Anthony Branker & Ascent Spirit Songs - Origin82876 - Jazz - by Origin Records

Composer Anthony Branker’s ninth album for Origin Records is a re-issue of his debut recording for Sons of Sound Records in 2006. This was Branker’s first recording as a composer/bandleader writing specifically for his ensemble, Ascent, the first of his three collectives that would establish him as an important emerging writer and “a force to be reckoned with in the world of modern post-bop jazz.” Spirit Songs is a bold, spacious recording that showcases Branker’s earlier compositions, rooted in modal harmonies, displaying a unique sense of lyricism and full of highly rhythmic grooves, based in the world of jazz but blended with culturally diverse musical styles. At the center of the recording is the inspired, fiery and always surprising drumming of the late, great Ralph Peterson, Jr., whom, along with trombonist Clifford Adams, Jr., this reissue is dedicated in the memory of. With saxophonists Antonio Hart and Ralph Bowen, pianist Jonny King, and bassist John Benitez, Spirit Songs marked an auspicious debut for this formidable composer whose “place in Jazz has been consistently building unique architectures that speak to the cultural reparation of allowing this art form to thrive as protest music.”