Joyful jazz on the go – sax and hand percussion on a series of short-ish tracks. Watts typically works with a much larger ensemble and in longer forms, so this is something different from him. The tracks vary from light and fun to deep and respectful of tradition – the “Ancestry” of the title. On the slower tracks, the drumming brought to mind the backing from the classic Last Poets albums – I was half expecting a rap/poem to start in but the sax that did come in was just as expressive. Good stuff that will make you and your listeners happy. Highly recommended.

*** 1. Short melodic figure repeated with variations and breaks, allegro
*** 2. Slower, with some beautiful lines and a couple of trills; picks up some speed from
about 4:30 on; sure enough, to my Last Poets reference above, the title mentions
ghetto life, but as it turns out, that’s the Krakow (Jewish) ghetto
*** 3. Cocky, strutting sax, low-key but steady drumming
*** 4. Bumblebee-ish flittering on two saxes
*** 5. More all-over-the-place flights with assertive drumming driving it
*** 6. Slower and more soulful blowing; the occasional moment when the sax completely
dies out and you wait in anticipation of the next phrase is quite nice
*** 7. Rapid drumming is the real star; the stabbing sax is a bit distracting here
*** 8. Ca-ray-zee energy … and yes, the sax stands back for a short drum solo; cool
*** 9. Another Last Poets reminder; as befits the title, the track wanders around, not
without purpose but not without a sense of freeform looseness either; great!
*** 10. Heavy drumming and forceful sax (well, not Brötzmann-forceful)
*** 11. A breather – slower, mellower
*** 12. Drums akin to quick stomping turning into a run, sax loping alongside; superb
*** 13. A wordless vocal chants along with Watts and Harris going nuts; great finish!