Search - Sonic Explorers :: So Far, So Near

The sonic explorations of a mature and promising ensemble

09/24/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"reviewer: Vangelis Aragiannis, GreeceSonic Explorers, an ensemble ranging in instrumentation from four to seven players, were formed in Massachusetts in 1995. Their leader, Jerry Sabatini, recently left his twenty-year career in electrical engineering for the sake of jazz. "So Far, So Near" is Sonic Explorers' third album. Its title as well as its cover implies an oriental tendency. The group draws inspiration from Asia, Eastern Europe, Mediterranean, modern classical and latin-american music and infuse it quite successfully with jazz logic and forms. An admirer of the cosmic fusion of Frank Zappa, Sabatini's music also resembles that of Hieroglyphics Ensemble, the marvelous early `90s orchestra of Peter Apfelbaum. The arrangements of "Balkalla" and "Geraldo's Hideaway", two wonderful compositions, are reminiscent of Carla Bley's work with Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. Sabatini's trumpet playing is unadorned and essential and his inspired and elegant compositions have a storytelling mood. "There's a cinematic sense to what I'm doing", the trumpeter says. His seven collaborators may not be famous but they are all excellent and experienced musicians who have worked with great jazz players. In a few words the contact with Sonic Explorers' music gives us the chance to participate in the sonic explorations of a mature and promising ensemble."