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ALBUM REVIEW November 20, 2018

Abbey Rader West Coast Quartet: Second Gathering

Read "Second Gathering" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

Drummer Abbey Rader is a consummate improviser and an innovative bandleader. His intrepid creativity evolves and transforms with each recording. The 2018 Second Gathering is no exception. On it Rader leads his West Coast Quartet on five spontaneously composed multilayered tracks that bear his indelible mark of cerebral spirituality. The ambience of “Uncovering the Jewel in the Lotus" is that of an eastern Zen serenity. Bassist Kyle Motl's reverberating strums and Rader's rustling percussion build an angular rhythmic ...

ALBUM REVIEW February 2, 2018

Abbey Rader and John McMinn: Phenobarbital Sessions

By Hrayr Attarian

Improvised soundtracks in motion pictures have a venerable tradition. Perhaps the best known among them remains trumpeter Miles Davis' Ascenceur Pour L'Echafaut (Fontana, 1958). Film director Jorge Rubiera, who had made a documentary on the intrepid drummer Abbey Rader, approached him for a score for his project “Phenobarbital." Rader together with longtime collaborator saxophonist John McMinn spontaneously created music for Rubiera. The resulting Phenobarbital Sessions is as unique and as dramatic as the artistic visions of all involved.The ...

ALBUM REVIEW January 25, 2018

Abbey Rader: Ritual

By Hrayr Attarian

The stimulating Ritual is an energetic and intricate improvised session that drummer Abbey Rader lead on the 27th January of 2016. Although this absorbing music is free flowing and created on the spot it has a definite, fluid structure to it. The primary reason for this is the shared musical vision among Rader and his side men, bassist Kyle Motl and tenor saxophonist Drew Ceccato, both long term collaborators. The melancholic and expectant title track, for instance, has ...

MULTIPLE REVIEWS October 27, 2017

Abbey Rader in the Spotlight: Ritual and Phenobarbital Sessions

By Kevin Press

There are no springs in Coral Springs, Florida. What the Broward County city does have is a remarkable ability to adapt. Two of its most popular landmarks, The Coral Springs Center for the Arts and The Museum of Coral Springs History, were originally designed as a gymnasium and real estate office respectively. Despite its surprising lack of groundwater, this planned community northwest of Fort Lauderdale is nothing if not creative. Perhaps that's got something to do with free ...

ALBUM REVIEW April 4, 2017

Abbey Rader's West Coast Quartet: First Gathering

By John Sharpe

Veteran drummer Abbey Rader's foray to California adds a further chapter to the welcome renaissance of reedman Peter Kuhn. Both men were part of the New York loft jazz scene in the 1970s, but while Kuhn eventually dropped from view in the early '80s, Rader persisted, first moving to Europe, but later returning to Florida where he recorded with saxophonist Dave Liebman, and then spent five years with violinist Billy Bang. Now into his seventies, Rader continues to helm freewheeling ...

ALBUM REVIEW March 31, 2017

Abbey Rader Quartet with Kidd Jordan: Reunion

By John Sharpe

Drummer Abbey Rader first encountered celebrated reedman Kidd Jordan when he was touring with Billy Bang and Frank Lowe back in 2000, as a member of the outfit featured on One For Jazz (No More Records, 2001). Jordan sat in, and the ensuing mix was successful enough for Rader to intend a follow up. That didn't happen until 2012, when Jordan connected with the drummer's regular band in the Miami date documented here. As with Rader's First Gathering (Abray Productions, ...

ALBUM REVIEW September 17, 2016

Abbey Rader Quartet with Kidd Jordan: Reunion

By Hrayr Attarian

Intrepid drummer Abbey Rader's second release in 2016, Reunion documents a stimulating live session at the, now sadly defunct, Performing Arts Exchange (PAX) in Miami. Iconoclastic jazzman and legendary saxophonist Kidd Jordan joins Rader and his quartet for this exhilarating improvisational set captured at the above mentioned venue on Halloween night of 2012. The inspired and inspirational music has a definite spiritual edge to it. For instance, on “Talkin,' Burnin,' Prayin,'" Jordan lets loose airy, fluttering lines that, ...