A presence on the European jazz scene for 25 years, Belgian bassist Piet Verbist is best known for his decade of touring with Universal Records' Jef Neve Trio, with the expansive list of artists he performs with yearly, or releases and tours by his own groups - the modern, electric Zygomatik and the collective, Mamutrio. Having many compositions that fell outside the needs of those groups, Verbist formed his acoustic quartet for exploring wider musical concepts with a lot of space for dynamic improvisation. "Suite R'union" is also a celebration of old friends, as the acclaimed drummer Dr' Pallemaerts and Verbist's musical collaborations go back to their early teens.
Japanese vocalist May Okita recently departed Los Angeles where she spent several years developing her musical voice with some of the finest mentors and musical partners in jazz. Before moving back to Tokyo, she recorded this deeply personal album with two particularly inspirational and empathetic musicians: pianist Josh Nelson and guitarist Larry Koonse. Together, they explore many of the subtleties of the human heart - pleasure, sorrow, passion, calmness - her sonorous and poignant voice floating effortlessly over the Bernstein/Comden gem "Some Other Time," the Joni Mitchell classic "Both Sides Now," the Lou Carter, Herb Ellis, Johnny Frigo beauty "Detour Ahead," or May and Josh's own title song. "Art of Life" is a heartfelt debut for a promising new voice."May's delivery is at times so genuine and kind, it is really a pleasure to listen to her..." - Michele Weir.
Veteran Seattle bassist Chuck Deardorf brings together longtime musical friends and compatriots for this album, filled with spontaneous interaction, gritty grooves and melodic beauty. With the quartet of pianist Dawn Clement, drummer Matt Wilson and saxophonist Hans Teuber, Deardorf explores deep and seldom-heard compositions by Kenny Barron, Keith Jarrett and Monk, while a second trio with Marc Seales & Gary Hobbs performs music by Jack DeJohnette and even the "Blind Faith" rock classic, "Can't Find My Way Home." "Perception" displays an inspired group aesthetic, as it provides a look into the creative vision that has made Deardorf a favorite musical partner to the countless jazz legends he's accompanied over the years."... a strong and smart bandleader... His own voice is the primary unifying factor. He is a quick, clear rhythm-section player and an articulate, interesting soloist... " - Jazztimes
For his first album on Origin, veteran New York vibraphonist Dan McCarthy gathers with some of the most creative and interesting improvisers in jazz - violinist Mark Feldman, bassist Steve Swallow and guitarist Ben Monder. Crafting an elegant program of impressionistic originals, McCarthy uses them to highlight the unique color and texture of the instrumentation, along with these master performer's eloquent use of mood, subtlety, timbre and patience. Sharing sonic territory with classic albums by Eberhard Weber, or several of John Abercrombie's ECM recordings, McCarthy's new offering engages with disarming beauty. "An extraordinary musical ability and a boundless imagination" - Gary Burton."A vibraphonist with a charismatic and pointedly contemporary style" - Nate Chinen, NYT
Pianist Brittany Anjou has explored everything from Ahmad Jamal to Bikini Kill between her roiling original compositions inspired by Bartok, Stravinsky, Red Garland and McCoy Tyner. It makes great artistic sense that the title of her first major piano trio album and the five-part suite contained within is in Esperanto, the "constructed" international language. Just as Anjou's English-language title "Reciprocal Love" becomes Enamigoh Reciprokataj (En-"h-mee-joh Reh-sih-pro-k"h-tye), so too does the mainstream language of the piano jazz she loves get translated into something strikingly different and psychically original.
For the second installment of an ambitious five-CD project, undertaken to observe his fiftieth birthday, master bassist Rodney Whitaker convenes a world-class sextet to pay homage to the oeuvre of Duke Ellington. It's a subject that Whitaker came to know intimately during his 9-year tenure with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, regarding it as his Ph.D in Ellingtonia through performance, deep study, and spirited conversation with Wynton Marsalis and bandmates through those years. With a front line of modern jazz masters - Brian Lynch, Michael Dease and Diego Rivera, the fiery, modern aesthetic of drummer Karriem Riggins, along with pianist Richard Roe and vocals by Rockelle Fortin, Whitaker celebrates the timelessness of Ellington's works by allowing them to live and breathe through the freewheeling, "cutting session" atmosphere he created for the session.
Xavier Lecouturier is a picture of intuitive concentration and joy. - All About Jazz. A young and vital member of the Seattle jazz scene, drummer Xavier Lecouturier discovered a circle of like-minded and talented colleagues after arriving in town from the Bay-Area. "Carrier" documents a collection of the original works they've been performing around the region over the last two years, as they looked for, and found, their voice. Featuring through-composed pieces drawing from numerous influences, this album encapsulates the sound, interplay, and collective compositional styles as they nudge boundaries, while staying rooted in a passionate study of the jazz tradition.
... with a keen appreciation for suspense and patient development, (McCarthy) tests the boundaries and borders of shadows and shape with stunning results. - All About Jazz. Harkening back to the era of classic Gary Burton recordings such as "Dreams So Real" and "Passengers," vibist Dan McCarthy pays tribute to Burton and Carla Bley, another towering influence on his musical development, for his second Origin release. Recently returning to Toronto after 15 years in New York City, McCarthy teams with highly regarded Toronto-based improvisors, guitarist Ted Quinlan, Pat Collins on bass, and drummer Ted Warren, to present six new originals inspired by Burton and Bley, as well as compositions from Pat Metheny, "Midwestern Nights Dream," and Keith Jarrett's "Coral." "An extraordinary musical ability and a boundless imagination" - Gary Burton.
While looking through songbooks of traditional Galician music, Spanish saxophonist Xose Miguelez happened upon a recording by the ethnic musicologist Doroth' Schubart of a ballad, sung by his own Great-Aunt Amparo almost 40 years ago in Cerdedelo-Laza, a beautiful village hidden in the Galician hills. All of the compositions on "Ontology" come from a four-note motif at the beginning of that ballad.
For his fifth recording as a leader, San Francisco Bay-Area saxophonist Dann Zinn presents his stellar quartet in a performance of nine new original compositions along with a moving version of the classic ballad, "Blame It On My Youth." With Taylor Eigsti on piano, bassist Zach Ostroff and Mark Ferber on drums, Zinn's playing is energetic, virtuosic, and passionate. Recorded in the final weeks of the legendary Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA, the band captured the sounds and clarity of the studio along with the passionate energy the group brings to a live gig, creating a listening experience that "exemplifies Zinn's gift for marrying eminently memorable themes to entrancing rhythms." "Dann Zinn is a game changer who is taking jazz in new directions." - Stanford Jazz.
... Dave Peterson originals (are) full of sharp gleaming edges and shining facets... catchy, stick-in-the-head melodies, and a very accessible sound that reveals deeper complexities on multiple listens. - ALL ABOUT JAZZ. Raised in Montana by musicians and music educators, cousins Dave Peterson, Rob Kohler and Lee Kohler each went their own way after school, forging rich and varied music careers with teaching, performing and tours throughout the world. Forty-five years later, the cousins assembled in Seattle for this reunion of sorts, gathering compositions, mutual musician friends, and their collective inherited musical taste. From the impressionism of Peterson's lyrical title tune, to the quirky funk of "M&M Blues," composed by the Kohler's late father, or their two rangy group improvisations, "Winter Colors" exudes the warmth of family and the cousin's depth of musical kinship.
... they have revealed a work of true artistic mastery, and generational significance. In many ways, it personifies the direction of jazz music into the 21st century, a mantle to be grasped and moved forward by generation next. - All About Jazz. In his fifth decade as a major jazz artist, Hal Galper continues the innovation that has made him one of the most surprising and satisfying pianists alive. His 21st century series of albums for Origin over the last 12 years incorporates the elasticity of rubato performing as a means of melding melodic lyricism with the visceral rhythmic excitement of bebop. This 8th recording in the series highlights the deep musical bond of his trio, with bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop, and their uncanny ability to slip into "The Zone" - where self awareness is abandoned and the music is allowed to control the proceedings. Performed in the inviting environs of the Yardbird Suite in Edmonton, Canada, it was months later that the recording from the soundboard was reviewed. Asking "Who is this piano player?," Galper recognized the music was coming from a deeper than conscious place and that documenting the trio deeply in 'the zone,' and in the wild, was necessary. "... a moment of thrilling uncertainty, slightly airborne and stretched out in unusual shapes and motions, and (the moment extended) out for the length of a song, each and every time." - Wondering Sound.
Laurie Antonioli is one of the era's definitive jazz vocalists, but she's got a Little Rock 'n' roll in her soul too. Her new album expands her creative purview with an emotionally trenchant program focusing on her collaborations with state-of-the-art jazz composers - including Russell Ferrante and Nguyˆn Lˆ - and new arrangements of songs by iconic singer/songwriters Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Sheryl Crow.
... an ambitious, genre-transcendent musical palette... This is a deeply thoughtful and wildly infectious musical adventure you shouldn & rsquo;t miss! - JW Vibe. Though based in multiple musical realms, pianist Alain Mallet's ambitious Mutt Slang projects coalesce into a world that exudes 'exotic' yet ultimately feels familiar, the roots of it's various components meeting somewhere deep within. Sharing the musical landscape with young musicians from Palestine, Brazil, Italy, Israel, Japan, Bulgaria, Panama, Ireland, Puerto Rico and the US, the complexity of their backgrounds - musically, ethnically, and otherwise, permeates the session, suffusing Mallet's compositions with an undeniable energy and life. "Mutt Slang is very much the result of this convergence of all the musics I love, of digging to get to their shared soul and rebuild something fresh, in order to discover where I belong and give others a chance to do the same." - Alain Mallet
... Markowitz's effervescent piano rides spryly over Eckhardt's fluid, undulating bass lines... propelled along by Moore's bright, crisp drumwork. - Jazzwest. Covering many years and reflecting a wealth of experiences, drummer Ted Moore's striking array of compositions meld into a singular, dynamic statement on his debut trio recording. With pianist Phil Markowitz - a musical partner since meeting at the Eastman School of Music in the '70s - along with the extraordinary bassist, Kai Eckhardt, the trio expands ever outward from the piano trio tradition, utilizing their shared influences of music from Brazil and Spain as well as classical music and it's forms. Moore also acknowledges his musical inspirations through "Waltz for Chick," for Chick Corea, and "Beyond Silence," for Miles & Tony Williams. "Simple Gifts" is Moore's arrangement of the traditional Shaker theme that Aaron Copland utilized in "Appalachian Spring." "... a collection of thematically beguiling and rhythmically stunning performances that will excite even the most jaded listener." - Mark Holston, Jazziz
Composer/Saxophonist Michael Zilber's musical approach has always been a unique mix, bred from myriad activities over the years in New York & Boston in the east, and Vancouver & San Francisco in the west. On East West, that aspect of his being is front and center, along with his delving into writing and arranging for big bands over the last decade.
(Friedman's) music often stems from personal, social interaction, and this kind of music finds it's way into people's hearts... - Ha'aretz. Saxophonist and composer Amit Friedman is a guiding light in the Israeli jazz scene. His inspiringly lyrical compositions are arranged with his group of master musicians in mind and are rooted solidly in the jazz tradition, along with rich influences of the Middle East interwoven throughout. In the liner notes to "Unconditional Love," Amit recounts the story of his late father taking him, as a young teen, to New York and a night at the Blue Note. Implied is a great sense of gratitude for all of those influencing his life, and with the album's dedication to his father, offers the inspiration behind this collection of performances. Between the fiery "Home At Last," the subtle Bossa, "Alma," with vocals and lyrics by Brazilian vocalist Joca Perpignan, "Rill-Rool," the sweeping duo with pianist Tom Oren, the hard-swinging "Blues for Jackito," or the one cover, the melodic "Junk" by Paul McCartney, Friedman displays a deep connection to 'the moment,' his audience, and those who inspire him. "... Friedman's "Sunrise" is one of those rare albums that I want to blast from the rooftops, convinced that if the whole damn world could just hear it, the planet would be a much happier place." - DAVE SUMNER, BIRD IS THE WORM
Patterson displays creativity as a soloist and arranger... and a technical virtuosity that is quite impressive. - Trombone Journal. Trombonist Ben Patterson's fiery technique and expansive compositional vision combine for a thrilling quintet session of 10 wide-ranging originals. From the opening title tune, a master-class in form & fire with tight ensemble passages and soaring solos, to the straight-ahead, Messengers-esque "Suits Me Fine," Patterson unveils thoroughly compelling vehicles for his Washington, DC-based group. All inspired soloists and master musicians, Patterson features guitarist Shawn Purcell, pianist Chris Ziemba, Paul Henry on bass and drummer Todd Harrison.
Once in a great while, a musician emerges with such authority and such seemingly effortless originality that his place in the front ranks of his instrument is unquestioned. So it is with David Friesen. - Nat Hentoff. A major international jazz figure for over 50 years, bassist-composer David Friesen continues his unflagging process of creating new defining works, with the ambitious, expansive, and deeply personal musical explorations found on Testimony. Through the desire to better understand his Mother's Ukrainian heritage, and with inspired leg-work from his Czech-based assistant, Natalie Digtyar, Friesen found himself on a 2015 tour of family landmarks in Smila, Ukraine, fully researched and led by a television crew and the local historical museum. Meeting Oleksandr Pirozhenko, director of the National Academic Symphonic Band of Ukraine, set in motion the collaboration heard here, beginning with a sold-out 2016 "homecoming" concert in Smila's Concert Hall, followed by this live recording from Kiev's National Philharmonic Hall in December, 2018. Arrangements of Friesen's profoundly spiritual compositions unfold, offering passages exploding with orchestral grandeur alongside lone whispers from solo piano, vibes or bass, and intimate quartet vignettes, all reflecting the myriad emotions exposed through his journey of ancestral discovery.
Led by Les DeMerle's dynamic drumming, his band swings hard with tight arrangements... Bonnie Eisele is the powerful centerpiece of this exciting act... - Downbeat. The 10th recording of renowned drummer Les DeMerle for Origin Records, "Hot Night In Venice" captures the fire, excitement and bristling energy Les has been bringing to world stages for over 50 years. And a show it is, as his longtime quartet offers up tight arrangements of jazz classics and serious in-the-pocket blues, but most of all, the band is groovin' hard, havin' fun and swingin' big time. Bonnie Eisele's sensitive, sassy vocals highlight the set, creating an ambiance that adds to the feeling of being at the club enjoying the set. From his ground-breaking Transfusion band of the late '60s, taking over Buddy Rich's seat with the Harry James Orchestra for 12 years, or his tours with the Manhattan Transfer and Wayne Newton, Les DeMerle has always been about elevating the band, bringing a visceral, unbridled dynamism to the stage. "Eisele and DeMerle are a hot combination. Her powerful voice and natural feel for rhythm come across in an explosive stage performance. His energy is absolutely contagious." - Florida Times-Union
John and his music are unique... He always has a great deal to say in his quiet, sincere way, and it resonates. - Just Jazz Guitar. Master guitarist and improvisor, John Stowell, has spent the last five decades touring the world, most often immersed in the universal jazz repertoire improvising with artists from wherever he's visiting. Through his recordings with "Scenes," and his quartet with Bay Area saxophonist Michael Zilber over the last 20 years, Stowell has had the chance to perform and focus on his own compositions more than ever before. It was through the mastering of those recordings that engineer, bassist, vocalist, producer Dan Dean discovered the nuances of Stowell's writing. The idea of collaboration came when Stowell heard Dean's recent classical voice recording, "Songs Without Words," where he layered multiple tracks of himself in what writer Raul da Gama called "... music-making of the highest order, which plumbs the depths of all of the emotions from wonderful joys to abject lamentations." Taking 10 of Stowell's compositions, Dean & Stowell layered voices, bass, and guitars over the course of a year, discovering unique avenues into the music with the end result feeling spontaneous, joyous and in the moment. "Dan Dean will redefine what you think is possible to achieve with the human voice. Prepare to be astonished." - Melinda Bargreen, Author & Music Critic
No one sounds quite like Barth. His solos are characterized by robust swing, his ability to tell a story, and by his rich, beguiling sound. -Zan Stewart, The Newark Star-Ledger. A pivotal member of New York's Jazz scene for 40 years, pianist Bruce Barth's inspired vision and generous accompaniment has always led to rich musical collaborations, none more so than with his working trio of many years with bassist Vincente Archer and drummer Montez Coleman. Their collective voice found it's perfect setting, which makes the release of "Dedication" a profound and emotion-filled moment, as Montez passed away 5 months after the recording session at the age of 48. Celebrating the joy and camaraderie Montez brought to their work, the thread of relationships, inspiration, guidance and gratefulness that imbued the recording revealed itself, leading Barth to present the music as a display of mindfulness of those gifts. "Dedication" is for the ones who give and is filled with life, dance and swing.
What comes out when Norway and Cuba team up musically: earthy bass, filigree rhythms, melancholy, charm, humor - and an almost unbelievable lightness. Badische-Zeitung (Germany). Norwegian vocalist/composer Grete Skarpeid's "Beyond Other Stories" is contemporary word painting at it's finest, with rhythmic contours beautifully enhanced by a quartet of master musicians, led by Cuban pianist Aru n Ortiz. Skarpeid draws us into the interior landscape of life with an eerily beautiful sense of freedom in her voice, mixing melancholy and joy, vulnerability and splendor. Ortiz's beautifully crafted arrangements of variety and sensuousness, are captured in every caressed phrase by Skarpeid. The music shines from the ethereal magnificence of "Singing Again," which sets to music a poem by the noted Norwegian poet Olav H. Hauge, through the feelings of spiritual loss evoked in "Adam and Eve," to the existential weightlessness of "Flying High." The unlikely musical partnership of Grete and Aru n began by happenstance when Ortiz passed through Grete's remote hometown while touring Norway with Don Byron. Grete shared some of her original songs with Ortiz, who instantly fell in love with her music and encouraged her to write more, later collaborating in New York on Skarpeid's first album, "My Songs" in 2016. "Skarpeid fills us with so much joy as she reveals herself to be an artist of the first order..." - Raul da Gama.
Five brilliant and focused musicians who against odds imposed by history and impossibility, have risen to the occasion to create a recording that provides depth, joy and emotional outreach in times of isolation and hardship. Developing their musical voices on the Seattle jazz scene, bassist Ben Feldman and saxophonist Santosh Sharma moved to New York for school and opportunity, while drummer Xavier Lecouturier, pianist Dylan Hayes and guitarist Martin Budde became invaluable creatives in Northwest music circles. Sidelined from various tours in 2020, the five ended up gathering in Alaska, learning to fly planes, composing, playing, and discovering that as a quintet, the joy of music and creation was rekindled, the weight of the moment lifted. Setting up in an airplane hangar, the quintet live-streamed performances through the summer and with their new compositions in tow, self-recorded and produced "Second Wave." The commonality of language acquired through hours of musical conversation between this group of friends quickly rose to fruition, producing sublime results for the listener.
Hard charging, high octane stuff that never let's you down, or even comes up for air, this is a must for big band fans... Killer stuff. - Midwest Record. Saxophonist, composer, arranger Greg Yasinitsky created his YAZZ Band project as a laboratory for his contemporary, original big band compositions. Made up of mostly Pacific Northwest-based improvisors and ensemble veterans, "New Normal" reflects the times when gathering as a group is not an option. Recorded ensemble tracks from before COVID-19 emerged were combined with recordings done in isolation from faraway outposts including Los Angeles, Baton Rouge, and Italy, allowing for some dynamic new musical options to be explored. From the blazing "G.P." and "Diva," to the heartfelt "Song for Laura," or the funk of "Blues for Brecker," Yasinitsky's YAZZ Band offers a wide ranging set of hard-swinging and joyful original music.
(Mike & Randy Brecker) comprised a blistering front line. Galper was in aggressive form, playing with an energy reminiscent of McCoy Tyner, a spirit of embellishment reminiscent of Art Tatum and a harmonic knowledge reminiscent of Bill Evans. Dockery and Moses formed a heart-pounding tandem. - JAZZTIMES. Captured during a pivotal, trailblazing period of his five decade career, pianist Hal Galper had come off the road with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet looking to establish his new working band. Pulling in Michael & Randy Brecker, whom he had recorded & worked with in the early '70s, along with bassist Wayne Dockery and drummer Bob Moses, Galper set up Sunday matinees at NY's Sweet Basil Jazz Club for a year to woodshed the group concept and new compositions. In the studio, 1977's 'Reach Out!' displayed an astonishingly original collective, with all matching Galper's chance-taking, high-spirited, free-wheeling approach to music making. 1979's "Speak With a Single Voice" captured the energy of the quintet live, but on this 1977 Berlin Jazz Festival performance, the band shifts into an other-worldly overdrive. From the opening salvos of Galper's "Now Hear This," the mission is defined - jazz giants, in the prime of their youth, set free to blow, pushed to the limits by Galper's facility, full-bodied sound, and fertile imagination.
There are incantations and supplications to be found here. Also: elegies and headlines, howls and mantras, reveries and outbursts. They instruct and affirm. They urge you to dance while offering road maps to reflection. They rouse you from deep slumber and offer solace for your worst nightmares. - GENE SEYMOUR. "The Poets Are Gathering" is the third in a series of acclaimed recordings from saxophonist/composer Benjamin Boone that integrate the music & poems from some of America's leading jazz musicians and Poet Laureates, Guggenheim fellows and Pulitzer Prize winners. Where "The Poetry of Jazz" volumes offered the voice of the late U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine, here, notable contributors include Tyehimba Jess, Juan Felipe Herrera, Patricia Smith, T.R. Hummer, and Edward Hirsch, along with pianist Kenny Werner, guitarist Ben Monder and drummer Ari Hoenig, among many others. This recording possesses a visceral, in-the-moment force as the poetry responds to the roiling, insurgent energies against racism and other societal ills. The themes of immigration, racism, homelessness, poverty, abuse, protests, and war can overwhelm and distress, but through the voices of some of the world's great literary minds there are clues to be found to absorb the blows, summon the spirits, engage the moment and as Tyehimba Jess suggests, "murder the silence" that threatens to immobile us, to keep us away from the reasons to commit, to deal, to hope – and, above all, to imagine. "Boone knows where the thing called poetry lives, an ocelot among the waters, a sky-shaped Rain God that flares down upon us. He does this with a myriad of instruments, with human breath chiseling and burning through brass and string, reeds and skin and hands and resin." U.S. POET LAUREATE JUAN FELIPE HERRERA.
... quietly stunning interplay... each musician establishes his identity firmly through melodic, conversational playing that is the epitome of modern, eclectic jazz. All Music Guide. In 2000, master guitarist John Stowell met with the 8 year-old Seattle trio of drummer John Bishop, bassist Jeff Johnson & saxophonist Rick Mandyck to record the 2001 release "Scenes." Soon after, Mandyck retired his tenor for health reasons and the remaining trio carried on, recording five more albums and performing widely over these 20 years. Mandyck's participation on this session marks the first time he has entered the studio on tenor since that 2000 recording, creating a moving moment for the others as he brings along not only his singular musical voice, but five compositions to inspire the core trio, opening up new pathways of conversation. Whether traversing the tumbling landscape of Mandyck's "The Reckoning," or sliding into Claudine Francois' beautifully hypnotic title track, the eclectic quartet glides toward a known destination while discovering the course in the moment. There is history to guide their impulse, intuition to find their way. "Considerably absorbing... Dynamically astute and rhythmically sensitive, this is very satisfying music... " - Cadence Magazine.
Above all... Joachim's phrases... have this melodious charm, which is available to only the greatest of pianists. - Paw Baranowski, Diapazon (Poland). Celebrated Polish pianist, composer, lyricist, and a foremost proponent of modern jazz on the hurdy-gurdy (vielle a roue), Joachim Mencel has a wide-ranging career composing for film, orchestras and ballet, touring with his jazz projects, or appearances with giants such as Lee Konitz, Dino Saluzzi, Richard Galliano, Dave Liebman, Eddie Henderson, Charlie Mariano, and many others. Though he's experienced performing in America before, including being a part of the Monk Piano Competition in 1989, "Brooklyn Eye" is the realization of a dream forged in his youth behind the iron curtain. Recording compositions that were informed by the culture, musicians, harmonies and feelings of America, and then to record in New York City with several vital improvisors whose music has inspired him for years - guitarist Steve Cardenas, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Rudy Royston - Mencel terms Brooklyn Eye, "a symbolic, idyllic place where dreams come true. " Recorded the day after Notre Dame Cathedral burned in Paris, a palpable melancholy presided over the session, adding further dimension to this pivotal experience in Mencel's musical life.
... a roller coaster ride of wildly percolating beats, choppy rhythmic thrusts and plenty of popping percussion. In reinventing Afro-Cuban, funk and post-bop, he's kept everything charged up like a crazed rhino on steroids. Keep out of the way and you'll be fine. CLASSICALITE. Grammy-winning New York drummer Robby Ameen has had an established recording and touring career stretching from Dizzy Gillespie to Paul Simon over the last four decades, highlighted by a 20-year run with the band of Latin icon Ruben Blades. Although he's of Lebanese origin, Ameen is best known for the unique and powerful Afro-Cuban jazz style he developed and displayed on hundreds of recordings, including many with Dave Valentin, Eddie Palmieri, Kip Hanrahan, and Conrad Herwig's Latin Side All-Stars.Diluvio marks Ameen's 3rd release as a composer, arranger & band leader, teaming with Troy Roberts, Bob Franceschini, Conrad Herwig, Edsel Gomez, Lincoln Goines, Bill O’Connell & Mauricio Herrera, most with whom he goes back several decades. Musically, it's his vision of the sounds he's dedicated a lifetime to exploring: Afro-Cuban music with deep strains of contemporary hard bop and funk, thoroughly infused with an indomitable spirit.
