Jazz Articles about Edward Simon

Edward Simon Trio: Poesia

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 11, 2009

Pianista quarantenne di origini venezuelane, Edward Simon (clicca qui per leggere una sua intervista) divide la sua attività tra il jazz più avanzato (ha lavorato a lungo con Bobby Watson e Greg Osby, ha all'attivo tre CD in duo con David Binney, tra i quali Oceanos) e il latin (clicca qui per la recensione del CD di Luciana Souza The New Bossa Nova). In questo CD per la CAM Jazz compare alla testa di un classico trio, con due fior ...

Edward Simon: Poesia

by John Kelman
June 30, 2009

With a winning combination, it's rarely a good idea to mess with it. Pianist Edward Simon has recorded with a number of great trios, including the one at the core of Simplicitas (Criss Cross, 2005). His music took a giant leap forward, however--in terms of composition, arrangement and performance--with Unicity (Cam Jazz, 2006), featuring bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade. The greater freedom, latitude and time that Cam allows its artists is surely another factor, as opposed to Criss ...

Edward Simon: La Música Bilingüe (Bilingual Music)

by Jason Crane
June 4, 2007

Pianist Edward Simon was born in Punta Cardón, Venezuela. His entire family was composed of musicians, and as a young man, Simon's evident talent led his father to send him to study in the U.S., where he won scholarships in classical piano at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and in jazz at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Harold Danko. While a student in his teens, Simon performed with Philly guitarist Kevin Eubanks and saxophonist ...

Edward Simon: Unicity

by Ken Dryden
March 25, 2007

Pianist Edward Simon's seventh CD as a leader is his best effort to date. On display are his gifts as an improviser, composer and arranger with two sympathetic partners--bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade. The entire CD has the feeling of a suite, rather than separate unrelated tracks that just happened to be recorded during the same session, even though the leader did not compose everything himself. The Venezuela-born pianist's light touch works in his favor as he restrains ...

Edward Simon: Unicity

by AAJ Italy Staff
January 18, 2007

Padronanza assoluta dello strumento e capacità illimitata di variare tipologia e modalità nel processo compositivo. Sono le caratteristiche principali della cifra artistica del pianista venezuelano Edward Simon, qui al suo primo disco per la Cam Jazz. Rispetto alle sue precedenti incisioni da leader, egli si dimostra artista ancora più completo e maturo sul piano dell’organizzazione musicale. In Unicity, due sono le sostanziali novità a marcarne la distanza rispetto ai dischi degli anni ’90: una maggiore aderenza alla sfera armonica jazzistica, ...

Edward Simon: Unicity

by John Kelman
December 23, 2006

Artistic evolution is an interesting phenomenon. Emerging musicians, filled with the brashness of youth, are often more focused on chops, energy and complexity. But as many mature they evolve into players more concerned with space and profound simplicity. Edward Simon is a strong case in point: the pianist's earlier albums are filled with detailed compositions and an almost pathological approach to blending his South American roots with the sophisticated language of modern jazz.

Recently he's been paring down his approach, ...

Edward Simon: Unicity

by Robert R. Calder
October 15, 2006

Edward Simon, John Patitucci and Brian Blade did a few magical things on a 2003 album under Patitucci's name (Songs, Stories and Spirituals, Concord). At the time these three musicians decided that they ought to get together and do, well, what they do well here. After a minute's “Invocation," they're jamming heartily on Patitucci's “The Messenger," as if they'd met up overjoyed at three in the morning and were so accomplished they could do everything unbridled without disturbing a neighbour. ...