NICK BEWSEY
❈★=SKIP IT; ★★=MEDIOCRE; ★★★=GOOD; ★★★★=EXCELLENT; ★★★★★=CLASSIC
age, pianist Gadi Lehavi, 16, and drummer Ofri Nehemya, 18, join bassist Barak Mori to make up Degibri’s gifted quartet. This mostly swinging album has a pleasing variety of flavors where the band excels with vibrant soloing (“Mambo”), emotive dexterity (“New Waltz”) and virtuosic playing (“Liora Mi Amor”), the latter featuring the effusive vocals of Shlomo Ydov. The far flung musical influences that Degibri folds into the record have an organic feel, thanks to his svelte arrangements and an inspired use of a vocal choir and his playing the mandolin on “The Cave,” a disarming anthem with a spiritual vibe. (9 tracks; 47 minutes)
Eli Degibri.
Stranahan, Zaleski, Rosato ★★★★ Limitless Capri Records Among the many fine recordings that were released toward the end of 2013, Limitless remains lodged in my listening rotation. As a group, drummer Colin Stranahan, pianist Glenn Zeleski and bassist Rick Rosato go for broke with a refreshing and accessible recording that evokes Brad Mehldau and Bill Evans as compositional touchstones, but their eight originals and jaunty reworking of Thelonious Monk’s “Work” gives you an opportunity to savor modern jazz trio music at its best. The virtues of these players come through on the
Stranahan, Zaleski, Rosato.
title track, written by Zeleski, where piano, bass and drums ricochet and bounce on a percussive jet stream. Tunes with shifty time signatures (“Migrations”), a bittersweet ballad (“Cyclic”) and the zippy bass notes that run through the bracing “Forecast” cement their infectious chemistry. Limitless has an emotional directness paired with harmonic invention that’s especially palpable on the warmly conceived closer, “Chorale,” a gorgeous ode to pianist Fred Hersch. (9 tracks; 55 minutes) ■ W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / I C O N D V ■ W W W . I C O N D V . C O M ■ M A R C H 2 0 1 4 ■ I C O N ■ 33