Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » David Chevan and Warren Byrd: Let Us Break Bread Together

100

David Chevan and Warren Byrd: Let Us Break Bread Together

By

View read count
David Chevan and Warren Byrd: Let Us Break Bread Together
The title of this disc—along with its subtitle, "Further explorations of the Afro-Semitic experience"—may suggest difficult listening. (Ceremonial, restrictive, and heavy are a few words that may come to mind.) But rest assured, that's not at all the case. Let Us Break Bread Together is more a joyous celebration of diversity than it is any kind of solemn piece of gravity.

Pianist Warren Byrd and bassist David Chevan work together on these duo improvisations, melding a variety of approaches into a coherent whole. Much of the music borrows heavily from a blues-rich gospel sound, while other portions represent more traditional jazz. The spirituals feature rolling piano trills and a relaxed, sauntering feel. The Jewish tune "Oseh Shalom," with its unspoken prayer book lyrics and synagogue origins, receives straight-ahead jazz treatment. And the duo perform the traditional "Eliyahu HaNavi" with a up-tempo swinging feel, featuring solos by both players. On other selections they broaden their sound with the used of extended techniques. Let Us Break Bread Together successfully accomplishes its goal of combining African-American and Jewish experiences, offering a mixture of music which can be appreciated from any cultural perspective. And there's no reason not to tap your toes while the music dances forward.

Track Listing

Let Us Break Bread Together; Oseh Shalom (take 2); If I Can Help Somebody; Eliyahu HaNavi; Little David, Play on Your Harp; Etz Chaim Hi (Tanchum Portnoy); How Much More (of Life's Burdens Must We Bear); Etz Chaim Hi (traditional); Soon I Will Be Done; Hineh Mah Tov; Oseh Shalom (take 1).

Personnel

David Chevan
bass, acoustic

David Chevan, bass; Warren Byrd, piano.

Album information

Title: Let Us Break Bread Together | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Reckless DC Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.