Music
Press
Every note Jon plays on this CD shines like the words in love. Sweet...with twists and turns. - Jazz Recording Artist
Jon De Lucia and Nir Felder played a duo set here at DMG recently and I was quite impressed considering I hadn't heard of either before this. Dave Tronzo, who is a teacher of Mr. De Lucia at Berklee in Boston, recommended that I check him out. All members of De Lucia's group met at Berklee and they sound as if they have been playing for years. This is not some free/jazz offering, it is very well written and well played. "The Glass Bead Game" opens with some tight spinning lines, the guitar and alto sax playing intricately together. Nir takes a sly, slow and bluesy solo that shows that he is a contender. John Scofield, watch out! The group then comes to a halt so that Jon can take a fine laid-back sax solo with just understated piano beneath. Then its back to that difficult, quick theme fueled by some spirited drums. A perfect opening tune! "Emptiness" is far from being empty, it is another challenging piece that keeps shifting tempos throughout with Jon taking another fine alto solo as both Nir on guitar and Leo on piano play inspired lines around him, again stopping as Nir takes a solo with just the rhythm team below, building slowly to another crafty conclusion. I dig the way the rhythm team plays in waves, so slippery moving faster and slower in cycles as the soloist steadily keeps a central pace that doesn't shift, yet they always end up together. "Really" is quite lovely, dreamy and enchanting with so sublime soprano sax and exquisite guitar. "Amir, The Brain Kid" has one of those M-Base like themes that is both funky and challenging to play. I dig the way the alto sax, piano and guitar trade short solos in a round robin fashion. "Edo Komoriuta" is a traditional Japanese lullaby with a guest shamisen or koto player sitting in and mostly dueting with Jon's lush sax. On the surface some of these tunes sound mellow, melodic and not very intense, yet there is always more going on than meets the eye or ear. The structure of some of these pieces move in unexpected ways, you just never know what's behind the bend. This is a particularly strong debut from some folks that few of us have heard of, hopefully this will change soon. - Downtown Music Gallery
Jon De Lucia's Glass Bead Game borrows its namesake from a heady Hesse novel, but the musicians definitely stress the last word of the title. Ziv Ravitz (drums) and Garth Stevenson (bass) lay down a solid, cloak and dagger backdrop for playful solos by De Lucia (sax) and Nir Felder (guitar). After a thrilling 5-minute tapestry of sonic plot twists, things dissolve into an introspective dirge, lead by Leo Genovese's choral-like piano comping, before once again building up the tension which saturates the undercurrent of this zesty little number. - NEWMUSICBOX.ORG Nice Pick
Composer & jazz sax-er Jon De Lucia is a soul on a mission!! He & his totally committed sextet wash us viably with his vision of how he views original music. The result is a player who is perfectly at home creating blues, bebop, free jazz, fusion, probably even the classical idiom. I sense that Jon is one of those artists.....A visionary & true artist constantly searching & growing as he plies his trade. With his highly original approach to this art-form, De Lucia is one of those comprehensively gifted musical craftsmen with flawless technique, plus an abundance of compositional ideas.
- EJAZZNEWS.COM
"Let the music breathe" is one of jazz's most revered mantras, but far easier said than done. Boston-based alto and soprano saxophonist De Lucia accomplishes it with substance and style on his new CD, stitching together edgy improvising with surprise-filled writing that sounds both mysterious and eminently accessible. - Boston Herald
Catch this group, you won't be disappointed! - WGBH Boston
Saxophonist JON DE LUCIA’s ridiculously assured Face No Face (Jonji) was one of the pleasant surprises of 2006. De Lucia’s alto solos had the headlong linear drive of the Tristano school by way of Steve Coleman and Greg Osby, and his wide-ranging compositions varied texture, dynamics, and harmonic framework without ever losing the groove. - Boston Phoenix
DeLucia nudges the boundaries of jazz with his free use of Zen concepts and richly talented bandmates. - Writer for Downbeat Magazine; Face, No Face feedback
One of several astonishing debut releases I've heard this year. - JazzTimes, New York Times
With his debut album, saxophonist Jon De Lucia dazzles not only with his virtuosity and compositional skills, but also with his ability to convey emotion through probing, focused melodic statements and the sublime coherence of his band. - All About Jazz NY
Discography
Face no Face - Full Length CD released Summer 2006
Receiving Radio play in US and Europe.
Available for purchase on iTunes, CDbaby.com, and Amazon.com, and has national distribution.
Photos
Bio
From the Press Release for Face no Face (Braithwaite and Katz):
The Jon De Lucia Group’s debut CD Face no Face features a group of inspiring young musicians who are actively extending the frontiers of jazz. The CD, out July 25 on Jonji Music, features the alto and soprano saxman/composer with long-time bandmates Nir Felder on guitar, Leo Genovese on piano and keyboards, Garth Stevenson on bass, and Ziv Ravitz on drums. They’ve played together since their student days at Berklee College of Music and De Lucia writes specifically for them. The result is compelling and original music that engages and excites.
De Lucia’s compositions are highly structured and sophisticated, yet allow each player to freely embark on scintillating sonic journeys. Six of the eight tunes on this disc are De Lucia originals. The others include Edo Komoriuta, a Japanese folksong that features Sumie Kaneko on two traditional Japanese instruments, Shamisen and Koto; and the standard I Wish I Knew, a moving duet between De Lucia and Genovese which closes the set.
What is remarkable about this CD is the grand arch that is formed as each tune progresses. The first three compositions are large-scale works, followed by three exquisite miniatures that are in turn followed by two tunes which are again large-scale, bringing it full circle. The first track, Glass Bead Game, is an adventurous three-part composition that covers much terrain, opening with an agitated, rhythmic melody followed by a contemplative middle section that includes an incredibly wrought solo by Felder. Really evokes a serene atmosphere, featuring gorgeous soprano playing from De Lucia. The Japanese folksong Edo Komoriuta is followed seamlessly by the beautiful Yugen, which is clearly inspired by the ethos of the East. After this The Open Eye appears with its restless swinging energy, and highlights the incredible virtuosity of the rhythm section as Genovese starts to burn in double-time, with Stevenson and Ravitz right along with him for the ride.
Jon De Lucia (Saxophone)
Jon De Lucia, born 1980 in Quincy, MA, is one of the finest young proponents of modern jazz on the alto saxophone.
Attending Berklee College of Music, Jon De Lucia had the opportunity to study privately with such amazing teachers as Frank Tiberi, George Garzone, Andy McGhee, Shannon LeClaire, and Bill Pierce. Later he studied with forward-thinking alto saxophonist and Blue Note artist Greg Osby. He was selected to play in a group led by Blue Note artist Joe Lovano and appeared on televised, nationally-syndicated workshops through PBS' WGBH.
After graduation from Berklee, Jon went on his first tour of Japan as part of Berklee faculty member Makoto Takenaka's Berklee Jazz Quintet. This led
to four subsequent tours of Japan over the next two years with various groups including Standard Deviation, a band co-led by Jon De Lucia and
guitarist Hironobu Saito. In Japan, Europe, and the United States, Jon De Lucia has appeared frequently in newspapers, on television and the radio, notably live on WGBH in 2005, and live on Fuji Terebi for Japanese Television in 2006. Most recently, Jon has performed with Bob Moses, Kendrick Scott, Francisco Mela, Tommy Crane, Mark Walker, David Tronzo, John Lockwood and Geoffrey Keezer and can be found performing frequently in New York and Boston with the Jon De Lucia Group.
Members of the Jon De Lucia Group...
Nir Felder (Guitar)
Since first picking up the electric guitar at the
age of thirteen, twenty-two year old Nir Felder has
quickly risen to become one of the finest exponents of
modern jazz on the instrument. In addition to
attending Berklee College of Music on a full
scholarship, Nir has performed with such luminaries as John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Terri Lyne
Carrington, and Dennis Chambers, playing around the
world at such prestigious venues as New York City's
Blue Note, the North Sea Jazz Festival, and the
Monterey Jazz Festival, as both a sideman and leader
of his own group, Junk Poetics.
Leo Genovese (Piano)
Leonardo Genovese was born in Venado Tuerto, Argentina. After finishing high school, he entered the Rosario National Faculty of Music. That institution gave him two years of classical training and through that he discovered jazz. He began improvisation and jazz studies with Berklee graduate Ernesto Jodos and started touring Argentina with many groups,
including La Revancha, whose repertoire consisted mostly of Leonardo’s compositions. He was invited to tour in South America as part of Quintino Cinalli’s group, ultimately recording a CD called Cambio de
Planes. In 2001, he moved to Boston after receiving a full scholarship from Berklee College of Music and launched himself into Boston's jazz scene, playing with Herman Hampton, Darren Barrett, Victor Mendoza, Phil Grenadier, John Lockwood, Yoron Israel and many others. He continues to study with such jazz luminaries as Hal Crook, Joanne Brack
Links
