I've been a fan of Ernest Khabeer Dawkins for many years. I've been lucky enough to see him perform live three time - twice with Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and once with Hamid Drake's Bindu - but never with his own New Horizons Ensemble. Someday... I own several of his ensemble's recordings and enjoy them all a lot. What I love most about this ensemble's music is its intense joy - the joy they emit while playing and the joy the listener breeds inside while taking it all in.
This offering - my first for 2010 - is a 1992 recording on the German label Open Minds and was recorded live on October 25, 1991. The lineup includes a couple of the fine players who have been in Dawkins' ensemble for the duration of its existence - Steve Barry, Yosef Ben Israel - as well as one of my favourite drummers - Reggie Nicholson - whom I raved about in the Myra Melford post a while back.
OK, I thought it would be tomorrow but Now's the Time...
Enjoy!
