Cochemea, "Mitote" (Daptone)

I didn't expect to be smacked upside the head with a globe-trotting, spiritual jazz album as sublime as All My Relations in 2019, so respect to Daptone for putting out this precious monster platter. A California native with Yaqui and Mescalero Apache Indian ancestry, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings saxophonist Cochemea Gastelum has woven elements of Moroccan Gnawa music, cumbia, jazz, blues, and his own folks' indigenous music into the 10 tracks on All My Relations. The result is a kaleidoscopic sonic travelogue that keeps you engrossed throughout.

It's tough to choose a favorite from this record, but ultimately I have to go with "Mitote." This is a simmering, polyrhythmic percussion orgy—including jazz musician Sunny Jain on a double-headed drum called the dhol—that will burrow into your soul and unleash primordial hedonistic tendencies. Cochemea's sax recalls Eddie Harris's circa his fertile, wah-heavy electric period during the late-'60s/'70s; he coaxes a raspy tone and serpentine melody that suggests wild times are afoot. It's one of the most seductive sounds around.

The PR says "Mitote" was "inspired by the ancient Aztec dance, which has been associated with Peyote ritual," and I can believe it. Can't wait to see Cochemea—who's also played with Quincy Jones, Public Enemy, David Byrne, Budos Band, Antibalas, Amy Winehouse, and many more—do his earthy, funky thing live. He performs Thursday, February 28 and Friday, March 1 at Nectar Lounge, opening for Antibalas.