In 2003, the Dreyfus Jazz label released
Divine Radiance, an album by guitarist
Tisziji Muñoz. With a beauty and intensity comparable to
Carlos Santana,
John McLaughlin,
Vernon Reid, and
Sonny Sharrock,
Muñoz alternately soothes and riles in the grand tradition of ruminative and ecstatically charged free jazz. The title track and "Initiation by Fire" are particularly tempestuous examples of joyously improvised volcanism.
Divine Radiance combined the energies of master percussionist
Rashied Ali, saxophonists
Pharoah Sanders and
Ravi Coltrane; bassists
Cecil McBee and
Don Pate, and David Letterman's house keyboardist
Paul Shaffer, who also produced the album. Recorded at Right Track Studios in New York on October 30, 2001, this was
Muñoz's response to the toppling of the World Trade Center and the mass murders that occurred elsewhere on the same day. His prayer is for
Divine Radiance to emanate from each of us in order to counteract the horror and suffering which humanity persists in perpetrating upon itself. ~ arwulf arwulf