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Zvonimir Tot's Jazz Stringtet: Sarabande Blue
by Howard Mandel
"On this record I'm trying to fuse two things I know something about: classical composition and jazz," says Zvonimir Tot, the Serbian-born, jny: Chicago-based guitarist, composer, arranger, improviser and educator regarding Sarabande Blue, his sixth album as a leader. The debut of Tot's Stringtet, an ensemble several years in development, is a gift from a musical artist who has integrated his experiences and accomplishments in a most gratifying way--providing us passage to the state of mind where genre definitions fade ...
read moreZvonimir Tot's Jazz Stringtet: Sarabande Blue
by Dan McClenaghan
Guitarist Zvonimir Tot says there are two things he knows something about, classical composition and jazz. He combines those two bodies of knowledge in his presentation of Sarabande Blue. The Serbian-born and now Chicago-based guitarist collaborated with a “string quintet" for the outing, adding the bass of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Robert Kassenger to a string quartet, in addition to his own guitar. Much of the music is through-composed; some is improvised--Tot is a jazz guy. All of ...
read moreZvonimir Tot Trio: Blue Quest
by Dan McClenaghan
Serbian-born, Chicago-based guitarist Zvonimir Tot opens up his second CD as a leader, Blue Quest, with the old American church hymn, “Just a Closer Walk With Thee." There's reverence in the sound, but it's not a tranquil or meditative approach. Tot and his trio--which includes bassist Larry Gray and drummer Charles Heath--soup the tune up considerably. It sounds as if that dude with whom they are walking is a pretty hip guy, and is not in anyway averse to getting ...
read moreZvonimir Tot: Travels and Dreams
by Rich Friedman
What makes jazz so vibrant is its sponge-like ability to incorporate different styles and cultural perspectives. On Travels and Dreams guitarist and composer Zvonimir Tot, who now calls Chicago home, skillfully mines his Eastern European roots and virtuoso technique to produce an especially appealing mix of ballads, bop, funk, bossa nova and bluesy originals. A team of trumpeter Art Davis, bassist Nick Tountas, and Rusty Jones, on drums, the quartet delivers tunes that are skillfully composed, packed solid with rich ...
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