Ethnic Heritage Ensemble at Kuumbwa Jazz Center

About

One of the longest-running bands in the business, the Chicago-based Ethnic Heritage Ensemble has had good reason to stay with it all these years. A rotating cast of soloists that has at one time or another included reedsmen Ernest Dawkins and Edward Wilkerson, trombonist Joseph Bowie, guitarist Fareed Haque and (more recently) trumpeter Corey Wilkes always ensures a fresh take on every composition. And no matter who mans the frontline, seemingly unstoppable percussionist/vocalist Kahil El’Zabar is the essential element that drives each stirring performance from a delicate simmer to an all-consuming blaze that All About Jazz describes as “intense, sublime and intelligent.”