Adonai and I

Adonai & I is yet another side project of bassist David Gould, whose primary gig is with the excellent New York-based roots reggae band John Brown's Body and whose other primary part-time job is playing for the somewhat more dub-flavored 10 Foot Ganja Plant. With Adonai & I he moves further afield, experimenting with a fusion of traditional Hebrew prayers and melodies and dubwise reggae. This has been done before — remember King Django's Roots and Culture? — but never in such a dark, mystical vein. "Adonai Adonai" opens the program with an explicitly nyahbinghi-influenced chant, and then "Leha Dodi" takes a traditional song celebrating the Sabbath and sets it to a sturdy, clavinet-driven reggae beat. On a slow, funky arrangement of the familiar "Shalom Alechem," Amy Glicklich contributes vocals that are at once silky and smoky; the horn section of Boston's crack Pressure Cookers band provides tight and supple support throughout. For an even spacier experience, check out the dub version of this album (Adonai in Dub) on the Tzadik label. Highly recommended.