Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Drummer DOR HERSKOVITS Presents FLYING ELEPHANTS


The prolific Israeli-born, Boston-based, drummer/composer Dor Herskovits' new album, Flying Elephants, 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."

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.

Also coming out this Fall featuring Dor Herskovits, EARPRINT Presents EASY LISTENING, (Available October 18, 2019, also on Endectomorph Music)



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