Drawn from Sound Remains out in late-June this is new on Whirlwind from guitarist composer Rez Abbasi and his quintet. It’s a vibes, bass, drums and additional percussion setting that he finds himself in – the bassist is the classic Vijay Iyer Trio’s Stephan Crump.
A New York studio recording done in March last year the vibes line from Bill Ware dominates the top frequencies of the sound shadowed ingeniously by Abbasi. Not only that there’s a rich rhythmic undertow to it that is crucial generated by Crump, drummer Eric McPherson – known for his work with Fred Hersch – and joining the quartet on the album percussionist Hasan Bakr who hails from Savannah, Georgia. He’s of Gullah Geechee lineage.
Abbasi, 59, was born in Karachi and as a child moved to Los Angeles. He studied at the University of Southern California and the Manhattan School of Music graduating in 1989. Later in India Abbasi studied tabla with the great Ustad Alla Rakha and his style has often blended jazz fusion and Indian classical music. A long time New Yorker he has performed and recorded with such notables as Peter Erskine, Kenny Werner, Tim Berne and Rudresh Mahanthappa.
The upcoming album builds on a tradition of earlier quartet albums. Natural Selection was released in 2010 followed in 2014 by Intents and Purposes.
Rez uses steel string acoustic guitars.
The full entity of the album includes a version of the beautiful Keith Jarrett Belonging Band My Song classic ‘Questar’ and a spontaneous interpretation of John Coltrane’s for the ages beatific Crescent ballad ‘Lonnie’s Lament.’
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