David Liebman

On David Liebman's trips to Europe, as with many of his gigs in the U.S., he chooses to play with so-called "pickup" bands. In Italy, one of his favorite and most skilled combos features drummer Tony Arco, bassist Paolo Benedettini, and pianist Roberto Tarenzi, a trio more than capable of knowing Liebman's tendencies, having played with him on numerous occasions overseas. As a result, they play Liebman's original music and standards favored by all four participants, done with no filler, some hefty solos, and a wonderful sense of the teamwork expected from a seasoned ensemble. These performances are culled from club dates in Florence, Bari, and Lamezia Terme, full of the fire and passion that Liebman's playing on tenor or soprano sax is known for…

David Liebman Group - Blues All Ways (2007) {OmniTone 12208}
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© 2007 OmniTone Inc. | 12208
Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Modern Creative / Saxophone

While the blues is one of the clearest roots of conventional jazz tradition, few but saxophonist Dave Liebman could release an album that covers as many stylistic bases as Blues All Ways. There's good reason why Liebman can create a blues homage ranging from the 7/4 Memphis shuffle of "Elvis the Pelvis" and lithe, harmonically sophisticated swinger "Down Time" to the ethereal "Riz's Blues." With a quartet with this much shared history, the saxophonist has a lean but highly flexible unit that can not only handle anything he throws at it, but can lob more than a few surprises back at him. Any release from this group is worth hearing but Blues All Ways, like the largely undiscovered masterpiece Conversation (Sunnyside, 2003), stands out amongst its growing discography.

Jazz is often at its best when musicians come to a live performance without preplanning a set, which is the case when David Liebman recorded this trio set at a Belgium club called De Singer in 2008. With the strong support of bassist Marius Beets and drummer Eric Ineke, Liebman tackles five blues either written or recorded by John Coltrane, starting with a breezy, playful version of Miles Davis' "All Blues" that swings like mad, with the soprano saxophonist making great use of space and taking the piece far beyond its usual horizon. Liebman's free-ranging exploration of Coltrane's infrequently recorded "Village Blues" is a welcome addition to his discography, as the leader shows a bit of the master's influence in his powerful, avant-gardish soprano solo…

David Liebman Quintet - If They Only Knew (1980) {2015 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}
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© 1980, 2015 Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6341
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Post Bebop / Fusion / Saxophone / Guitar

Reissue with the latest remastering. Features original cover artwork. Comes with a descripton in Japanese. There's a lot of great chromatic elements going on here – thanks to the work of John Scofield on guitar, who's at that key point where he could effortlessly balance melody and tone with these edges that are sharp, but also very spacious – kind of a wide style that really reaches out and wraps up the rest of the players in the group! Not that the record's one of John's as a leader, because the real driving force here is David Liebman on tenor and soprano sax – but he also seems to let Scofield set the tone at many times – which opens up work from the rest of the players, who include Terumasa Hino on trumpet, Ron McClure on bass, and Adam Nussbaum on drums. This approach makes the record a lot less arch than some of Liebman's other material from the time – and titles include "Reunion", "Moontide", "Move On Some", "Autumn In New York", "If They Only Knew", and "Capitstrano".

Veteran saxophonist, flutist, and composer Dave Liebman leads this stellar Italian group in a live outing recorded in 2005. The band consists of the great Tony Arco on drums, bassist Paolo Benedettini, and pianist Roberto Tarenzi. The quartet roots its sound deeply in the modal investigations of Miles Davis and the inquisitive yet expressive improvisational explorations of Coltrane circa A Love Supreme. This isn't idle praise; it's simply what the music bears out. The interplay and listening between bandmembers - and in particular the rhythm section - are remarkable. Liebman, who has played many different kinds of jazz with more people than even he can count over these last 30-plus years, moves effortlessly from full-blown modal articulations on the soprano to deep bluesy tenor playing and back to the soprano to improvise on Turkish and Jewish folk melodies in his solos…

Issued in 1989, the pairing of saxophonist and composer David Liebman with an Italian jazz trio would seem to signal an exercise in the deep, lush lyricism that jazzmen from Italy express no matter what side of the in/out fence they are on. But this set is more an exploration of tone, drone, and mode. These pieces are like mantras that come from time immemorial, whether they be Liebman's compositions or those of his collaborators Alberto and Carlo Mariani, Tiziano Tononi, or special guest Dionigi Burranca. Even John Coltrane's classic "Africa" is re-envisioned according to these age-old techniques and observances of sound as tone and tone as drone, with the drone being the most primordial of all sound objects and syntaxes.