2008-01-13
Even if you know John Coltrane's composition "Giant Steps" backward and forward, you still might not recognize the version on Deepak Ram's Steps. That's because this legendary jazz standard is performed on an Indian bansuri flute and set inside a samba arrangement. The Coltrane classic "Naima" gets a misty, sun-and-shadows rainforest feel via Jamey Haddad's tropical percussion and Vic Juris' meditative acoustic guitar. The story goes that Ram got the idea for recording Steps after a journalist told him that the bansuri might be fine for classical Indian music, but it was far too limited an instrument for performing a complex jazz piece like "Giant Steps." Not only did Ram prove him wrong, but he also demonstrates a variety of moods here, like giving Gershwin's "Summertime" a dreamy coffee house feel. Miles Davis' "All Blues" and the Rodgers and Hart classic, "My Funny Valentine," get a more conventional small combo arrangement, with Juris' electric guitar lending a John Pizzarelli flavor. But what sets these and other pieces apart is Ram's lilting, microtonal approach, which adds an enticing complexity that's reminiscent of Indian ragas and ghazals. -- Bob TarteMike Longo And The New York State Of The Art Jazz Ensemble
Live From New York
THE CHARLES MINGUS SEXTET
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy - Cornell 1964
THE MIKE LONGO TRIO
Float Like a Butterfly
WYNTON MARSALIS
From The Plantation To The Penitentiary
Nicholas Payton
Sonic Trance
ANGELO MICHAJLOV (Performed by Petra Cernocka and The Karl Vlach Orchestra)
Saxana
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