The legendary Kahil El’ Zabar pays homage to the iconic saxophonist and spiritual jazz father, John Coltrane, with his own remarkable, Afro-centric take on ‘Afro Blue’.

The classic song (written by Mongo Santamaria, based on a Yoruba Orisha song), has been reconstructed with original arrangements written and conducted by El’ Zabar, bringing something fresh and truly special to the already beautiful composition.

Taken from his forthcoming ‘America the Beautiful’ LP, the spiritual jazz master is addressing the state of America and the world today while expressing his love and hopes for a better tomorrow.

The nine-song LP sees El’ Zabar conducting, arranging and writing for a large ensemble, featuring an orchestra of Afro-percussion and strings together with the likes of Corey Wilkes, James Sanders, Tomeka Reid, Joshua Ramos, Miguel de la Cerna and more.

Stream below, and look out for ‘America the Beautiful’ which lands on 23rd October via Spiritmuse Records. Pre-order here.

Press notes: 

The album speaks to the times that we are living in today, in the wake of a worldwide pandemic, despotic leadership, mass social discontent, disproportionate poverty, Black Lives Matter and other disenfranchised peoples’ movements and the ecological and economic disparity of our planet. It is time to express ourselves with compassionate art that will hopefully propel better and clearer thoughts about where we are now and where we are going in the future.