A year before he escaped communism in his native Romania
by walking through the mountains of Yugoslavia and into Greece, the seed of
Damian Draghici’s dream was planted when he was just a 17-year-old teenager who
snuck into a Bucharest nightclub to watch a set by an American jazz combo.
Nearly 30 years later, his vision will finally come to fruition on July 8 when
Century Jazz Records issues “The American Dream,” a 13-song disc of standards
produced by Dan Siegel and Tom McCauley that showcases the pan flutist
collaborating with nearly two dozen jazz, Brazilian and Latin music greats,
Grammy winners, icons and top-shelf musicians. Preceding the album at jazz
radio is the sultry bossa nova “Ceora,” an exquisite duet with trumpeter Chris
Botti.
As trumpeter
Randy Brecker soloed in the crowed club that 1987 evening, what sparked
Draghici’s imagination was recording a jazz album that would feature the tones,
textures and the unique voice produced on the hollow-tubed bamboo instrument,
the pan flute. “The American Dream” also pays homage to the jazz giants that
influenced Draghici’s artistic expression.
"’The
American Dream’ has been a dream of mine for a while now,” Draghici recalls.
“Here’s how the story started almost 30 years ago. When I was 17 years-old
during the communist times in Bucharest, Romania, I saw and heard for the first
time real American jazz musicians playing live. That was the moment I fell in
love with jazz and I knew that I had to go to America to learn jazz - to play
and improvise bebop on my instrument - to become the Bebop Pan-piper.”
Twenty years
ago, Draghici first arrived in America to attend the famed Berklee College of
Music in Boston on a full scholarship, which is where he linked up and began
working with a bevy of premier jazz musicians, including drummers Vinnie
Colaiuta and Dave Weckl, who keep time on “The American Dream.” The respect
Draghici garners from his musician peers helped him attract an impressive list
of guest soloists who perform on the collection, including Botti, trumpeter Arturo
Sandoval, clarinetist Eddie Daniels, Grammy-winning pianist Michel Camilo,
Grammy-winning vocalist Luciana Souza and Grammy-winning guitar virtuoso Frank
Gambale along with a stellar ensemble of internationally-renown players such as
Siegel, Stanley Clarke, Brian Bromberg, Russell Ferrante (Yellowjackets), Tom
Kennedy, Alan Broadbent, Charlie Bisharat, Alex Acuna, Luis Conte, Paulinho Da
Costa, Oscar Castro Neves, Mitchel Forman, Otmaro Ruiz, Ramon Stagnaro and
Jorge Calandrelli. With so much talent gathered around Draghici’s
improvisational pan flute forays and flourishes, the musicianship throughout
the session is masterful while Siegel and McCauley’s acoustic jazz production
is warm and organic.
The set list
Draghici & Company chose to reimagine consists of selections from Charlie
Parker (album opener “Donna Lee”), Lee Morgan (“Ceora”), John Coltrane (“Giant
Steps”), Chick Corea (“Spain”), Antonio Carlos Jobim (“Modhina” and “One Note
Samba”); Michel Legrand, Marilyn & Alan Bergman and Jacques Denny (“You
Must Believe In Spring”); Keith Jarrett (“My Song”), Pat Metheny (“See The
World”), Bill Evans (“Waltz For Debbie”) Castro Neves (“More Than Yesterday”)
and Cesar Camargo Mariano (“Curumin”) as well as Camilo’s “From Within.”
Inventive arrangements chisel space in the elaborately-constructed cuts for the
pan flute harmonics, genteel vocalizations and stirring melodies knitted from
piano, guitar, horns and strings to effortlessly waft beauty and splendor on
quieter numbers. More aggressive tracks are granted the expanse to expound
dexterously on playgrounds of layered percussion and sinewy basslines.
Recognized
as an award-winning prodigy when he was a teenager in Romania before seeking
refuge in Greece, Draghici landed a record deal after busking on the streets of
Athens, garnering acclaim in Europe. He’s toured with an array of signature
artists that spans James Brown, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Shaggy and Gypsy
Kings. In 2006, he formed Damian & Brothers with “his gypsy brothers,”
adopting the purpose of changing the perception of gypsy music globally. They
toured extensively throughout Europe performing over 600 concerts in three
years. Draghici now splits his time living in the valley near Los Angeles and
abroad. For more information, please visit www.DamianDraghici.com.
Draghici’s
“The American Dream” contains the following songs:
“Donna Lee”
with Arturo Sandoval
“Ceora” with
Chris Botti
“Giant
Steps” with Eddie Daniels
“From
Within” with Michel Camilo
“Spain”
“Modhina”
with Luciana Souza
“You Must
Believe In Spring”
“My Song”
“More Than
Yesterday”
“See The
World”
“Curumin”
with Frank Gambale
“Waltz For
Debbie”
“One Note
Samba”
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