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Craig Taborn: When Kabuya Dances

By John Chacona
December 14, 2025
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With every passing year, the genius of the late Geri Allen increasingly comes into focus. "When Kabuya Dances" has all the hallmarks of her style: memorable melodies, a sophisticated approach to rhythm and formal audacity. Allen had left Detroit for Howard University shortly before Craig Taborn arrived at the University of Michigan, but he might have learned about "When Kabuya Dances" from the eminent Motor City rhythm team of bassist Jaribu Shahid, who recorded the composition on Allen's Twylight (Minor Music, 1989) (and completed the trio on Taborn's leader debut five years later). The pianist expands the piece's impressionistic introduction with a heavily pedaled mystery reminiscent of Janácek's "In A Mist." But once the jubilant, compound-meter main section arrives, Taborn generally hews to the composer's arrangement. Wise choice. This is one of Allen's most attractive compositions, and Taborn, cellist Tomeka Reid and percussionist Ches Smith do it proud.

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