A Jamaican Journey

Over some three decades, the Art Ensemble of Chicago--saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman, trumpeter Lester Bowie, bassist Malachi Favors and percussionist Don Moye--has created the perfect blend of individual voice and collective interplay. Operating under the banner of “Great Black Music, From the Ancient to the Future,” the ensemble has ranged over time and space, bringing avant-garde sensibilities and a rich percussive mix to early hot-jazz, hard bop, funk and reggae. This effort, the band’s first studio recording since Jarman left the group in 1991, reworks older tunes (Mitchell’s “Odwalla Theme”), puts modern twists to stomp-and-shout material (Bowie’s “Grape Escape”) and allows for plenty of improvisational soul-searching. Without Jarman’s squirming reeds and eclectic percussion, “Coming Home Jamaica” sounds a bit thin compared to such four-star dates as 1969’s “Jackson in Your House” or the 1980 free-for-all “Full Force.” But its strong, uninhibited feel makes for liberating listening.

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