A richly ambitious work from flautist Nicole Mitchell -- an artist who gets better and better with each new album, expanding her vision and growing into a role that clearly makes her one of the most important next-generation members of Chicago's AACM! The album's a suite of tracks for Nicole's expanded Black Earth Ensemble -- a group made up of a variety of players from the Chicago scene, augmented by vocals on a number of tracks -- for a richly spiritual sound that takes us back to the most ambitious soul jazz recordings of the 70s. There's a wonderful interplay here between gentle moments and bolder statements -- and Mitchell's flute and vocals are supported by strong sax work from David Boykin, as well as other instrumentation that includes trumpet, cello, violin, trombone, bass, and the usual wide range of percussion and added instruments you'd expect from an AACM session like this! Titles include "Time For Change", "Wondrous Birth", "Curbside Fantasee", "In The Garden", "Skating", "For Daughters Of Young Love", "Wanna Make You Smile", and "Future's Meditation".
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