The cast includes drummer Avreeayl Ra, who has played with Fontella Bass, Lester Bowie, Sun Ra, Henry Grimes, and more. Edward Wilkerson, who appears on tenor sax and clarinet, was a member of 8 Bold Souls and has performed with Aretha Franklin, Clark Terry, Muhal Richards Abrams, and others.
Harrison Bankhead plays the contrabass and cello and is no stranger to jazz fans, having played with Fred Anderson, Von Freeman, Oliver Lake, and Roscoe Mitchell. Nicole Mitchell on flute, melodica, and harp is the founder of the Black Earth Ensemble, works as a school teacher, and has performed with Anthony Braxton, among others.
Frequency‘s music is a delightful mix of free jazz with nods to traditional African modes. Take the eighteen-minute track “Satya,” for example, which starts out sounding like a track from Coltrane’s live album Olatunji and ends sounding like a documentary score for the Nature Channel.
In fact, just by looking at the group’s album cover art and listening through the record, a listener can tell that Frequency is very in tune with nature. Whether it’s the hot plains of Africa or the concrete jungles of Chicago, Frequency composes the perfect backdrop to each.
– Jason Verhagen
Frequency (Thrill Jockey)