ANCESTRAL MEMORIES

On Ancestral Memories, Terry delves into the cross-pollination of France and Africa in the New World, co-leading a quartet with prodigious French pianist Baptiste Trotignon. Rounded out by Terry’s brother, Yunior Terry, on contrabass, and Jeff “Tain” Watts on trap set, this modern-jazz ensemble delivers a seamlessly enthralling 10-track suite. The work was inspired by musical traditions that emerged from the African Diaspora in the former French territories of Louisiana and the Caribbean, which Terry describes as an “Antilles aesthetic,” or a melding of “the sophistication of language with dance.” Ancestral Memories reveals a meeting of the minds between Terry and Trotignon, who share compositional credits, as well as the genealogies, etched into their musical DNA.
– Jazziz