This is really two albums in one, with a clear line of demarcation between two concepts.
Roney says that he wanted to "incorporate African rhythms with a Nefertiti approach" on the whole CD, but Nefertiti easily overwhelms, even obliterates, the African element up until track six ("Village"), where
Steve Berrios' percussion and
Robert Irving III's synthesizers kick in. Now the music becomes more interesting, sometimes following the direction of
Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi Sextet -- and the last four tracks are appropriately linked to one another by
Berrios' interludes. The best track, "EBO," has a great theme, an amalgam of Kind of Blue, Filles de Kilimanjaro and
Gil Evans, with
Chick Corea's Fender Rhodes electric piano complementing
Geri Allen's acoustic piano. You guessed it; by now, the boo birds have been out again accusing
Roney of being a
Miles imitator. But the means are justified here, because
Roney creates thoughtful music within his post-
Miles idiom and, like his late idol, tries to stretch himself. Besides, there was a good reason for revisiting the past this time; the death of
Roney's former employer and bandmate
Tony Williams in 1997 made this album, though recorded over three months earlier, a memorial -- unnervingly so in the way
Roney and drummer
Lenny White follow the
Williams rhythmic method in
Cole Porter's "I Love You." Also,
Pharaoh Sanders puts in a pair of (for him) rather safe cameo appearances. ~ Richard S. Ginell