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David Buchbinder occupies a curious place among modern-day jazz composers. A fine trumpeter with firm roots in jazz, he has used the idiom to explore an eclectic mix of musical styles. The circus tradition, with its emphasis on borrowing from many world cultures, is a natural forum for such experimentation.
The selections on Shurum Burum Jazz Circus depict disparate musical accents vying with one another for position in off-center arrangements that have many surprises. The ensemble, complete with strings and woodwinds, has a dense and sometimes confrontational sound. The composer's style is borne of a sharp musical tongue and an ear for the exotic.
Tracks like “Invectus” and “Samarkand” best convey that harvesting of world musics with shades of klezmer and gypsy styles punctuated by the ensemble's playful overstatement. On the latter piece, soprano saxophonist Peter Lutek delivers a fierce, over-the-top solo that is one of the highlights of the album.
Guitarist Levon Ichkhanian gets a brief spotlight on the irascible and persistent “King Rat” and drummer Barry Romberg is excellent throughout, providing just enough push and excitement through sudden tempo shifts and solid support of the demanding arrangements. “Portrait of Cagney” distills elements of Raymond Scott with a hefty dash of the avant garde.
Without actually witnessing the Shurum Burum Jazz Circus, the staged and choreographed multimedia performance for which this music was assembled, one still gets a good feel for the festive and devilishly skewed atmosphere. The music is disruptive, unpredictable, and played with precision and galling pluck by a fine group of musicians. Definitely one of Buchbinder's most ambitious undertakings and one of the most intriguing recent jazz releases I've heard.
Visit David Buchbinder on the web.
Track listing: Overture; Invectus; Portrait of Cagney; Swagger; King Rat; Clubland; Fireplug; Monkfish; Stone of Folly; Samarkand; Sideshow; If Truth Be Told.
Personnel: Parmela Attariwala: violin; David Buchbinder: trumpet; Rob Clutton: bass; Pol Cousee: soprano, alto & tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute; Stephen Donald: trombone; Greg de Denus: piano; Levon Ichkhanian: guitar; Bridget Lamarche-Brown: viola; Peter Lutek: soprano, tenor & baritone saxophone, clarinet; Roberto Occhipinti: bass (2,7); Carina Reeves: cello; Barry Romberg: drums; Perry White: soprano & tenor saxophone.
Style: Modern Jazz/Free Improvisation
- All About Jazz by Ken Kase
Discography
DAVID BUCHBINDER ENSEMBLE
2005
SHURUM BURUM Jazz Circus
Monkfish Records
JUNO, Natl Jazz Awards Nominee
Photos
Bio
David Buchbinder Ensemble Bios
DAVID BUCHBINDER (trumpet, fluegelhorn, composer) is a multi-talented, trumpeter, composer and cultural inventor who brings a spirit of intensity and inquiry to everything he does. He leads numerous music groups, composes for concert, theatre, film and television, presents large-scale performance projects, and has toured extensively in North America & Europe. He leads the FLYING BULGAR KLEZMER BAND, who have been nominated for three JUNO Awards in five recordings, and his own eponymous Jazz Ensemble. He also plays in numerous other World Music groups and in the last few years he has been co-presenting projects with his wife, dancer/musician/actor Roula Said, including IMAGINE THE SOUND of PEACE and the music/dance series FEAST of the EAST.
David is the composer/creator/producer of SHURUM BURUM Jazz Circus, a unique music-centered extravaganza for 11 musicians and 7 movement artists from the worlds of circus and modern dance, performing to sold-out houses and much excitement, most recently in a self-produced, critically acclaimed run at the Distillery Historic District last fall, and which he is currently developing as a commercial theatrical presentation.
David has composed the scores for seven feature films, the animated short Stone of Folly which was awarded the Cannes Film Festival Prix du Jury, and for theatre and modern dance. Recent and current compositional projects include the score for the Canadian features Whole New Thing and A Stones Throw, a collaboration with playwright Jason Sherman, choreographer Allen Kaeja & Soulpepper Theatre Company, and a commission to compose a CDs worth of music for jazz guitarist John Abercrombie and trumpeter John McNeil. He has been invited to perform his music at Dave Douglas Festival of New Trumpet Music at Tonic, NYC. David and his jazz Ensemble released their first CD, SHURUM BURUM Jazz Circus November 10th & 11th 2005 at the REX Jazz Bar. It has since received JUNO and National Jazz Award nominations in addition to rave critical and popular reviews.
PERRY WHITE (tenor & soprano saxophone, flutes)
Playing the saxophone from an early age, White gained experience working with Jazz and Rhythm and Blues bands around Vancouver as a teenager with notable Canadian jazzers such as Renee Rosnes, Campbell Ryga and Hugh Fraser. Moving to Toronto in 1982 he soon found himself employed by a diverse range of Canadian jazz performers from the Shuffle Demonds, to the Boss Brass. After having toured Canada and Europe extensively, and taken part in many recordings, from jazz to television and film scores, White made his home in Europe from '96 to '99 working for Cirque du Soliel as well as recording and touring with Dutch and German groups "Raise The Roof" and "Mouse On Mars". Since returning to Canada he has resumed musical activities with some favorite collaborators including Reg Schwager, Hugh Fraser, Don Thompson, Phil Dwyer, Dave MacMurdo, Ted Quinlan and Dave Young.
PETER LUTEK (tenor & soprano saxophone, clarinets) is a Canadian musician, born in 1962. He was formally trained as a classical and avant-garde bassoonist, has been a soloist with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) and the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and was a first prize winner in the CBC Talent Competition in 1981. Mr. Lutek is also a self-taught composer, improvisator, saxophonist and sound engineer. He has performed with New Music Concerts, and the Freddie Stone Ensemble, and was a founding member of the 40 fingers saxophone quartet. Mr. Lutek currently performs in Instrument People (a duo with Rob Mosher), Bari Bari (a duo with David Mott), the David Mott Quintet, the Nick Fraser Quartet, and the orchestra of the Toronto production of The Producers.
STEPHEN DONALD (trombone) has won four Juno nominations and two Juno awards. His diverse recording and performing career has included work with Bruce Cockburn, Colin Linden, Ani DiFranco, The Neufeld Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra (NOJO), Hemispheres and Leroy Sibbles. His new quintet (Barry Romberg, drums; Geoff Young, guitar; Rich Brown, bass; and Dylan Hemming, keyboard) recently made their debut in Toronto. He is currently recording and touring with rock group Blue Rodeo.
ALEKSANDAR GAJIC (violin) has most recently performed in concert as a first violin with Oshawa Durham Symphony Orchestra, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, Sinfonia Toronto, Canadian Sinfonietta, Gould String Quartet, and has also become a member of Beyond The Pale-World music ensemble. He participated in the founding of the String Quartet Bellotti. During seven years of work with this quartet, he took part in over 400 concerts both in the country and abroad. Bellotti made 4 CDs in the production of the national recording house PGP RTS and music for the movie White suite (Yugoslavian candidate for OSKAR Award 2000). They also taped a
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