[5/20/16] - Jazz Times review of Kahil El'Zabar's Le Funk a Vanguard
 

Another searching, groove-rooted set, led by drummer/percussionist Kahil El’Zabar, constituted one of the evening’s high points. Here was a band, dubbed Le Funk à Vanguard, built to headline a night at the Vision Festival: Along with El’Zabar, there was guitarist Kelvyn Bell, saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett, trombonist Craig Harris, pianist D.D. Jackson and bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma. This was the old-school avant-garde at its blues-soaked best, vamping, chanting, soloing, burning and following El’Zabar’s kalimba groove toward bliss. (Reportedly, percussionist Sammy Figueroa guested on a rendition of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”—a recording he played on—to get the night’s Bowie homage started early. But I’d moved on to hear Preservation Hall.)