Fabian Almazan Trio w/ Strings @ Jazz Standard 10/17/12

I saw them at Winter Jazzfest and was looking forward to a future opportunity to see more.  The ensemble was different in that Linda Oh and Henry Cole weren't there, but it was still great.  They played some world premiers as well as some older songs.  It was excellent and fun.


The listing:
Known to audiences around the world for his superlative playing with the Terence Blanchard Quintet, in May 2012 Fabian Almazan released an auspicious debut album, Personalities, with an array of sounds ranging from 19^th century Cuban danzon to tough, melodic modern jazz. Perhaps the most surprising track is his version of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 10, one of Almazan’s favorite pieces from his years of classical piano lessons. The original performance by piano trio and string quartet was manipulated with signal processers “to create ghostly wails, chirps and rumbles within Shostakovich’s melody,” wrote Geoffrey Himes in The Washington Post. “…Almazan creates narratives with his instrumental music, whether it’s the story of his childhood in Havana, his early gigs in Manhattan, his classical piano lessons in Miami, his electronica experiments in Utah or his observation of stage parents everywhere.”
Fabian Almazan – piano
Joshua Crumbly – bass
Kendrick Scott – drums
Meg Okura - violin
Tomoko Omura - 2nd violin
Karen Waltuch - viola
Noah Hoffeld - cello
& special guest Camila Meza - voice & guitar