Jazz Articles about Edward Simon

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. ...

Edward Simon: Unicity

by Mark F. Turner
September 8, 2006

Pianist Edward Simon has been quietly but profoundly making an impact for a number of years. He's been an astute sideman with high-caliber players like trumpeter Terence Blanchard, saxophonist Greg Osby and guitarist Adam Rogers, but it is his own works--The Process (Criss Cross, 2003) and Simplicitas (Criss Cross, 2005)--that truly reveal his performance and compositional prowess. Edwards explores the mystic of the piano trio again on Unicity, joined by two other outstanding musicians: bassist John Patitucci ...

Edward Simon: Simplicitas

by John Kelman
May 11, 2005

Some artists seem to burst onto the scene, even though the reality may be something else entirely. Ethan Iverson of the Bad Plus and Esbjorn Svensson of E.S.T. both worked below the radar for periods of time before they were, seemingly suddenly, “discovered." Such instant fame comes with a disadvantage, however. Being the flavour of the month also implies that, at some point, the public's tastes will move on.

Others gradually insinuate themselves into the public's consciousness, often through years ...

Edward Simon & David Binney: Fiestas de Agosto

by John Kelman
April 8, 2005

With the possible exception of solo performance, there is no more exposed format than the duet. But while solo playing allows for more complete freedom of interpretation, the duet demands, perhaps, a greater sense of responsibility, without the safety net afforded by larger groupings. In the duet format there is no room for error; risks are taken with the knowledge that there is little to hide behind, and the expectation that one's partner simply has to be there without fail ...