Zion Trinity’s Spirit of the Orisha, their first record since 2003’s Eyes on Zion, is a beautiful sounding recording that works on the musical, anthropological, and spiritual realms.

The 38-tracks on this double-CD set are portrayals and tributes to the Orisha, the spirits and ancestors in the Yoruban-via-Cuban practice of Santeria. The arrangements are sparse and focused on vocals, both solo singing and group harmony. The vocals vary to embody the harmonies and the main rhythmic thrust also.

They can be gentle or forceful depending on the nature of the song and the Orisha being praised. The voices take on the tones of musical chants dedicated to everyone from Papa Legba to Oshun to Yemaya. Strings and Cuban percussion fill out the sounds. The spirituality here has great depth that is obvious and intense but Zion Trinity keep it buoyant and light, often sweet.

On the songs that use strings to add contrasting lines, one can hear how Creole music around the Caribbean has this religious music as one of its roots. The rhythms as performed by some of New Orleans’ best percussionists have a subtlety. Also light, they have simplicity that is deceptive. By the end of the disc, they can combine with the vocals really to get in the head and heart of the listener, which is part of their intention. There is also a book that goes with these CDs that translates the lyrics from Yoruban to English and adds descriptions of the spirits of which the songs speak.