Search - Steven Bernstein :: Diaspora Blues

It's Rivers Time

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 01/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, this is Steven Bernstein's gig. The inimitable downtown trumpter, cofounder of Sex Mob, Jewish bad boy, ostensibly the leader of this set, gives way by pride of place to his elder, the estimable Sam Rivers. After all, Rivers' band is who's providing the (quite remarkable) rhythmic underpinning. It's Rivers sheets-of-sound tenor sax approach that provides the defining moments of this stellar disc.Indeed, one gets the distinct feeling that this project could've never been pulled off without the ultimate grounding of Sam Rivers' remarkable trio. It's rare these days to find a group with the instrumental diversity of the Rivers' trio. Doug Matthews plays both bass and bass clarinet. Anthony Cole plays both drums and tenor sax. And it's not as if these are just sort of exotic side-experiments: when they play their alter-instruments, they play them with the rigor and vigor one expects from players whose main gig is on these instruments.Probably the most demonstrative of their multi-instrumental brilliance is the incomparable cut, "Alveenu Malkenu." Here the full alternate-instrumental approach reaches it glorious apex: especially striking in the bass clarinet work of Doug Matthews.Timeless best decribes these deeply felt renderings of traditional Jewish music, the starkly beautiful tunes of Cantor Moshe Koussevitsky, and the mesmeric contemporary compositions of Steven Bernstein. Something very special is going on here: Ecstacy meets jazz brilliance. At least that's how I see it."

One of the most amazing jazz albums in years

Jan P. Dennis | 10/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a masterpiece, one of the greatest jazz albums in years. Bernstein's ideas combined with the performances of Sam Rivers and his group create magic. This is the way jazz used to be and should be. It's excellent and it takes you on a mental and emotional trip. This album is so powerful. All of the common 1980s and 1990s debates about jazz seem petty and insignificant when one considers the mighty achievements which occur constantly on this album."