(click on the cd image to purchase from Pogus)
2nd release of the acclaimed trio Sync
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Samir Chatterjee-tabla Bob Blumenthal gave a nice basic sketch of the band in his Boston Globe review of Port of Entry, the Band’s 1 st cd: 'Sync might be envisioned as a modified sax/bass/drum trio, where the bassist has been replaced by Jerome Harris on either acoustic guitar or acoustic bass guitar, and where the drummer’s role is taken by Samir Chatterjee on tabla and dumbek. With Rothenberg moving among alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, and the Japanese shakuhachi and composing looping ribbons of melody with odd rhythmic contours, the trio has found a most palatable merger of jazz and Asian music. '
The
uncommon instrumentation is enhanced by a shared sense of purpose that gives
Sync its winning character. Each player displays both the techniques and the
sensitivity required to function as both soloist and accompanist, allowing Sync
to maintain its three-way conversations after Rothenberg has finished soloing.
This is not simply a matter of the leader’s ability to sustain extended melodic
and rhythmic variations at lower volumes through circular breathing; it also
results from the assurance that allows Harris to sustain a pronounced rhythmic
underpinning in his guitar work and rare melodic fluency on bass. Chatterjee,
who can sing and then play back the most complex patterns in the manner of the
great tabla masters, also senses how to highlight more compact, swing-oriented
parts through shifts in accents and dynamics."
'Served
with blithe gesture, the menu made from magic, earthen roots, finest
ingredients and spicy sauces, this music beckons excitingly like scarcely any
other.'-
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