Peter Slavov

After the release of the celebrated The Storyteller, saxophonist and bandleader Uri Gurvich's widely acclaimed debut on Tzadik, he became quite busy as a sideman, with Chris Potter, John Zorn, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, and others, as well as becoming a member of his drummer Francisco Mela's Cuban Safari. For BabEl, Gurvich brings back the same international ensemble: the Cuban-born Mela, Argentinian keyboardist Leo Genovese, and Bulgarian bassist, Peter Slavov. The guest spot this time out is filled by Moroccan oud master Brahim Fribgane. Gurvich's compositions rely heavily on motifs from Israeli and Arabic music, but also on the musical traditions of the Sephardic Jews. The band's multi-national makeup also reflects influences ranging from Latin jazz and tango to modal jazz and rock. It's in this collectivity and what results that BabEl succeeds in spades.

Joe Lovano - Cross Culture (2013) {Blue Note}
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Jazz / Post Bop / Saxophone

Joe Lovano's third album featuring his Us Five quintet, 2013's Cross Culture, furthers the adventurous collective aesthetic the saxophonist developed on 2009's Folk Art and 2011's Bird Songs. Once again working with drummers Francisco Mela and Otis Brown III, pianist James Weidman, and bassist Esperanza Spalding, Lovano also employs bassist Peter Slavov on a few tracks here, as well as West African guitarist Lionel Loueke. The result is an album of exploratory jazz that is often more about group interplay on various musical themes rather than straightforward improvisation on melodic compositions – though there is that, too.

Despite the fact that alto saxophonist Uri Gurvich is Israeli and that his debut CD is on the Tzadik label (as part of its "Radical Jewish Culture" series), The Storyteller only sounds parenthetically Jewish. The leader traffics in strong melodies and compelling rhythms, regardless of their motific foundation. And certainly the improvisatory methodology on display by Gurvich, pianist Leo Genovese, bassist Peter Slavov and especially drummer Francisco Mela owe a greater debt to post-bop than pizmonim. And when the album features a second saxophone (Chris Cheek's tenor) and Genovese switches to Fender Rhodes for a pair of tunes, the aesthetic becomes highly reminiscent of early fusion experiments.

Alain Mallet is a veteran pianist who has been working with artists like Paul Simon, Phil Woods and others for over 25 years. Just a few short years ago, he finally decided to record his first album as a leader. Alain lists a diverse group of influences at work here, including Miles Davis, Peter Gabriel, Rachmaninov, Stevie Wonder, Salif Keita and others, and all that diversity shows through in his music. For example, opening track, “Till I Dance (In Your Arms Again)” opens with a Middle Eastern flavor, before there is a shift and the bands kicks into a Latin American rhythm in 5/4 time. Its this sort of mixing influences from all over the world that best describes the music on “Mutt Slang”, as different sections of tracks may take us to Africa, Israel, Latin America or some imaginative places that don’t quite exist outside the musical realm…