Label: ECM Records, 2024
Personnel - Oded Tzur: tenor saxophone; Nitai Hershkovits: piano; Petros Klampanis: acoustic bass; Cyrano Almeida: drums.
New York-based saxophonist and composer Oded Tzur showcases impressive evolution in My Prophet, his fifth album as a leader and third for ECM Records, featuring high-quality compositions that take the form of incantations. The quartet lineup signals one change, with the young Brazilian drummer Cyrano Almeida replacing the seasoned Johnathan Blake, while Nitai Herskovits and Petros Klampanis remain on piano and bass, respectively.
Inspired by an all-powerful deity that reveals one's true self, the album consists of a myth-like suite of five movements, beginning with the short whisper of “Epilogue”. This leads into the hair-raising lyricism of “Child You”, where folk and post-bop currents blend seamlessly. This piece, harmoniously impressionistic in tone, showcases a conscious spiritual quality that is carried to Tzur’s gravitas-filled solo, becoming further exploratory during Hershkovits’ improvisation.
The group’s distinctive soulful sound continues in the delicate “Through a Land Unsown”, establishing a profound connection between melody and harmony. Klampanis’ bass work here is focused and dulcet, contrasting with Hershkovits’ pianism, which consistently pushes beyond what’s expected. Tzur’s saxophone radiates light in a gentle freedom dance filled with intelligent subtlety and positive vibes. While “Renata” is a clinically-sculpted waltz, “My Prophet” has the power to rarefy the air with Indian classical introspection, softly brushed to a hush until it takes the shape of a murmuring prayer.
With artistry and charismatic personality, Tzur draws in anyone seeking for a new sense of spirituality in jazz, which reaches uplifting and fervent tones in the closer, “Last Bike Ride in Paris”. Here, synergistic interplay and odd rhythmic placement make everything so exciting. As Tzur states: “there’s freedom within the form”, and that’s palpable.
My Prophet is a magical record, a transfixing masterpiece of restraint enchantment and passionate eruptions that places Tzur at the crest of contemporary spiritual jazz.
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Child You ► 03 - Through a Land Unsown ► 05 - My Prophet ► 06 - Last Bike Ride in Paris