Search - Rez Abbasi :: Snake Charmer

Rez Abbasi records the disc of his life

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 06/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of those serendipitous sessions where everything just seems to go exactly right: right musicians, right sonic palette, right songs, right ethos. Rez Abbasi, who has labored in the world jazz trenches for a decade or so, finally nails it with this release.



Here's a record where all elements come together in a magical sort of way. I'm especially taken by the organ playing of Gary Versace. Often the tendency of an organ player in a setting like this is to try to dominate the proceedings with killer licks and a kind of burning vibe that relegates the rest of the players to the background. Not so here. Versace fully understand his role as one of support and augmentation. Take, for instance, his playing on "Motherland," my favorite cut. He takes a brilliantly conceived solo, sonically subtle, totally within the laid-back world-jazz groove, and just nails it, all the while opening some serious space for the definitive solo of leader Abbasi.



Add Dave Leibman on soprano saxophone casually throwing off huge world-jazz statements, Danny Weiss polyrhythmically deploying his drum kit, and Kiran Ahluwalia dropping major bombs tanpura- and vocal-wise, and you have one of those magical sets that sneaks up on listeners slyly but surely.



Everyone even casually interested in happening world jazz will want to check out this monster session."