Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Ehud Asherie: Organic

176

Ehud Asherie: Organic

By

View read count
Ehud Asherie: Organic
Contrary to what some might believe, the designation of a musician as an organist or pianist does not have to be mutually exclusive. While some players choose to focus all of their time and energy on one of these instruments, many others prefer to branch out and try their hand at both. Fats Waller wasn't afraid to work in both worlds, and a whole list of modern-day players, including Gary Versace, Larry Goldings and Sam Yahel, are adept on both instruments.

Ehud Asherie can now be added to that list. His string of piano-led discs on the Posi-Tone Records label have already positioned him as a rising jazz star on that instrument, but Organic is all about the organ, and he pushes the piano aside for this one.

The program is evenly split between Asherie originals and covers, ranging from Leonard Bernstein's "Tonight" to Antonio Carlos Jobim's lesser-known "Favela," and guitarist Peter Bernstein is superb across the entire album. His clean-toned, single note lines are always a treat and his soloing on the charming ballad "Coquette" is an album highlight.

Asherie's organ playing is unpretentious and pleasing, never running into modern-day abstractions or resorting to clichés. The momentary stops on the second syllable of "Tonight" add a hint of mischief to an otherwise fairly straightforward performance, and the aforementioned "Coquette" adds a touch of grace to the album. "The Stopper"—a sorely neglected Sonny Rollins tune—features lots of stop-time punctuations and unison hits beneath Dmitry Baevsky's alto saxophone proclamations. Baevsky's searing solo work energizes the rest of the band and drummer Phil Stewart delivers an explosive solo. Jobim's "Favela" is taken a bit faster than usual, with a samba-like groove on the bottom, and Asherie kicks things off with a Morse code-like lick. Stewart's solo, with some festive tom-dominated playing over his steady samba footwork, is the highlight here.

Asherie's originals include a mellow jazz waltz ("Valse Pra Jelena") with Bernstein showing some Grant Green-like tendencies delivered in a more modern fashion and a tribute to Fats Waller ("Blues for Fats") that clearly owes a debt to the man himself. Asherie isn't likely to give up the piano on a permanent basis, but the aptly titled Organic's presents an alternate view of the keyboardist's work, and is a welcome addition to his already impressive catalog.

Track Listing

Tonight; Valse Pra Jelena; The Stopper; Coquette; It's Possible; Favela; Apostrophe; Blues For Fats.

Personnel

Ehud Asherie: organ; Peter Bernstein: guitar; Dmitry Baevsky: alto saxophone; Phil Stewart: drums.

Album information

Title: Organic | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Posi-Tone Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Ehud Asherie Concerts


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.