While a swift current propels the title track to Rahsaan Barber’s latest recording, Eternal, the song is imbued with deep spiritual feeling and longing. Bassist Kevin Beardsley opens the tune with an introductory riff, and he’s soon joined by saxophonist Barber, pianist Matt Endahl and drummer Joshua Hunt, the latter of whom maintains brisk momentum throughout. Guitarist Ted Ludwig, the latest edition to Barber’s ensemble, unspools liquid lines with speed and acuity before ceding the spotlight to Barber, whose solo is achingly expressive. Overblowing his instrument, he unleashes a cry from the heart reminiscent of John Coltrane or Pharoah Sanders, which is ameliorated somewhat by Endahl’s sparkling, Latin-tinged solo and a calmer passage as the piece winds down; however, the pain that had receded surfaces again in the outro, with Barber sounding like a man on a mountaintop wailing to the heavens for answers. The expressive performance is understandable; just days before entering the studio, Barber had learned that his wife had lost the baby she was carrying. Initially, he had subtitled the album’s title track “Awaiting Zora,” carrying all the hopes for the future of the couple’s child. The feelings of loss were raw, all but unendurable for the North Carolina-based saxophonist, whose compassionate bandmates nonetheless pulled him through. “I was just so fortunate to be surrounded by not just great musicians, but great people who could deal with someone who broke down in the sound booth as they were playing,” he relates. “I feel like they put a force field around me that allowed me to be in a place that became therapeutic for me, life-affirming.”
