The prolific Israeli-born, Boston-based, drummer/composer
Dor Herskovits' new album, Flying Elephants, available September 20, 2019, is
chock-a-block with expressions of love, humor and creativity. Like most great
works of art, music, dance, architecture, etc., the music on Flying Elephants
began as just a seed of an idea in the brain of Herskovits, which was then
transferred to notes engraved on paper. It came to exist in the material world,
and then took on a life and uniqueness of its own once Herskovits' band mates
got a hold of the music and ran it through their minds, bodies and ultimately
their instruments. The result is a resplendent suite of music, played by what
is in essence a "family", a band that Herskovits calls his
"dream team"; Hery Paz - saxophones, Caio Afiune - guitar, Isaac
Wilson - piano, Max Ridley - bass, and Dor Herskovits - drums and compositions.
Flying Elephants was conceived of with these specific
musicians in mind - in fact, choosing this cast was the very first step the
leader took. Knowing their strengths and utilizing their strong
personal/musical connections, the album became a true group effort, shining a
light on the member's uniqueness, their fearless and ego-less creative
instincts, and unparalleled abilities as true improvisers.
In Herskovits' vision for this album, he aimed to make it a
rich and complete work of art. Combining the liner notes with poetry,
paintings, and descriptive nuggets, in order to create full, multi-faceted
experience for his audience. He has also created a stop motion animated video
for the title track. "This shows the eclectic nature of the album and the
array of colors, atmospheres and purpose each of the songs might play, for me,
and for the listener, such as invoking humor, introspection, peregrination,
energy, aggression, romance, dance. "It was a natural to have the album
art work done by our saxophonist Hery Paz, as his work is a big influence in my
life," explains Herskovits.
Stylistically, the album encompasses a wide variety of
influences and styles - traditional jazz (New Fashioned, Recursion),
avant-garde/free jazz (Scottish Fold, Bangin'), modern jazz (Palette, Come to
light), Cinematic music (Recursion, Flying Elephants) meditation music (Water),
rock/metal (Flying Elephants), progressive rock (Magenta), and classical (Sob).
The drummer/bandleader elaborates, "I believe that it is accessible music
that can potentially bring any listener in. Yet, it is fresh, original and has
many layers one can enjoy as the music is explored deeply."
The title track, an avant-garde leaning lullaby, and the
seed from which the entire album was born, "Flying Elephants," is a
gift to the drummer's newborn son, in utero when the band was in the studio
laying down this music. This composition is a heartfelt soundtrack to his
future dreams, which symbolizes the power of our imaginations. "Flying
Elephants" tells the story of, "a baby in a crib who falls into a
wonderful dream filled with adventure. Elephants, stretched from a mobile coming
to life, baby asking them to play, they embark on a voyage, flying into a dream
world, elephants joyfully marching with heavy feet...Until baby is woken back
to our world," explains Herskovits.
"As the knowledge of the pending baby inspired me to
write a song for him, each of the other compositions have their own story and
identity, some of which are embedded in this composition, and others took on a
shape of their own as they were performed. Since music is the most abstract art
form, it also engages our imagination in a powerful way and I wanted to
celebrate that with this album. To me, music always opened up an inner world
and a strong spiritual connection to people and nature. This is what always
drew me to music, what excites me about it and ultimately what I hope to pass
on to the listeners."
Flying Elephants band bios:
Isaac Wilson, is a pianist, keyboardist, and composer. A
native of Los Angeles, he began playing the piano at the age of 4, teaching
himself to play his favorite songs and piano works by ear. He moved to Boston
to attend New England Conservatory of Music, graduating in the spring of 2015,
having studied with Fred Hersch, Jason Moran, Ran Blake, and many others. While
in Boston, Wilson performed on numerous occasions with saxophone greats Jerry
Bergonzi and George Garzone. A recent recipient of a Master's Degree from
Berklee's Global Jazz Institute lead by Danilo Pérez, he studied under many
Jazz luminaries while attending the one-year program, and had the opportunity
to perform at the 2015 Monterey Jazz Festival, the 2016 Panama Jazz Festival,
and the 2016 Newport Jazz Festival. Wilson also won first prize at the 2016
Keep an Eye Jazz Awards in Amsterdam. Wilson has also conducted clinics around
the world, and was on faculty of the inaugural Berklee Newport Jazz Festival
Summer High School Program. Wilson is an artist committed to the exploration of
folkloric music from around the globe, and the possibilities of melding jazz
with other genres and disciplines within the Arts. He performs internationally
and in the United States in a wide variety of musical contexts, and his debut
trio album, Dis-Connect, was released in February of 2018.
Hery Paz, saxophonist and painter originally from Cuba,
embodies a rich and diverse color and sonic palette. His eclecticism is
explicit not only in painting but also in his distinction as a musician and
composer. He has won the acclaim and respect of legendary jazz musicians such
as Fred Hersch, who called him, " . . . a revelation, a musician of extraordinary
strength". Paz is currently an integral element of the creative music
scene in New York City, where he has worked with artists such as Francisco
Mela, Ralph Alessi, Fred Hersch, Dave Liebman, Thomas Morgan, George Garzone,
Tony Malaby, Ingrid Laubrock, Kris Davis, Ethan Iverson, Miguel Zenón, Frank
Carlberg, Tom Rainey, Gerald Cleaver, Bob Moses, Ran Blake, Joe Morris, Charles
Downs and Michael Attias. Paz also holds a Master's degree from the New England
Conservatory in Boston.
Guitarist and composer Caio Afiune is making a lasting
impression on the East Coast jazz scene. Currently in Boston, Afiune has not
only been performing extensively as a leader and a sideman, but is a part time
faculty member of the prestigious New England Conservatory. Originally from São
Paulo, Afiune's compositions uniquely blend together the essence of Brazil and
his immensely deep knowledge of the North American jazz tradition. He can be
seen performing along jazz giants such as Jerry Bergonzi, Luciana Souza, Jaques
and Paula Morelenbaum, Mark Zaleski, Phil Grenadier, and most recently
Christian Sands.
Max Ridley is a Boston-based musician, composer and
educator. He was awarded full-tuition scholarships to study at Berklee College
of Music for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Ridley earned his
graduate degree from Berklee's Global Jazz Institute under the direction of
pianist and educator Danilo Perez and has gone on to share the stage with
renown musicians such as Kenny Werner, Ingrid Jensen, Bob Mover, Jason Palmer,
George Garzone, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ra-Kalam Bob Moses and Perico Sambeat.
He has performed in venues such as the Blue Note, Dizzy's Club at Jazz @
Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and the Umbria Jazz Festival. Ridley has
toured domestically and internationally and has also spent time embedded in the
artistic community of Valencia, Spain, which he considers his second home.
Ridley remains very active in the musical community of Boston as a first-call
sideman, leader and co-leader of various groups.
Dor Herskovits is an Israeli drummer and composer based in
Boston. As a sought after sideman, he plays in various jazz and experimental
groups on the Boston-New York line. He has also toured around the US, Canada,
Europe and China. Herskovits has recorded many albums as a sideman, featured on
labels such as Newvelle and Endectomorph music, alongside musicians such Grammy
award-winning guitarist Bill Frisell, Michael Blake and Jason Palmer. He has
also performed with George Garzone, Jon Cowherd, Steve Cardenas, Elan Mehler,
TJ and the revenge, Bert Seager's Tet-rap-tych, Max Ridley's Basement
Philharmonic, Daniel Rotem and Xiongguan Zhang. As co-leader of Earprint, he
received critical acclaim from publications such as Downbeat magazine, NPR's
critics' poll and many more. In 2018, he established the Dor Herskovits
Quintet, featuring saxophonist Hery Paz, guitarist Caio Afiune, pianist Isaac
Wilson and bassist Max Ridley. Their debut album Flying Elephants will be
released in September 2019.
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