Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Lemon Juice Quartet: Peasant Songs

154

Lemon Juice Quartet: Peasant Songs

By

View read count
Lemon Juice Quartet: Peasant Songs
The Lemon Juice Quartet has serious eclecticism. The term which is not found in most dictionaries is used to describe music that uniquely and successfully displays profound elements of eclecticism and electricity. Peasant Songs continues to show that the borders of jazz are global and that it’s roots will continue to thrive in the hands of musicians with vision.

LJQ is a New York-based jazz quartet founded in 1993 with member roots in Israel. Original members Eyal Maoz on guitar and Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on bass, have seen a few band member changes, but now have a musical core with the addition of Avishai Cohen on trumpet and drummer Kevin Zubek, whom they met at the Berkley College of Music.

The group creates music with a unique fusion of jazz and traditional homeland music, that is both dynamic in its creativity and sound. Hot in the downtown New York jazz scene, they are regulars at the popular Knitting Factory and other area music venues. The quartet has performed at numerous "Radical Jewish Culture" events, including Jewsapalooza, and also at the “ Red Sea International Jazz Festival” in Israel. With a open mentality to musical diversity, they have a global view and contemporary ear for many facets of today’s music. Their new release, Peasant Songs embodies the very essence of their diverseness.

Peasant Songs features music by French composer Erik Satie and Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. The music is reconstructed into a melting pot of other influences such as free jazz, avant-garde, experimental, funk, Jewish folk music, and many other ingredients. The culmination of these many flavors creates a most interesting musical gumbo. With quirky arrangements and odd tempos and rhythms, the music is never sedate. The lead instruments of trumpeter Avishai Cohen and guitarist Eyal Maoz provide fluid and fiery solos, but it’s the precision rhythm machinations of bassist Shanir Blumenkranz and drummer Kevin Zubek that hold it all together. A few of the many highlights include the ultra-hip “Sports and Leisure” which should be a candidate for one of the ‘Funkiest Cuts of the Year” and the solemn composition “On a Lantern”, with its outstanding trumpet work by Cohen and some really weird and wonderful guitar sounds by Maoz. Highly recommended.

Track Listing

Bear Dance (10 Easy Pieces No. 10); Trumpets of the Rosicrucian Order; Hungarian Peasant Songs No. 1, 2 & 8; Hungarian Peasant Song No. 12; Hungarian Peasant Song No. 3; Sports and Leisure; Trumpets of the Rosicrucian Order (Part II); On a Lantern; Gnossienne No. 1 (Dance of Hidden Knowledge); Dried Embryos; Hungarian Peasant Song No. 6.

Personnel

Eyal Maoz: guitar; Shanir Blumenkranz: bass; Avishai Cohen: trumpet; Kevin Zubek: drums.

Album information

Title: Peasant Songs | Year Released: 2002 | Record Label: Piadrum Records

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.