Sam Javitch Quartet - People and Places; Seven Tracks of Jazz Artistry From the Piano Playing Composer and Band Leader



Photo courtesy of Sam Javitch

Sam Javitch is a jazz musician and composer who has just released his second album People and Places. The New York City native has been performing jazz since the age of eleven. Sam attended the NYU School for Improvised Music, earned an Honors Bachelor degree in Jazz from William Paterson University, and a Masters in Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. He has studied with a host of notable jazz pianists including Mulgrew Miller, and he has performed at a wide array of New York area venues.
“I learned how much effort and perseverance it takes to turn a musical idea into a reality. There isn’t some button you can push or a lever to pull, but when it’s done, it is one of the most gratifying feelings in the world.”
In 2014, Javitch released his debut recording, Train to Nowhere, which included six original solo piano compositions. People and Places, his sophomore album, represents his debut as a band leader. The album contains seven new Javitch compositions, performed in a quartet format, with piano, tenor sax, bass, and drums. On Sunday, April 15th, Javitch presented an album launch concert at Joe's Pub in NYC. Watch and listen to the entire show below.


Joe's Pub, NYC, April 15, 2018

Tracklist:

1. The Pitch to Rich (7:01)
2. Parallel Modalities for Parallel Realities (9:28)
3. Honin Myo: For Sasha (7:55)
4. Lifted: A Song for Grew and Those Who Knew (8:36)
5. Wiseman Weidman (5:47)
6. New Operating System (7:10)
7. Level Up! (5:55)


Buy at Amazon
Buy at iTunes
Buy at CD Baby





People and Places confirms Javitch as a formidable jazz composer as well as a first rate pianist. His style is warm, I would say more Chick Corea than Keith Jarrett. The compositions are constructed with the main melody at the top and bottom of each piece and the solos in the middle. The lead instruments are piano and sax. On most of the tracks, the sax establishes the melody, and the sax playing is simply superb. I also really like when the sax and piano played the melody together.
Upon hearing Rich Perry play, Javitch envisioned the tenor saxophonist playing his compositions. When Perry agreed to appear on the album, the title to the opening song, “The Pitch To Rich”, was born!

Another stand-out track is “Honin Myo”; an ode to Javitch’s dear friend and practicing Buddhist, Sasha Ono. “Honin Myo” is a phrase that means “from this moment on”. This song speaks to the hope of starting anew each day no matter what adversity one may have faced before. “Parallel Modalites for Parallel Realities” speaks to all the choices we make in life that can lead to completely different paths. People and Places also includes “Lifted: a Song for Grew and Those Who Knew”, a tribute to his late mentor Mulgrew Miller, the great jazz pianist.
All this music is anchored by the more than capable rhythm section of Adrian Moring on bass and Matt Niedbaski on drums. This set seems to subscribe to the theory that less is more when it comes to bass solos and drum solos. I can't disagree, but I would point out that the solos by Moring and Niedbaski are nothing short of excellent.

People and Places by the Sam Javitch Quartet is a solid marriage of quality composition, performance, and production. This album reminds me of some of the classic Art Pepper Quartet sessions with Pepper's sax accompanied by Russ Freeman on piano. To hear traditional jazz that sounds as good as this does is continually rewarding.

Sam Javitch Website
Sam Javitch Facebook

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Main Point, 1964 - 1981

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #5 Begining in 1964, The Main Point in Bryn Mawr provided the Philadelphia area with one of its most enjoyable venues for live music. Although it started as a folk based coffeehouse, all styles of music were presented over the years. Financial problems continually plagued the Main Point, and in spite of frequent benefit shows by artists who loved the place as much as the audience, the club finally closed in 1981. The following brief history is contained in an obituary of Jeanette O. Campbell, one of the founders and owners of the Main Point who died on October 22, 2006, written by Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Sally A. Downey as reprinted on the Save Ardmore Coalition website. Jeanette Orndoff Campbell, 89, former owner of the Main Point, a music hall in Bryn Mawr where young talents including Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor were introduced to local audiences, died of complications from hip surgery Oct. 22 at Stap
Read more

Cream and Blind Faith at the Spectrum, Philadelphia, 1968 & 1969

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #3 (L-R) Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, & Eric Clapton I could not have foreseen it at the time, but looking back on a concert going history now entering it's fifth decade, my first three concerts were absolutely formative in the development of the music obsession that has driven life as we know it from that point forward. Attending a rock concert pre drivers license was no small feat, that I even got to these shows is the first indication that I knew I was onto something even if I couldn't quite explain it. I've already detailed my first concert (The Beatles at JFK Stadium) in my MMMM#1 . My second and third concerts took place at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, they were less than a year apart, and due to the fact that concerts never end at the time predicted, these concert experiences both ended with a very angry driver stuck waiting in the car outside the venue until the last encore had finished. I shot both concerts with the same starter
Read more

And We Danced - Filming the Hooters Video, 7/27/85

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #4 "And We Danced" (picture sleeve above) was released in 1985 as the second single from the album, Nervous Night , the Hooters' major label debut for Columbia Records. Here's the video. The call went out to the Hooters' mailing list the last week of July 1985 that an audience with cars would be needed on the coming Saturday for a video shoot. Participants would report to the Exton Drive-In by late morning and be prepared to stay all day until after dark. This stage set, early in the day, was a warm-up for the crowd and probably a dry run for the production team for the night-time performance to be filmed later. The banner backdrop does not appear in the video. Some of the antique and custom cars that were on hand for the shoot. The production crew prepares the ticket booth for its shot. This is the film crew shooting the acoustic intro part of the song. The acoustic intro was shot twice, first with t
Read more