Jazz Articles about Xavier Reija

About Xavier Reija

Album Review

Xavier Reija: The Sound Of The Earth

Read "The Sound Of The Earth" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
November 18, 2018

Spain-based artists, guitarist Dusan Jevtovic and drummer Xavi Reija, reunite for a supergroup-like endeavor, including world-renowned bassist, stick artiste Tony Levin (Stick Men, King Crimson) and touch guitarist Markus Reuter, who performs/records with Levin in Stick Men amid numerous projects with others. Recorded in upstate New York, the musicians' noise-shaping, sound-designs and bone-rattling progressive rock improvisations often spearhead matters into parts unknown. Jevtovic's winding single note leads, gargantuan crunch chords and searing extended notes interweave with surreal electronics ...

Album Review

Xavi Reija: The Sound Of The Earth

Read "The Sound Of The Earth" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
August 5, 2018

After the acoustic trio interlude of Reflections (Self Produced, 2017) Spanish drummer/composer/bandleader Xavi Reija returns to electric rock/jazz fusion territory, once again in the company of the extraordinary Barcelona-based, Serbian-born guitarist Dusan Jevtovic--his playing partner on several other MoonJune albums, most notably Resolution (MoonJune Records, 2016). The group is filled out by legendary American bassist/Chapman Stick player Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) and German touch guitarist Markus Reuter (a band mate of Levin's in Stick Men, as well as ...

Album Review

Xavi Reija: Reflections

Read "Reflections" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
March 25, 2017

Spanish drummer Xavi Reija's previous trio was a fusion outfit with guitarist Dusan Jevtovic and bass guitarist Bernat Hernandez, as heard on Resolution (MoonJune Records, 2016) and Live at RZZ Barcelona (MoonJune Records, 2016). He turns to a traditional acoustic piano trio here, with pianist Nitai Hershkovits and bassist Pau Lligadas. There's a different kind of energy in this band, but there is energy aplenty. That energy is especially audible in a track like “Capella (we still dance)," ...

Album Review

Xavi Reija: Reflections

Read "Reflections" reviewed by Matthew Aquiline

by Matthew Aquiline
March 11, 2017

Deviating from his reputation within the realm of boundary-pushing progressive rock/jazz fusion, Catalan drummer and composer Xavi Reija removed the presence of electrified instruments that dominated previous works for an acoustic album that explores the jazz piano trio format. Reflections, his eighth recording as a leader, synthesizes Reija's dynamic authority behind the kit with the lyrical proficiency of bassist Pau Lligadas and the great pianist Nitai Hershkovits (best known for his work with bassist Avishai Cohen). What results is a ...

Album Review

Xavi Reija: Resolution

Read "Resolution" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
June 27, 2014

Catalan drummer Xavi Reija's fifth recording and his first with MoonJune Records is a highly charged affair that draws from rock, jazz and the shifting ground between. Reija's hard-edged polyrhythms, bassist Bernat Hernandez' thundering bass lines and guitarist Dusan Jevtovic's raw, fuzz-toned electric guitar combine to stir up a storm that evokes memories of drummer Tony Williams' Lifetime and mid-seventies King Crimson. That, however, is only half the story, for a meditative, slow-burning quality reigns at times while ambient loops ...

Album Review

Xavier Reija: Resolution

Read "Resolution" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
April 3, 2014

Like the classic game Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots where the goal is to literally knock the other opponent's head off, Catalan drummer/composer Xavi Reija delivers plenty of head-banging good times in his power trio date Resolution. Yet this isn't your typical fusion-esque recording as it takes some unexpected detours from the progressive-rock idiom with its panache and methodology. A graduate from Berklee School of Music's class of 1999 and widespread activity in Barcelona's eclectic music scene, ...