and Path of Seven Colors explores a musical cosmology that surely has roots in slavery and 19th-century New Orleans. Opener ‘Woule Pou Mwen’ is stunning, a Haitian drum pattern and female vocal laying the foundations around which the Americans create dazzling melodic patterns. Those who dislike jazz (yes, there are some) will likely find the extended soloing indulgent – admittedly, ‘Raw Urbane’ meanders somewhat before the Haitian vocalists lend structure – but the strengths here far outweigh any weaknesses. One of 2021’s finest albums so far.