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          True synergy is a most sought-after substance for an ensemble that pursues the more adventurous elements of creative music.  Composer/drummer Jon Di Fiore’s trio demonstrates synergy at its finest on his new CD, Yellow Petals (Third Freedom Music). Along with pianist Billy Test and bassist Adrian Moring, Jon’s trio has been performing together extensively for four years and has clearly developed an ensemble identity that should be a model for all ensembles in pursuit of the transcendent.There is often an erroneous perception that pushing the boundaries results in a diminishing of the qualities of musicality and beauty that have been hallmarks of great jazz since the days in which Ellington, Armstrong and Hawkins were setting the parameters for the serious art of jazz.  While some adventurers choose elements of chaos and discordance in their quests for innovation, that is never the thrust of this trio.  The influence of modern piano trios led by Bud Powell, Andrew Hill, Mal Waldron, Brad Mehldau and particularly Bill Evans are entwined into the outlook of Jon’s trio. Nevertheless, the singular expressiveness of these three individuals is always at the core of all nine of the outstanding Di Fiore originals on this excellent recording. Each of them provides a fertile canvas for the type of exploration that is fundamental for the innovative and urgent substances that are essential to jazz at its most creative.A superior composer, Jon creates works that are quite modern, but highly lyrical; each of them delineating a definite structure, but leaving a great deal of room for exploration and development.  There is a sense of equality among the musicians that never feels as if someone is simply soloing over basic support.  Rather, all three play as one, allowing the music to shift colors and rhythms most organically, never veering off track.  It is sometimes difficult to know when the composed sections end and improvisation takes over, as sheer musicality is always the dominant factor. Even Jon’s drums are tuned to provide a totally sonorous texture – much in the manner of highly musical drummers like Max Roach and Joe Chambers.A certain level of virtuosity is essential to playing this music and all three of these musicians are truly remarkable.  However, technical prowess is only the entry point, as all great jazz demands that a story be told; and told with emotion and beauty.  On Yellow Petals enthralling stories are told. But as Duke stated in no uncertain terms: “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.”  This music swings.Jon’s drumming is in constant motion; prodding, accenting, coloring, driving, shimmering and steering – always fully on point.  Moring’s bass playing is deeply wooded, powerfully rhythmic, crisply defined and remarkably fluent.  Test’s piano is dynamic, spans the emotional spectrum from ethereal to explosive and reflects the entire history of the past 60 years of jazz piano artistry – along with clear familiarity with the Western Classical methodology.

Every piece on the album is clearly constructed with a definitive direction and destination in mind, but the journey within is always filled with surprises and delights, shifting harmonically, rhythmically and emotionally from moment to moment without ever losing its direction or essence.  Each of the compositions is rooted by a particular inspirational source, whether a personal relationship, a musical source, a composer or even architecture, the depiction is vivid in its display.

The album opens with Demise, adapted from Chopin’s Prelude Opus 28, Number 4, and immediately the stunning interplay of the trio lets the listeners know that they are in for quite a fascinating ride.  Composer/pianist Guillermo Klein – a key influence on Di Fiore – inspired InKleined, built upon a fractured ostinato bass line that creates a delicious tension for an atmospheric exploration and dynamic climax.  Minimalism is the source on Where Does the Wind Blow, producing an unabashedly hard driving piece stoked by vibrantly walking bass, dancing drums and a brilliantly constructed Bud Powell-ish piano solo.

Environments provided the launching points for three other pieces.  The music of North Africa inspired Silver.  Like InKleined this is essentially a through-composed piece with patches of space for improvisation.  In this case it’s highly rhythmic, exotic, free-flowing and modal, with sinuous piano that swirls like a musette in the solo, later blending with the bass to create a dramatic drone under Jon’s sparkling drum solo.  Spanish music is the source for Orange, launched by Jon’s cajón-like drum intro.  Built on a bass heartbeat, it features an exciting piano solo that swirls and swings.  Shotgun House – provoked by low-income New Orleans architecture – opens as an ethereal ballad and then deftly moves between easy swing and fiery jubilation.

Personal relationships are the roots for three pieces.  Live for Tomorrow, Forget Today, a dedication to Jon’s parents, is mostly free improvisation following the lovely melody, built on ostinato bass and shimmering cymbals.  An exciting piece, it features a blistering piano solo of fiery single note runs, thunderous block chords and glowing cascades.  Companion (described by Jon as “written for the one I love”) is a lovely, highly lyrical paean that builds to a series of ascending climaxes. The album closes with the title track Yellow Petals, in memory of Jon’s mother.  A beautifully evocative piece, it opens with filigree solo piano, later buoyed by bass and drums of gently whispering subtlety – a heartfelt expression of love, joy and sorrow, and a most luminescent ending to a scintillating and uplifting album.

Hopefully this trio will remain together for many years to come and continue to expand upon the powerful music contained on Yellow Petals.

Artist Website:  www.jondifiore.com

Upcoming Events

• SUN

  02

  MAR

  2014

  GERMAN GONZALEZ TRIO

  12pmJazz Brunch at the Liberty House • Jersey City, NJ

• SUN

  09

  MAR

  2014

  BILLY CARRION GROUP

  7:30pmTrumpets Jazz Club • Montclair, NJ

• SUN

  09

  MAR

  2014

  GERMAN GONZALEZ TRIO

  12pmJazz Brunch at the Liberty House • Jersey City, NJ

• FRI

  14

  MAR

  2014

  PJ RASMUSSEN OCTET

  7pmShapeshifter Lab • Brooklyn, NY

• SUN

  16

  MAR

  2014

  GERMAN GONZALEZ TRIO

  12pmJazz Brunch at the Liberty House • Jersey City, NJ

• SAT

  22

  MAR

  2014

  HIDDEN JAZZ COLLECTIVE

  7pmNew Paltz, NY

• SUN

  23

  MAR

  2014

  GERMAN GONZALEZ TRIO

  12pmJazz Brunch at the Liberty House • Jersey City, NJ

• WED

  26

  MAR

  2014

  GERMAN GONZALEZ TRIO

  3pmNJCU • Jersey City, NJ

  Music Among Books Series

• SAT

  29

  MAR

  2014

  KAITLYN FAY QUARTET

  10pmHat City Kitchen • Orange, NJ

• SUN

  30

  MAR

  2014

  CONNOR KOCH QUINTET

  5pmThe Deer Head Inn • Delware Water Gap, PA

• SAT

  12

  APR

  2014

  JON DI FIORE TRIO

  7pmPatricia M. Kuran Cultural Arts Center • Fanwood, NJ

  Presented by the Fanwood Cultural Arts Performance Series

Media Contact
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services
Ph: 845-986-1677 / jim@jazzpromoservices.com
“Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”

Media Requests Contact

Jim Eigo
Jazz Promo Services
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jim@jazzpromoservices.com
www.jazzpromoservices.com“Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”

March 12 , 2014

Set Times: 7:30 and 9:00 PM

From the opening strains of Polygon, pianist/composer Mike Bardash’s remarkable new Rhombus Records CD, the listener will be fully aware that an exciting and unpredictable journey lies ahead.  A pianist of consummate artistry, Bardash’s playing is placed totally within the context of the music, which showcases his extraordinarily imaginative vision as a composer.  Ten of the eleven compositions are Bardash originals and contain a broad palette of modern jazz expression within each highly distinctive piece.  Funky and straight ahead hard bop, soul jazz, structured avant-garde, and solid blowing are all flavors in this magical stew of creativity and adventure.Although rooted in that progressive hard bop and beyond mode of the tradition that has made the Blue Note sound so timeless, the music on Polygon is fully of the moment and never allows looking back to stand in the way of looking forward.  Mike’s compositions are in constant motion – changing textures, shifting time signatures and altering moods in an organically evolving structure that tells vivid stories and creates an ideal canvas for the soloists.Bardash has assembled an exemplary group of musicians for this music, locking the framework in place with a longtime collaborator, the brilliant bassist Gene Torres, along with the dynamic rhythms of drummer Tony Lewis. The powerful frontline consists of trumpeter Kenyatta Beasley and another longtime Bardash colleague, Deji Coker on tenor sax and flute.  All of the musicians are fully informed in the various stylistic elements and totally in command as they traverse the challenging music, telling compelling stories as they take the journey.  The full-bodied sounds of both hornmen and the no-nonsense dynamism of Mike’s piano playing create a huge sound that often makes the quintet sound like a larger ensemble – ideally suited to this music.  And while the music unquestionably stretches boundaries and pursues the adventurous, it never abandons the essence of musicality that is always front and center.

Seven of the highly imaginative Bardash originals are woven together into ThePolygon Suite that comprises more than half of the album.   But the four pieces that precede it set the tone perfectly.  These include the one non-Bardash item, D’s Blues, written by Coker. A hard-boppish blues over a sprightly walking bass, it has a jocular, lopsided feel that is downright Monkish.  Fluidly swinging piano, tenor and trumpet solos highlight this short and sweet foray.

Fiery exuberance is the key to Impulse, an explosive take-no-prisoners excursion of tension-filled arcing lines in an upward spiral.  The scintillating rhythm section play sets off virile tenor and trumpet solos and a vigorous piano solo of cascading runs and thunderous block chords, then closes with an exceptionally musical drum solo.

An easier, but no less emphatic mood is created on the funk-fest Brass Tacks, which opens the album – strikingly syncopated and darkly luminous in the manner reminiscent of Andrew Hill’s approach to funky hard bop.  Fueled by Torres’ throbbing electric bass and Lewis’s infectious backbeat, there are soul-drenched solos by Torres, a Lee Morgan-ish Beasley and Coker’s raunchy tenor that lead into an unexpectedly rubato turn by Bardash that still manages to evoke the spirit of Bobby Timmons within its free context.

An entirely different vibration is achieved with Late in the Game, an atmospheric, dramatic piece rooted by deep wood bass, freely punctuating piano, shimmering cymbals and dulcet malletry.  There is a distinct cinematic feeling as the musicians paint a portrait that shifts between serenity and turbulence, but always focused on beauty.

The Polygon Suite is launched with Kenny’s Klave, full of surprises and unpredictable twists and turns, with the fervently inventive percussion of Bongo Bruno adding special color on this track.  Primarily veering between free-bop and unabashedly Latin rhythms, the context shifts, twists, flows and dissolves in an ever changing narrative.  An arresting trumpet solo and rollicking tenor adds to the mix. 10 to 12 follows with its rapid-fire, boldly sinuous theme fueled by a perfectly unified rhythm section.  Punchy tenor, fluid trumpet and an edgy, rhythmic and adventurous piano solo are highlights.  A highly dramatic shift kicks in with the third movement,And then What (arranged by Coker).  A poignant ballad, the probing piece is layered over a sumptuous pillow provided by the rhythm section.  Exquisitely crafted and impeccably delivered, what could have been solemn is transformed into a message of hope and uplifting substance, posing important questions and seeking enlightened answers.  Leading Edge, a brief gentle rubato electric piano aperitif introduces Around the Edges. Also arranged by Coker, this is a jaunty smoldering groover built on an ostinato electric piano/bass vamp and playful backbeat, and features trumpet and flute in the unison lines.  A sprightly piano turn leads into Coker’s full-bodied flute solo that occasionally evokes Rahsaan.  Trailing Edge, a very short electric piano romp melds into Sugar High Rondo, which closes the suite.  A briskly punctuated theme stoked by nicely syncopated rhythms throughout provide the structure for a muscular, confrontational tenor solo that leads into a spectacular collective improv climax and the closing theme that brings this marvelous album to its conclusion.

For those who feel that contemporary jazz has lost the fire, urgency, jubilation and innovation of the earlier traditions, Polygon will be a delightful reminder that those classic traditions of this great art form are still alive and well.