Charnett Moffett has carved out an impressive career as bassist for the likes ranging from Wynton Marsalis to Ornette Coleman and McCoy Tyner, but his latest album finds him in a whole new plane. He sticks to fretless electric bass, and creates a gorgeous tapestry of thoughtful and spiritual messages.
The cast of Moffett with jana Herzen/g-voc, Brian Jackson/p-synth, Scott Tixier/vi and Mark Whitfield Jr/dr focus on songs that hearken to spirituals with a melodic folk feel, but in these hands are rich in atmospheres, pulses and lyrical solo excursions. His warm bass weaves with Tixier’s violin on the almost Gaellic “Holy Spirit, while his bass canters with Whitfield and the earnest keyboards on “Free The Slaves.” Herzen’s rich voice caresses the lyrics on the dreamy “Precious Air” while bass and violin sway to the pretty “Set It Free.” A pastoral “O My God Elohim” is like a sonic Sermon on the Mount, and while they show that they can flex their collective muscles as Herzen leads a frantic jam on “Netting,” most of the time there is a celestial celebration, sensitive as on the joyful optimism of “Bright New Day.” This is music by a man who has seen the Burning Bush.