There are a plethora of motivations for selecting and composing songs for an album. Tessa Souter has a unique one in that this recent album is due to her discovery at 28 years old that her birth father was black. This album is Tessa’s journey to her dna through song, mixing various heritages that include Caribbean, Spain, Africa and Celtic Britain, making this a musical Ellis Island.
The team of Yotam Silberstein/g-oud, Adam Platt/p, Yasushi Nakamura/b, Dana Leong/cel, Keita Ogawa/perc and Billy Drummond/dr-perc create a wide and multi-musical palate, as Souter sings in a multi track form for the folk traditional “Kothbiro” with rich piano reflections and teams up with a modal bass anddrums for McCoy Tyner’s “Contemplation (Ancestors).” Middle Eastern and mystical moods provided by Silberstein has Souter defiant on “You Don’t Have to Believe” while she opens all alone before tender accompaniment joins in on a alluring “Reynardine.” Cheerful samba moods on “Child of Love” or the intimate work of voice and piano on “Dancing Girl/ Where the Streets Have No Name” reflect diverse strands of her past, with her chanting with Nakamura on Milt Nascimento’s closing “Nothing Will Be As It Was” concluding the musical family photo album. A journey that reflects the best part of America, reflecting both the roots of America and everyone that comes from the Garden of Eden.