Wadada Leo Smith Golden Quartet

Enlisting drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Malachi Favors, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith had to have been tempted to make Golden Quartet explode with grooves--especially with the CD's opener, titled "DeJohnette." Instead, pianist Anthony Davis and Smith keep the harmonic and melodic gears pulled loose so the band jangles and gets steam and then explodes, only to reset, disperse, and go wild again. Smith's Golden Quartet has the bearings and chops of a supergroup, undoubtedly, and they use their collective power forcefully and to great result--heading into thickets of spread-open space with expansive patience. They go from free-time ruminations to a fittingly sly march cadence on "Celestial Sky and All the Magic: A Memorial for Lester Bowie," and make "The Healer's Voyage on the Sacred River" a terrific modal ballad. It's not until the last tune, "America's Third Century Spiritual Awakening," that the quartet launches off, with DeJohnette locking into a rhythmic rumble that takes Smith skyward in a slurry, bright, and fast show of genius. Here's a band of veterans jelling anew and never sacrificing the collective good for the benefit of an individual. --Andrew Bartlett