Zanzibar Blue – Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble

For decades, Philadelphia has boasted one of the nation's strongest jazz scenes -- hard bop being its dominant style in the '90s. The Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble, one of the city's few electric jazz units, has sought to provide exploratory, distinctive music drawing on fusion, post-bop, and world music influences. Zanzibar Blue, named after the Philly club where Arpeggio has played regularly, effectively combines a solid jazz/funk/R&B foundation with elements of African, Middle Eastern and Asian music. Bassist Warren Oree, who founded Arpeggio in 1979, is obviously a democratic leader, and encourages inspired, free-spirited improvisation from such aggressive Philly talent as Sunni Bey (alto sax, wind synthesizer), Umar Raheem (tenor sax) and Barry Sames (electric keyboards). As if taking a cue from Weather Report (one of their influences), Arpeggio uses technology in a most human, expressive fashion. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide