NY pianist & composer Bob Gluck's band with Gluck on piano, Andrea Wolper on voice, Kinan Azmeh on clarinet, Ken Filiano on bass, and Tani Tabbal on drums, blends passionate songs of social justice with captivating improvisational interplay, balancing a love of beautiful melody and sonic innovation, powerful rhythms, and exhilarating interactions between players.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2020 Country: UK Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel Recorded at Scott Lehrer Sound Design, on July 16th, 2019, by Jeff Cook.
"Early Morning Star, featuring music composed by pianist Bob Gluck, blends passionate songs of social justice with captivating improvisational interplay. The band's approach balances a love of beautiful melody and sonic innovation, vibrant rhythm, and sparkling chemistry between players. Early Morning Star bridges musical traditions, from Art song to collective improvisation; from Kinan Azmeh's Syrian melodic inflection to the "Creative Music" jazz traditions represented by Tani Tabbal and Ken Filiano; from Andrea Wolper's expressive vocal jazz stylings to Gluck's pianistic virtuosity and love of Jewish liturgical texts. Early Morning Star guides the listener through a panoply of moods, a message of social justice, and a remarkable depth of musicality."-from the liner notes
"Bob Gluck: Pianist Bob Gluck is a writer, educator, and rabbi. Musical collaborators have included Michael Bisio, Jane Ira Bloom, Joe Giardullo, Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Aruan Ortiz, Neil Rolnick, Andrew Sterman, Christopher Dean Sullivan, and Tani Tabbal. The New York Times has spoken of his "virtuosic fluidity." Gluck’s five FMR recordings include Sideways (2008), Something Quiet (2011), Returning (2011), and Infinite Spirit: Revisiting Music of the Mwandishi Band. Jazz Review found in Returning: "an intensity and sensitivity that is spellbinding."" JazzDaGamma called it "a record of almost primordial excitement... some of the finest music that you will hear on record this year..." Audiophile Audition adds that Infinite Spirit is "Imbued with groove, creativity, and crisscrosses respect for the original music with an inventive perspective... telescopes into outer space and microscopes into inner space." As a writer, Gluck is author of the books You’ll Know When You Get There: Herbie Hancock and the Mwandishi Band, The Miles Davis Lost Quintet and Other Revolutionary Ensembles, and The Musical World of Paul Winter.
Andrea Wolper: Vocalist, songwriter, improviser Andrea Wolper works “in a milieu that begins with jazz and reaches out to embrace an expressive area that is uniquely her own†(International Review of Music). In addition to performing with her own groups and in numerous musical collaborations, Andrea works as a sideperson with artists across jazz genres, including Jay Clayton and William Parker. She has received a number of composing fellowships, and her recordings as both leader and sideperson have landed on a number of "Best of Year" lists. "An audacious artist [who] flouts genre limitations...delivering an inventive, thrilling, appealing musical vision" (Blogcritics).
Kinan Azmeh: Clarinetist Kinan Azmeh's globetrotting performances and compositions span multiple musical genres. He has appeared with such diverse ensembles as the New York Philharmonic and Seattle Symphony, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, Marcel Khalife, Aynur, Daniel Barenboim, and Jivan Gasparian. Venues have spanned Tchaikovsky Grand Hall, Moscow; Carnegie Hall and the UN General Assembly, New York; the Royal Albert hall, London; Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires; Der Philharmonie, Berlin; the Mozarteum, Salzburg; and in his native Syria at the opening concert of the Damascus Opera House. Azmeh's work has been called "intensely soulful" (The New York Times) and "spellbinding" (The New Yorker).
Ken Filiano: Bassist, composer, improviser Ken Filiano performs internationally with a veritable who's who in multiple genres. A "creative virtuoso" (JazzValley), Ken leads the quartets Quantum Entanglements and Baudolino's Dilemma, and co-leads several groups including the Steve Adams-Ken Filiano Duo. "A paradigm of that type of artist...who can play anything in any context and make it work" (Chris Kelsey), Ken is an integral member of groups led by Taylor Ho Bynum, Jason Kao Hwang, Vinny Golia, Diane Moser, Karl Berger, and others. His extensive discography includes the solo CD, Subvenire (Nine Winds) and Quantum Entanglements's Dreams From a Clown Car (Clean Feed). Ken is a Guiding Artist and Advisor for the Creative Music Studio.
Tani Tabbal: Drummer Tani Tabbal is known as a dynamic, lyrical and energetic drummer. He began playing drums professionally as a teen, performing with Oscar Brown Jr., Phil Cohran, and Sun Ra and his Arkestra. Tabbal has recorded, performed and toured with Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, Geri Allen, Cassandra Wilson, James Carter, Karl Berger, Dewey Redman, David 'Fathead' Newman, Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, Oliver Lake, Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill, Leroy Jenkins, the Sun Ra Arkestra, and Jackie McLean. Bruce Gallanter writes that Tabbal "brings the traditions into new scenarios, shares & expands on the embers/essence & wallops/incants in the full-spectrum of the Avant-garde."