If you're into intelligent music, if you have a musician background in jazz, soul, and classical theory, then this album will blow you away. There are so many movements that excite me about this artist. He's originally the guitarist for Hip Hop super stars Public Enemy, but this guy is way way deeper that. There's elements of Miles and Coltrane, Santana, John Mclaughlin and Hendrix and also Jaco Pastorius. You have to know what time it is to appreciate this genius composer. I think the whole album is solid. :-)
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Adventurous, existential and beautiful in intent, this is a really wonderful album people should check out.
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Energy Disciples is a project developed by Memphis-based guitarist Khari Wynn.  Wynn plays with several groups/artists including Public Enemy, The Seventh Octave, Hope Clayburn, and Solstice, a jazz-rock group that performs his compositions.  

Wynn defies expectations with Energy Disciples, a musical collective that incorporates a wide array of influences including jazz, electronic music, rock, poetry, rap, and folk.  The hard rock influences that drive Solstice some of his other projects are noticably absent.  The album is divided into three sections, Energy, Sacrifice, and Disciples, each containing three tracks.  

"Communication" opens the Energy section of album.  Samples, loops, and various electronic effects are evident from the outset.  Wynn's harmonic backdrop consists of jazz-related harmonies.  "Dimension" is one of the most inventive pieces on the album including a thumb piano, trumpet solos, dual guitar leads, a walking bass line, acoustic guitar, and some free drumming.  "Being" is a mellow track featuring spoken word dialogue/poetry.  The texts are somewhat vague at times, but can be easily absorbed as part of the overall musical fabric   Wynn makes use of backward guitar effects on this track.

Part two, Sacrifice, opens with "Existence," a more experimental track that makes use of distroted electronic sounds.  Some of the more dissonant sounds are superimposed over mellow, jazz-based chords creating an interesting contrast.
It includes some impressive guitar work in jazz and rock based styles.  The rock influence is more evident on "Existence."  "SKy Hymn" opens with a bluesy electric guitar solo over acoustic guitar accompaniment.  Thick guitar harmonies are present, as is some inspired Mahavishnu/Return to Forever inspired soloing.  "Love" is an atmospheric track enchanced by spacy layered vocals provided by Candice Ivory, a backwards guitar solo, and synthesizers.  The track is ethereal, but is (thankfully) too dissonant and abrasive to fall into any new-age music category.

The Purpose section opens with "Now," a experimental piece incorporating unexpected synthesized beats and samples.  It contains spoken dialogue provided by Wynn, with a text concerning personal enlightenment.  This lack runs a little bit too long, but the guitar harmonies and synthesizer lines blend effectively throughout.  "Infinite" includes distroted guitar lines, electronic beats, spoken dialogue, and has what is perhaps the most memorable hook on the album.  ("Are you infinite?")  "Sacrificial" closes the album effectively with a backdrop of shakers, rattles, and congas.  The unison bass/acoustic guitar line shows the influence of Jaco Pastorius.  The title may be inspired by Santana, the percussion driven group that recorded a song entitled "Soul Sacrifice."

Universe, Sacrifice, Purpose effectively draws disparate styles together into a postmodern fabric that will appeal to mosre adventurous listeners.  In addition, the more dissonant elements refrain from crossing over into extrem avant-garde territory.  This release is recommended for those looking for an accessible recording that stands outside of the mainstream.
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