Harriet Tubman: Araminta
Bassist Melvin Gibbs, drummer J.T. Lewis and guitarist Brandon Ross have been detonating power-trio parameters together as Harriet Tubman since 1998. They’re steeped in the DNA of Ornette, Hendrix, P-Funk and electric Miles, and on Araminta, they push things over the edge with the addition of Wadada Leo Smith, an outstanding trumpeter who brings brawny gusto. Their screaming new jam session of an album roils, skronks, bites and wails with irrepressible sonic napalm. As independent as their abolitionist namesake, Harriet Tubman is an irresistible force of truth, beauty and bone-rattling improvisation on tracks like the elegantly raw Smith composition “President Obama’s Speech at the Selma Bridge.”