Oded Tzur: My Prophet

Simultaneously an open call to prayer and a frisky dance of the debutantes, "Epilogue" and "Child You" beckon and pirouette the muse, the spirit, the higher gods of our calling to come and celebrate My Prophet.

Crazy good from the solemn "Epilogue" to the rattling closer, "Last Bike Ride In Paris," My Prophet is the current crown jewel in the burgeoning basket of jewels that Israeli-born but Brooklyn-wise saxophonist Oded Tzur has given the world. His fifth overall—including the much-heralded, spiritually satisfying Isabella (ECM, 2022) and the mystery-driven Here Be Dragons (ECM, 2020)—Tzur's ancient yet real-time searching and affirming, whispered tonality is a sure thing to behold.

Tzur cedes the landscape of "Through A Land Unsown" to his long-standing bassist Petros Klampanis, pianist Nitai Hershkovits (who anticipates space and theory with a calligrapher's zeal) and drummer Cyrano Almeida and the terrain is hypnotically beguiling. Tzur seems to float above it all while being intuitive to every level. Highlighting the free-flowing "Renata," Tzur's ruminations penetrate here and mist the edges there as Hershkovits and Almeida scroll around him.

Though at quieter times Tzur intimates the fluid silence of Charles Lloyd, his exhortations do, evoke John Coltrane at his spiritual best (which the exalted fanfare of "Last Bike Ride In Paris" unfailingly proves.) Add to that hot mix the thrilling realization that Hershkovits, Klampanis, and Almeida strongly petition the holy burning flame spirit of the classic quartet, (McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison and wildly vivid tapestries as "Child You" and the fiercely charged flagship track, flourish and thrive. My Prophet reaches for something beyond here, something beyond the studio, the stage, all our daily grudges, and lights a better course.

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