Dave Liebman - John Coltrane’s Meditations (January 2022 Arkadia Records)

“…the music is simply terrific. Water is Liebman’s first recording with Metheny, and it’s a solid combination… if he just keeps making records as engaging as this one, that’ll be libation enough: a tall glass of water.”

– Downbeat Magazine

20-time Grammy Award winner Pat Metheny plays alongside saxophone virtuoso David Liebman as he leads this remarkable quartet, that includes Jazz architects Cecil McBee and Billy Hart, as they examine the expansive and elusive nature of the primordial element, Water. From impressionistic ballads to tsunamis of sound, David Liebman’s Arkadia Records album, The Elements: Water is probably the most ambitious project of Liebman’s career.

“Here’s a Jazz concept album that actually works quite well… The combination of Liebman and Metheny is particularly strong, ranging from soft, ethnic-sounding passages to roaring avant-garde explosiveness – a potent reminder that there is far more to Jazz in the ‘90s than the more frequently heard, retro examinations of the past.”

– Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times

“They produce a greater variety of timbres and textures than most quartets due to Liebman doubling on tenor and soprano sax and wood flute and Metheny employing several guitars: acoustic, electric, guitar synth, and Pikasso guitar. Each group member plays impressively. Liebman has a bright, attractive soprano sound and displays considerable rhythmic grace when playing the instrument. On tenor he’s powerful; his solid full lower register work deserves special attention. And what a nice, big flute sound he produces.”

– Harvey Pekar, JazzTimes Magazine

Teaming up with guitar prodigy Pat Metheny, reedist David Liebman, who plays tenor saxophone, soprano sax, and wood flute, explores through music the various aspects and facets of water, giver of life and refresher of souls. The combination of Liebman and Metheny on this album is stunning. While the Arkadia Records album, Dave Liebman: The Elements: Water, leans towards Jazz’s less traditional sensibilities, it also contains an earthy quality that connects it to the sounds of nature, and in doing so creates an organic yet contemporary album that’s both accessible and inventive. 

1. Introduction 00:52

2. The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost 13:44

3. Compassion 10:55

4. Love 12:24

5. Consequences 07:35

6. Serenity 09:24

Composed by John Coltrane

Transcriptions by Caris Visentin

David Liebman: Tenor sax

Vic Juris: Guitar

Jamey Haddad: Drums and percussion

Phil Markowitz: Piano and synth

Tony Marino: Bass

With Special Guests:

Billy Hart: Drums

Cecil McBee: Bass

Tiger Okoshi: Trumpet

Caris Visentin: Oboe

PRE-ORDER

David Liebman Group - New Vista (December 2021 Arkadia Records)

“Critics’ Picks – Top 5 Recording of the year.” – JazzTimes, Chuck Berg and Bret Primack

Arkadia Records recording artist, jazz soprano sax virtuoso Dave Liebman, together with his group and the great Brazilian percussionist Café, breaks new ground in this inspired album, entitled “David Liebman: New Vista”. Mixing Brazilian rhythms with penetrating ballads such as “Estaté”, “Beauty and the Beast”, and “Zingaro (Portrait in Black and White)”, this recording is, in the innovative Liebman’s words, his “most upbeat release to date.”

“His effervescent “New Vista”… reflecting the music of Brazil, Liebman sounds unusually comfortable and relaxed, as his fluid, cleanly articulated soprano lines dart, weave and flutter through the shifting grooves… Liebman displays a marvelous lyrical facility, bringing a beautiful, somewhat breathy tone to the seductive rhythms and intoxicating melodies. He adds tremendous warmth and feeling to these tunes… It’s hard to recall a Liebman project as buoyant and immediately appealing as New Vista.” – Downbeat, Jon Andrews

David Liebman’s New Vista is an extraordinary adventure. That, though, is what we have come to expect from Liebman, one of contemporary music’s true innovators. Although having just passed the half century mark, Lieb is playing with an intensity pulsing with youthful energies.

“At the same time, his playing possesses a Solomon-like wisdom. On one level, there’s a brilliant reconfiguring of the past, of Dave’s own considerable legacy, as well as those of Miles (Davis) and Trane (John Coltrane). And yet the music springs from the immediacy of the moment. So while imbued with the spirits of the giants, Dave’s impassioned quests once again push past the present and into the future.

In the aptly titled “New Vista”, arguably Dave’s most assessable project to date, the inspiration comes in large part from Brazil. This, though, is not the Bossa Nova of your father – or mother. Indeed, it’s an electro-Amazonian voyage into an exotic and rhythmically charged neo-musical hyperspace, a magical realm in which myth and dream dance with joyous abandon.

I have no doubt that New Vista will stand as a landmark in Liebman’s already distinguished career. Its appeals are many. Its impact is immediate. Indeed, it’s serious and joyous fun at the summit by one of our great contemporary artists, saxophone extrodinaire, Dave Liebman.” – Dr. Chuck Berg

“Liebman has evolved a persuasively personal voice and a spare approach that not only focuses on the choice notes but the choice timbre to set them off.” – Gary Giddins, The Village Voice

Most well known as a key member of the seminal Miles Davis Quintet in the 1970s, Dave Liebman, along with notable musicians Phil Markowitz, Tony Marino, Jamey Haddad, Vic Juris, and Brazilian percussion master Café, creates this thrilling CD, “David Liebman: New Vista” that fuses Jazz with Brazilian influences; culminating in an exhilarating recording of Dave Liebman’s individual musical vision. 

1. New Vista 06:47

2. Estaté 05:18

3. Real Dreams 07:06

4. So Far, So Close 05:23

5. Christmas Socks 06:03

6. Beauty and the Beast 05:29

7. Jungle Glide 07:00

8. Zingaro (Portrait in Black and White) 05:52

9. The Gross Man 05:58

David Liebman: Soprano sax and tenor sax

Vic Juris: Guitar

Phil Markowitz: Piano and synth

Tony Marino: Bass

Jamey Haddad: Drums and percussion

Café: Percussion

Produced by: Bob Karcy

PRE ORDER

Nick Biello - Vagabond Soul (TRUTH REVOLUTION RECORDS 2018)

Biello’s debut release “Vagabond Soul” deftly combines a modernistic sense of harmony with lyrical, heartfelt melodies. Fueled by a diverse combination of post-bop, electronica, and folk sentimentalities, “Vagabond Soul” weaves deeply personal stories for a set of daring, bold, and unique performances. Featuring luminaries Phil Markowitz (piano), John Benitez (bass) and Clarence Penn (drums) as well as special guests Vincent Lionti (viola), Paul Jones (tenor) and Andrew Renfroe (guitar).

1. V-Ology 06:45

2. Grandparents 07:22

3. Antonio 01:15

4. Vagabond Soul 08:46

5. Piccolo 07:53

6. You Stepped Out of a Dream 06:41

7. Dark Energy 08:05

8. Spiraling 06:38

9. Sojourn 01:17

Markowitz / Andersson / Mogensen - In Transit (2016)

Source: jazznyt

Den blinde danske bassist Richard Andersson er blevet placeret mellem sine to læremestre, den amerikanske pianist Phil Markowitz, som lukkede Andersson ind på Manhattan School of Music i 2008 og den pæredanske trommeslager Anders Mogensen der lukkede Andersson ind på konservatoriet i Odense i 2003. Det er der kommet et medrivende trioalbum In Transit ud af. Pladen blev indspillet i december 2013 og har ligget og boblet siden da. Når man åbner musikken får man triojazz af den melodiske og ukomplicerede slags. Triojazz hvor der er plads til at alle tre får lov til at sige noget. Trioen har gennem de sidste 5 år turneret flere gange og kender tydeligvis hinanden godt. 

Kompositionerne folder sig ud for musikerne, hvor de finder sammen og skaber øjeblikkets kunst. Richard Andersson har flere gode solopræstationer undervejs. Han efterlader et solidt og behageligt indtryk. Anders Mogensens trommespil befínder sig i en veltempereret og tilbagetrukket rolle, hvor hans bækkenspil skal fremhæves. Den 63 årige Phil Markowitz der både har spillet med Chet Baker og Dave Liebman serverer en masse lækkerier. Mit gamle triojazz hjerte er fornøjet og tilfredsstillet.

1. Paris

2. Off By One

3. Relieved

4. Dreamland part II

5. Lieb

6. Annemone

7. Black Dots

8. Wishes

9. Our Groove

10. Indian Summer

Phil Markowitz, piano

Richard Andersson, double bass

Anders Mogensen, drums

BUY THIS ALBUM