“I’ve always loved the way Dave plays guitar. He’s a soulful, blues-oriented player, with a beautiful touch and tone. His originals were fun to play, with plenty of harmonic sophistication, but lyrical, too. He’s the real deal.”
– John Patitucci
“It’s my dream project,” Dave Stryker repeats several times in a conversation about his 34th release as a leader, As We Are, on which the guitar master addresses one of the few configurations he hasn’t tackled during 40-plus years in the jazz trenches.
Stryker, not predisposed to hyperbole, isn’t exaggerating. How else to describe an opportunity to record a suite of new originals with a band propelled by all-world bass-drum partners John Patitucci and Brian Blade, fleshed out by harmonically erudite pianist Julian Shore’s bespoke string quartet arrangements that include room for a couple of soaring violin solos by the luminous Sara Caswell? Stimulated by the chance to make music together after long isolation, all members interact with crackling, pent-up energy.
“I always wanted to do something where strings would really be integrated into the music, not a coloring or sweetening that comes in later,” Stryker says. Shore rises to the occasion, imparting a lush, fulsome sound to the two violins, viola and cello, creating sections that offer texture and contrast.
In keeping with the dream project Stryker reached out to two of the greatest musicians alive today - Patitucci and Blade who happily signed on. Six new Stryker originals, one Shore original and Nick Drake’s River Man are arranged with string quartet by Shore to create one of the most truly beautiful and exciting recordings in recent times.
1 Overture - Dave Stryker / Julian Shore - BMI) 1:10
2 Lanes - Dave Stryker (D. Strike Music - BMI) 6:14
3 River Man - Nick Drake (BMG Rights Management - ASCAP) 9:01
4 Hope - Dave Stryker (D. Strike Music - BMI) 6:24
5 Saudade - Dave Stryker (D. Strike Music - BMI) 5:52
6 One Thing At A Time - Julian Shore (Julian Shore Music - BMI) 7:17
7 As We Were - Dave Stryker (D. Strike Music - BMI) 5:46
8 Dreams Are Real - Dave Stryker (D. Strike Music - BMI) 7:18
9 Soul Friend - Dave Stryker (D. Strike Music - BMI) 6:52
Dave Stryker - guitar
Julian Shore - piano
John Patitucci - bass
Brian Blade - drums
String Quartet:
Sara Caswell - violin 1 (solo, tracks 3 and 9)
Monica K.Davis - violin 2
Benni von Gutzeit - viola
Marika Hughes - cello
Music Arranged by Julian Shore
Produced by Dave Stryker
Executive Producer - Rick Simpson
Engineered and mixed by Chris Sulit at Trading 8s Studio, Paramus NJ June 2, 10,11, 2021
Mastered by Michael Perez-Cisneros
Photos and Graphic Design by Chris Drukker
Cover photo by Charles F. Scott IV
Liner Notes - Ted Panken
