Doug and Jean Carn's 1973 album Revelation was their final Black Jazz collaboration. Its seamless integration of modal jazz, funk, and spiritual soul in Doug's expansive compositions and Jean's iconic singing register far beyond the boundaries of genre purity. The lineup includes trumpeter Olu Dara, saxophonist Rene McClean, bassist Walter Booker, bass trumpeter Earl McIntyre, guitarist Nathan Page, and drummer Buddy Williams.
Opener "God Is One" is a brief yet glorious benediction. Its modal vamp and chant were inspired by John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme." Page's soloing on the edges adds textural support to bridge Jean's singing with the band's spirited Eastern groove. "Power and the Glory" is among the finest tunes in Black Jazz's catalog. A punchy Rhodes piano moves across droning chord progressions as Page's Wes Montgomery-esque tone offers snaky improvisation while simultaneously engaging in syncopated interplay with the rhythm section. Jean soars above, framed by tonally contrasting horn-section accents. Doug's harmonic approach on B-3 and Rhodes juxtaposes soul, gospel, and modal jazz, adding a funky dimension for Jean to play off. Horns introduce the soulful "Revelation"; Dara and McClean sing call-and-response harmony (Philly soul style) underneath Jean's flowing, gospelized soul as Rhodes, bass, and snare breaks bubble underneath. A lilting reading of Coltrane's "Naima" features Jean's overdubbed vocals engaging in harmony with one another. McCoy Tyner's "Contemplation" weds modal jazz, gospel and blues as Jean swoops, growls, and declares the lyric, exhorting the listener toward inner exploration. "Fatherhood" is a hard-grooving soul-jazz jam. Doug's organ dialogues with Page as the rhythm section comp and wind around them. "Feel Free" is the set's longest track. A Rhodes introduces the modal theme before Jean's resonant vocal floats soulfully around Doug's upper-register melodic fills that contemplatively frame the space behind her. Page's slow, angular solo crisscrosses post-bop, R&B, and the blues with fleet yet knotty arpeggios. Dara's loping solo guides the rhythm section as breaking snares, hi-hat cymbals, and syncopated tom-toms shift tempos before Jean winds it all down. "Time Is Running Out" is an urgent meld of hard bop and soul. Jean warns about the wages of institutional racism in a throaty contralto as Doug adds spiky synth lines and a snarling organ solo to the driving tempo. McClean's massively funky "Jihad" closes the set. His harmonic palette grafts angular Eastern modalism onto finger-popping post-bop and pulsing progressive funk (think Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground"). Booker's bassline drives singer and horns, adding woody accents to each line as Doug, Page, and Williams pulse aggressively underneath. The composer's sax solo lands somewhere between Coltrane's outward expansions and Stanley Turrentine's seismic soul. While their two earlier recordings, Infant Eyes and Spirit of the New Land, were among Black Jazz's best-sellers, Revelation is arguably the strongest of the three. It showcases the full blossoming of the duo's explorations and integrations from previous outings, and stands as one of the label's true classics.