Best of 2018 #23: Christopher Ali Solidarity Quartet – “To Those Who Walked Before Us”

When I included this album as part of the Best of Bandcamp Jazz 2018 column, I stated that “sometimes, protest needs an anthem to focus its anger and fear and resolve.”  It’s a quality that runs all the way through this exciting release from the Christopher Ali Solidarity Quartet recording.  The heavy punch delivered by this music isn’t a bit blunted by way of the catchiness infused within its melodies.  This in combination with its spellbinding mix of avant-garde, Swedish and Arabic folk musics and modern jazz makes for an arresting listening experience, and the kind of thing that makes it just as compelling in the context of protest music as it is in the absence of.

This album is Self-Produced.

Music from Gothenburg, Sweden.

Read more on Bird is the Worm.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon