Element, The

MAINSTREAM JAZZ COMBO

An excellent debut release from 22 year old tenor saxophonist Dahi Divine. I enjoyed it from start to finish. Divine is backed by piano, bass & drums on three tracks; add an alto sax to that quartet on two tracks; one has electric piano and singers.

No FCC issues.

1 * Mid-fast. Propulsive, energetic piece. Led by tenor sax, except for short piano section midway and a drum solo toward the end. Strong, emotional feel. (10:23)
2 ** Mid-tempo. Good interaction between tenor & alto saxes. Sweetly melodic, especially by alto. A bit of Caribbean syncopation in percussion. Compelling & entertaining. (8:29)
3 *** Very fast. Tenor states a theme briefly; piano leads for ~3 min with hyperkinetic bass & drums. Sax reasserts control forcefully. True to its title, this is killer. (7:53)
4 Mid-slow. Somewhat lethargic. I much preferred the tenor/also interplay in track 2. (7:59)
5 Mid-tempo piano intro. Slows to mushy sweetness with Earth Wind Fire quasi-spiritual symbolism. Vocals are not especially interesting. Seems misplaced on this album. (9:12)
6 * Mid-tempo to fast. Good long leads by tenor sax & especially the piano. (9:32)