Music Monday: Some Spiritual Jazz

Over the last week or so, I’ve been dipping into some contemporary spiritual jazz. Spiritual jazz seems to be having a moment lately and I am here for it. Maybe the passing of Pharoah Sanders has produced a greater appreciation of his later 1970s and 1980s output. I like to think that the release of the Tzadik label to streaming services has likewise introduced listeners to a vast new catalogue of spiritual jazz. Efforts by any number of smaller labels to keep musicians like The Pyramids, Alan Braufman, Byard Lancaster, and other loft jazz legends in the public eye.

Anyway, here are three spiritual jazz recordings that I’m enjoying.

First, I’ve always appreciated Outkast and understood André 3000 to be a bit of a free spirit, but I didn’t see coming a spiritual jazz album featuring André primarily on various kinds of wooden (and some homemade) flutes.  

Is it good? Well, I’m not sure, but it certainly is pleasant and each time I’ve listened to it, there’s something more to hear:

I’ve also been enjoying the recent album Devotion from Spain-based Austrian saxophonist Muriel Grossmann. It has a bit of jam-band feeling to it, but the relaxed tempo and playing gives the musicians ample room to travel and explore. To my mind, the finest spiritual jazz puts Coltrane’s influence on the back burner and plays within itself. Devotion manages to do this with slipping into the meandering realm of soul jazz background music. Here’s the rest of the album.

Finally, while listening to Muriel Grossmann and reading about her work, I noticed several references to saxophonist Nat Birchall. I didn’t recognize his name, but I’m a sucker for any artist who used an Egyptian name as an album title. Nat Birchall’s Akhenaten from 2009 is an everyday gem.