Ethnic Heritage Ensemble

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Christopher Andrew

The trio Ethnic Heritage Ensemble.

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (from left): Corey Wilkes, Kahil El’Zabar, Alex Harding.

Five decades since forming in Chicago’s creative music scene, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is in the midst of another creative renaissance, with a new album (Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit) on the way in March and an extended 50th anniversary tour. The current lineup includes founding composer-percussionist Kahil El'Zabar, along with longtime members Corey Wilkes on trumpet and Alex Harding on bari sax.

media release: Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (EHE) shares new single, “Return of the Lost Tribe” from their new album, Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit, out March 8 via Spiritmuse Records in conjunction with the legendary group’s 50th anniversary. Both invigorating and spiritually resonant, the seven-minute instrumental is an EHE classic, composed by El'Zabar in the 90s, and features an indelible and upbeat rhythm section punctuated by bright horns, tight strings, and upbeat percussion. The piece stands as a powerful testament to the Ensemble’s legacy and unwavering contribution to Great Black Music.

“Return of the Lost Tribe” was originally recorded in the 2000s by a group of Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians leaders, including El’Zabar,  Malachi Favors, Joseph Jarman, Kalaparusha Maurice Mcyntyer, and Adegoke Steve Colson. On the track, El’Zabar explains “The music intends to convey that something powerful and inspired is returning, or coming around again with inspired vigor and wisdom. I feel deep inside me that we are all connected with energies of refined frequency. Each of us possesses the ability to tap into ageless energy which can restore and make us fresh. 'Return of The Lost Tribe' speaks to the remembrance of glory that will come again in the present, once we acquire the knowledge to tap into it.”

On Open Me, “Return of the Lost Tribe” is performed again by El’Zabar but this time with the current lineup of the Ensemble: Corey Wilkes (trumpet), Alex Harding (baritone sax), plus James Sanders (violin and viola) and Ishmael Ali (cello). It is a deeply meaningful and explosive sonic journey, a triumphant “return of the lost tribe” to a music lineage that transcends space and time.  

Open Me is a joyous honoring of portent new directions of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble; it’s a visionary journey into deep roots and future routes, channeling traditions old and new. The album contains a mixture of originals, including some El’Zabar evergreens like “Barundi,” “Hang Tuff,” “Ornette,” and “Great Black Music” (often attributed to the Art Ensemble of Chicago but is, in fact, an El’Zabar composition), and timeless classics by Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, and Eugene McDaniels. As a milestone anniversary celebration and a statement of future intent, Open Me effortlessly carries El’Zabar’s healing vision of Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit.