Jazz Articles

Avram Fefer and Bobby Few: Kindred Spirits

by Chad Kushins
June 9, 2005

Sometimes lightning strikes twice. As proof, legendary expatriate Bobby Few has teamed with fellow sound explorer Avram Fefer for two fresh releases of very different character, and with near-perfect results.

On the aptly-titled Kindred Spirits, Few and Fefer offer a slower, more blues-laden repertoire than the more free jazz-oriented Heavenly Places. But don't let this accessibility fool you; both players retain the same lucid command over their respective instruments that was present in their previous endeavors together.

On piano, Few ...

Avram Fefer and Bobby Few: Heavenly Places

by Dan McClenaghan
June 1, 2005

Saxophonist Avram Fefer and pianist Bobby Few seem something of a sonic odd couple. Few's majestically bluesy, classically-influenced, erudite-yet-free approach is full of flowing beauty, infused with a marrow-deep spirituality. Avram Fefer--especially on tenor--sounds at times like a ragged wound; not a punture or clean slice, but a deep raw scrape producing a big roaring sound full of rough edges. Beauty and the Beast, you might say; not that Fefer doesn't slip into moments tenderness and delicacy himself, when the ...