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Tracking The Odds: We All Break (Audio)
Drummer/composer Ches Smith's project We All Break infuses downtown jazz improvisation with traditional Haitian Vodou music, recorded at Roulette in 2021. Co-composer and master drummer Daniel Brevil contributes Vodou songs–both traditional and original–which marry with Smith’s compositions. Formed in 2013, We All Break is an ensemble at the crossroads of traditional Haitian Vodou music and au courant composition and improvisation. Master drummers Daniel Brevil, Fanfan Jean Guy, and Markus Schwartz–along with vocalists Sirene Dantor Rene, Tossie Long, and Lalin St Juste—team up with improvisors Miguel Zenón (sax), Matt Mitchell (piano), Nick Dunston (bass) and drummer Smith (a long-time student of Haitian Vodou drums who performs in religious and folkloric contexts in New York, San Francisco, and Haiti).