Sanifu Hall & Cosmos Dwellerz Arkestra: These Are The Times

Without paying attention to sleeve notes, you could be a fan of the Black Jazz record label and their run of funky yet deep releases of the 1970s, and miss the fact that trombonist Sanifu Al Hall Jr. both played and wrote on albums from Doug Carn, Henry Franklin, and Chester Thompson. If you like golden age hip-hop, and the classic "Luck Of Lucien" by A Tribe Called Quest, you might know it sampled "Forty Days" from Billy Brooks Windows Of The Mind album (Crossover, 1974). Hall played on this too. That album was co-produced by Ray Charles, who Hall impressed enough to join his worldwide touring band of the early '70s. The same year as the Brooks album was released, Hall was part of the ensemble brought together by Fonce Mizell and Larry Mizell for their first project with Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Gambler's Life (Salvation, 1974). Another staple for sampling, and like all Mizell productions, essential. Hall's work with Franklin in LA led to a chance introduction to Freddie Hubbard, and subsequent work in his live shows. They became friends, then played together on Hubbard's albums Liquid Love (Columbia, 1975) and Splash (Fantasy, 1981), the later with Hall on production duty too. On Liquid Love, Hall used electronic effects with his trombone, demonstrating a prowess in synthesized sounds.

This is all history, but important for context in the light of Hall's album These Are The Times from his Cosmos Dwellerz Arkestra. The album opens with the title track, the Cosmos Dwellerz "Theme." The original was recorded for Franklin's Tribal Dance (Catalyst Records, 1977). This new version represents the culmination of decades of revisiting and reimagining the piece, and is a long, immersive, hypnotic groove with Hall on synths, keys and percussion, no trombone, and intense tenor sax from Todd DelGiudice plus guitar solos from Jarrett Carter. This is Black Jazz music right here and now. From Franklin's The Skipper At Home (Black Jazz Records, 1974) album, the group recreate the Hall penned "Soft Spirit" as "Soft Spirit(s) (A Sanifunic Suite)." A lighter more reflective number featuring Michael Emmert on flute and Steve Strawley on flugelhorn, with a thoughtful refrain that lodges in the mind, refusing to leave. Hall brings us sweeps of sound on synths, there are far more electronics on this album than the band's previous work, Project 43 (Aljoni Music Co, 2023). Evident in the John Coltrane tribute "Sky Trane," a piece with the feel of an imaginary 1980s film, perhaps from Japan. This would appeal to those of a "Balearic" persuasion, DJs digging deep for music to track Ibizan sunsets. The same could be said for the two "Chants" on the album, both providing moments of bliss, verging on ambient. But the dancers are served too, appropriately via "The Great Expanse Dance." Heavier drums and percussion propel us into outer space, steered by DelGiudice on alto sax and bass clarinet. A track that deserves to be experienced on the more discerning floors of the world.

Hall's aim here was to deliver "music that is both exploratory and accessible, inviting listeners into a journey of reflection, celebration, and discovery." He's achieved this, by creating an album for the open minded of today, rooted in the past.