There's a good reason why we're looking at this record on this day. In the wake of the tragic events of September, 11, 2001 and its aftermath, L.A. producer Carlos Nino cobbled together a collective of about 20 local-area musicians he named Build An Ark with the intent of spreading a message of peace, love and harmony through music. Nino himself says "we came together to make music that hopes to inspire peace and love in this world". The message can be heard through their lone release, Peace With Every Step (2003).
To Nino's credit, the music matches that message; it may not be a dead ringer for anybody else but spiritually it's close to Sun Ra's Arkestra. There's trombone, flute, violin, guitar, bass, Fender Rhodes, lead and backup vocalists, and percussionists galore. There's also a lot of spontaneity here with cues being dropped and picked up all over the place, and for a "thrown together" band consisting of people of differing backgrounds, ethnicity, and generations (just look at the album cover) they seem to have a genuine feel for each other. The music is a wonderful mixture of hippie folk, funk-jazz, and African rhythms. Just the kind of music you'd dig at an outdoor festival on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Nate Morgan uses his Rhodes for ambience and coloring to great effect; along with the percussionists, it's the glue that holds together the songs and prevents a loosely bound group from sounding like just a bunch of noise. He even gets in a few good licks on the calypso funk of "Vibes From The Tribe." "The Tortoise And The Hare" reminds us what we used to like about Eric Burdon's War. Pharoah Sanders’ "You've Got To Have Freedom" from his splendid Jurney To The One, features some passionate vocals from Dwight Trible. Sometimes the dedication to conveying that feel-good message makes for a few cringe-inducing moments, like the beatnik babbling on "Love Is Our Nationality" ("giddy-up, love, giddy-up!", "swallow your mushroom cloud"...yikes!) but the wild-eyed optimism is a charm we hadn't seen in music since Woodstock. 
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
maybe a little hope and optimism makes a nice respite from the all the messages of hate and violence we're confronted with everyday.
absolutely.
...and not a naive sentiment at all, despite what bluster-mongers from both side will tell you.