Nat Birchall Ancient Africa

Nat Birchall is one of the contemporary jazz scene's finest saxophonists. He can do all manner of styles from spiritual jazz to dubwise jazz to ethno jazz, and now he lays down an album inspired by ancient Africa. The exquisite selection blends together lots of lush and spiritual melodies with Coltrane-esque solos as well as layers of rich percussion and Afro-textures. The epic title arc take some beating as it heads off on a majestic melodic trip, then there are more mellifluous and thoughtful tunes like 'Mirror Mind' and enchanting, hypnotic numbers like 'Malidoma.'