Spirit Walk

I'm going to change it up a bit today and post one of my favorite cuts from Steve Reid Ensemble's Spirit Walk album. This experimental track, titled "Lions of Juda", blends Reid's signature funky jazz sound together with the free-form electronics of Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet). The album Spirit Walk, which was released by Soul Jazz Records back in 2005, is basically an entire albums worth of music devoted to bringing these two music sounds together. Interestingly enough, this is actually the second time Reid has recorded "Lions of Juda", with the original being recorded back in 1976 with Reid's at the time group The Legendary Master Brotherhood. That version then went on to be released on the group's landmark album Nova . The two versions are very different, with Hebden certainly making his presence felt with some experimental electronic sounds near the final minutes of the newer version, while the original is a bit more stripped down and focused more heavily on the different individual solos and overall jazz groove that the piece possessed. That being said, both are very good and unique in their own right. On a side note, I unfortunately just started to get into Reid's music around the time of his passing this past April. He was an artist I had always been interested in checking out, however for one reason or another never did. Once I started hearing some of his records, I became absolutely hooked and have continued to seek out each and every recording Reid and many of the members of The Brotherhood have been a part of. Spirit Walk was one of those albums that I kind of came across by accident, as I mostly focused on his earlier jazz material. That being said, it's an amazing unique record that is truly well worth owning. Enjoy!

Steve Reid Ensemble - Lions of Juda