Our Feet Began to Pray by The Afro-Semitic Experience
After marching in Selma, Alabama, civil rights leader John Lewis and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel each described his action as “praying with my feet.” The Afro-Semitic Experience took that phrase as the inspiration for their album, Our Feet Began to Pray, and their mission.
The Afro-Semitic Experience formed out of friendship between New Haven Black and Jewish jazz musicians who found that musical collaboration was a road to community feeling. Some tracks on their two-CD album are pop funk message songs, including the set’s opener, “Unity in the Community,” doubtlessly featured in the band’s performances in churches, synagogues and community centers. Bassist David Chevan sets the familiar melody of “We Shall Overcome” before the band joins in; the hopeful anthem segues into the prayerful “Oseh Shalom.”
Pianist Warren Byrd co-leads the group, whose finest moments are as a jazz ensemble featuring group soloing and many echoes of the music’s past from New Orleans through ‘60s.
Stream or download Our Feet Began to Pray on Amazon here.
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