Jazz Articles

Rez Abbasi: Snake Charmer

by Ollie Bivens
May 14, 2006

Los Angeles-raised and New York-resident guitarist Rez Abbasi states that “with my music I want to hold onto the the traditional aspects of each form (Indian music and jazz) and unite the best elements of both." The guitarist demonstrates prodigious chops throughout his fourth album, Snake Charmer, an eight-song, sixty-minute journey into jazz-rock fusion, grounded in Indian rhythms and ragas.

Typical throughout, as on the title track, the fleet-fingered Abbasi dances around the propulsive rock-like grooves of drummer Danny Weiss, ...

Rez Abbasi: Snake Charmer

by Jerry D'Souza
August 26, 2005

Indian music has been integrated into jazz in many ways. It has been subject to the harmony of jazz and has also taken the leading role, with jazz harmony in support. There are been many essayists of this fusion, and Rez Abbasi is one of them. But there is something that sets Abbasi apart: his exquisite use of the raga and jazz.

Abbasi's compositions flow gently. As they do, they envelop rich textures, the final product striking in ...

Rez Abbasi: Snake Charmer

by Woodrow Wilkins
August 17, 2005

A native of India who migrated to Los Angeles and later New York, Rez Abbasi marries elements from both sides of the world on Snake Charmer, the guitarist's fourth album as a bandleader. He's accompanied by a small ensemble: Gary Versace on organ, Danny Weiss on drums and tabla, Dave Liebman on soprano saxophone, and Kiran Ahluwalia on Indian vocals and tanpura. They deliver an altogether different sound to the jazz scene. The title song begins this nearly ...

Rez Abbasi: Snake Charmer

by Sean Patrick Fitzell
February 27, 2005

With Snake Charmer, his fourth CD as a leader, guitarist Rez Abbasi overtly draws on his Indian subcontinent heritage. Beneath this conspicuous exterior is a rhythmically charged guitar-organ-drum trio. This was palpable within minutes at the group's CD release party at Joe's Pub, when Abbasi, along with organist Gary Versace, and drummer Danny Weiss, locked into the quick, sinewy movement of the title track. Their tight interplay is the foundation for the music and provides solid support for their guests. ...

Rez Abbasi: Snake Charmer

by John Kelman
February 6, 2005

There's nothing especially new about fusing jazz with the already rich improvising tradition of Indian music. Guitarist John McLaughlin has pursued it with his Shakti and Remember Shakti projects, while percussionist Trilok Gurtu, most notably on his earlier records, has blended the traditions in a more overtly electric fashion. Even British alto saxophonist Martin Speake has examined the meeting point on his latest disc, The Journey . But in most cases the emphasis seems to be on rhythmic and scalar ...

Rez Abbasi: Snake Charmer

by Jochem van Dijk
January 14, 2005

It probably happened to a lot of us. Aspiring to become the next Vincent van Gogh, we once picked up a paintbrush and enthusiastically started mixing colors, only to find out that we ended up with the same drab brown no matter how vibrant the original hues. In music, too, throwing together styles and cultures just as often results in the equivalent of muddy brown: a vague fusion-ish mishmash that lacks any depth, direction or character. So ...

Rez Abbasi: Snake Charmer

by Jim Santella
January 9, 2005

In a fusion of contemporary jazz and world music, guitarist Rez Abbasi sets out to bring distant nations together on Snake Charmer. His fiery electric guitars deliver a contemporary punch.

With organ and drums, he drives a portion of the session in high gear. His music explodes as the trio explores contemporary jazz from a Western perspective.

Dave Liebman and Kiran Ahluwalia join Abbasi on “Pearl" for a different approach altogether as they explore the music ...