AAJ Review: Rez Abbasi Trio. Continuous Beat

[jkelman]

My review of Rez Abbasi Trio's Continuous Beat, today at All About Jazz.

Following the more ambitious and broad-scoped Suno Suno (Enja, 2011), the Pakistani-born/American-based guitarist pares down to a simple trio. with bassist John Hébert and drummer Satoshi Takeishi, two players with whom he's collaborated in the past, just not together. Originally to be a trio with Paul Motian, when the drummer pulled out for health reasons, Abbasi decided to move forward with a show in his honor; when he passed away a month later it made this superb collection of Abbasi originals and lesser-known covers all the more poignant, though the music itself is far from melancholic. Instead, with a range of textures and a language that, in the past 5-7 years, has really become his own, Abassi's combination of combination of motivic development, purposeful virtuosity and unshackled imagination makes Continuous Beat a guitar trio record well worth checking out.

Review here.

[wideopenears]

This is on my Buy list for sure...