People Of Earth, the second instalment of the Black Lives project, is a worthwhile sequel to the 2022 debut From Generation To Generation. As was the case first time round the cast list is extensive, with players drawn from across the world to continue (rather than simply acknowledge) the global importance of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The presence of veterans such as bassist-leader Reggie Washington, guitarists Jean-Paul Bourelly and David Gilmore, and poet Shariff Simmons lends to the work gravitas, but the input of younger artists, such as two outstanding singers, the American Christie Dashiell and the South African Tutu Puoane, ensures that there is an evolving freshness in the sound palette. In any case, while the large assemblage of players create rhythms that reflect the vast richness of the black diaspora, so that the music is by turns soulful, funky and African-Caribbean, there is always the attention to detail, composer’s integrity and improvisatory verve that are fundamental in the jazz aesthetic.

The songs are at a very high creative level. Whether the piece in question is Sonny Troupé’s ‘On Sel Rev’, with its riveting Guadeloupean percussive base; or Jacques Schwarz-Bart’s ‘I Apologise’, the kind of lithe mid-tempo groover D’Angelo would be proud of, the results are outstanding. More than a supergroup, Black Lives is a musical movement that delivers social and political messages that need to be heeded in the form of music that really should be heard the world over.