(11.15.05) This record should have been something special. Steve Reid, veteran of Sun-Ra’s Arkestra, Motown session player, and drummer for the legendary James Brown Apollo house band was getting together with master electronic manipulator, Kieran Hebden of Four Tet. The duo should have guaranteed if not a masterpiece, at least something truly remarkable in scope, imagination, and daring. Unfortunately, Spirit Walk falls terribly short of these expectations.
It is not a bad album, in the sense that the players are competent and the compositions blend nicely together for the most part. However, neither is it progressive, let alone ground-breaking. True jazz visionaries such as Alvin Ayler or Ornette Coleman, electronic production pioneers like Bill Lasswell, these artists made daring attempts; they explored new ways to create sound, blending rhythms, generating intriguing combinations of instrumentation and personnel. Although the results were sometimes jarring, perhaps even deemed “unlistenable” by some, few critics denied the tenacity which they brought to the recording booth or stage.
In contrast, Reid and Hebden have put together a series of pieces reminiscent of some of the aforementioned artists, as well as the eras in which they were producing their most powerful music. Perhaps if Spirit Walk had been made in the late sixties or even the early eighties, it might have garnered interest as a forward-thinking or inspirational collection. However, in 2005 it comes off more like homage to a bygone time. If there is anything “contemporary” about Spirit Walk, it is the fact that many of the tracks often sound more like jam band tunes, the sort of thing one might here at a Galatic show rather than a gathering of esteemed jazz virtuosos or accomplished electronic artists.
Since it is rare that such talented people have the time and initiative to work together on a project like this, the results of this session are truly disappointing. Perhaps Reid and Hebden were too preoccupied with the past to look toward what might have been an intriguing and adventurous foray into new territories.
In addition to Reid and Hebden, the line-up also includes Boris Netsvetaev, John Edwards, Chuck Henderson, Neil Kleiner, Nathaniel Catchpole, and Tony Bevan.
Spirit Walk is out now Soul Jazz.
