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Expansions: The Dave Liebman Group: Samsara
ByLiebman's latest venture, not surprisingly, focuses on the new. After two-plus decades with the Vic Juris-based version of The Dave Liebman Group, the saxophonist has found another band worthy of that designation. It's a quintet that's not tethered to any specific dynamic, containing musicians practiced in the art of collective improvisation and in-the-moment architectural design. That's not to say this is free jazz or music without borders. Structure is here, but so are harmonic wormholes, metric pitfalls, and canvases awaiting more musical paint. The music can be dastardly and devious ("Level One"), mystical ("Child Refugee"), mellow, or intense.
While Liebman is obviously the man behind the music here, working confidently with horn in hand, the shape of the music is molded not by his soprano saxophone and wooden flute, but by the piano and electric piano of Bobby Avey. He stands tall as a composer with the not-so-simple "Simply," sets the scene on "Embers," creates drama and tension on the winning "Level One," and paints with an extraordinary palette of colors elsewhere. The rest of the bandmulti-reedist Matt Vashlishan, bassist Tony Marino, and drummer Alex Ritzseems to be on the same page as Liebman and Avey. They know when to pull back and when to push the envelope. Together, these five men make music that can be alternately prickly or peaceful.
Hints of Ornette Coleman come to the surface in a few places, and direct references to Thelonious Monk (The "Evidence"-based "Endive") and Miles Davis ("Sivad") are here, but this is no look toward the past. Expansions exists in the present, pushing boundaries, toying with expectations, and letting the spirit of the moment determine its course.
Track Listing
Simply; Ugly Beauty; Endive; Liberian Hummingbird; Rhythm Thing; Searcher 2; Level One; Embers; Sivad; Child Refugee; Samsara.
Personnel
Dave Liebman
saxophone, sopranoDave Liebman: soprano saxophone, wooden flute; Bobby Avey: piano, electric piano; Matt Vashlishan: alto saxophone, clarinet, flute; Tony Marino: electric bass, acoustic bass; Alex Ritz: drums, frame drum.
Album information
Title: Samsara | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Whaling City Sound
Comments
About Dave Liebman
Instrument: Saxophone, soprano
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