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Pressestimmen: Paul Brody
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Pressestimmen "Sadawi"
über "Beyond Babylon":
Berlin-based trumpeter Paul Brody's Sadawi,
a collective featuring clarinetist Jan Hermerschmidt, guitarist/banjoist
Brandon Seabrook, bassist Martin Lillich, and drummer Eric Rosenthal,
make strikingly original and cutting-edge music. Even though the concoction
has its foot (or maybe less) in the tradition, its foundation is a catalyst
for the creation of something distinctive that places electronic treatments,
pulsing bass lines, and shrapnel-infused guitar fireworks in the mix.
 Paul
Brody´s Sadawi - "Beyond Babylon"
On Beyond Babylon, the vivacious
follow up to the group's previous effort, Kabbalah Dream, Brody brings
compositions-as well as substantial recastings of works from other Radical
Jewish Culturalists Glenn Dickson ("A Friend Of Kafka"), Frank
London ("Golem Khosidl"), David Krakauer ("Klezmer a la
Bechet"), and Ben Goldberg ("Masks and Faces") that keep
the listener guessing as to the next fork in the road. The structural
twists and turns, be it Klezmer, jaunty swing, four-on-the-floor rock,
or just a good old-fashioned improvisational blowout, all play a part
of this eclectic mix. In addition to the compositional variance, the individual
instrumentalists are stimulating, especially Seabrook's unpredictable
tonal colors.
The most "traditional"
piece, if you want to call it that, is the opening foray of "Two
Be Simple", with Brody's rich personality shining through as he periodically
hints at a traditional Shaker melody ("Simple Gifts", written
by Joseph Brackett, for those keeping score) over the driving rhythmic
currents. Seabrook's biting, prickly banjo attack is not to be missed
here-it's a lightning bolt for the song and the other musicians. The corresponding
"Basketball Barmitzva" blows the idea of the "traditional-influenced
music with an edge" concept to shreds, primarily due to Seabrook's
distorted, slippery slide work and Hermerschmidt's buzzing bass clarinet.
Such rock-inspired jaunts also invigorate "A Fragment Of Kafka's
Friend", where Seabrook's wiry guitar meets Hermerschmidt's slithering
melodies before fading off into the distance. Accordion player Alan Bern
is also added to the ensemble and works well within the context of the
swing/improv of "Masks And Faces".
Though Brody's trumpetwork is solid
throughout, perhaps the best showcase for his technique is on the dusky
ballad "Timepeace", which moves along like a caravan on the
desert. The ensemble also funks it up with a sense of urgency on "Klezmer
A La Bechet", though they bring the proceedings back to a hazy, dreary
atmosphere with London's "Golem Khosidl" before a supercharged
conclusion. The final two tracks, "Glass Dance", including spry
work from Bern's melodica and "An Eye For You", suggest again
that while they may be technically far from "the tradition",
the roots are still there, with a mix of both reflective sobriety and
celebratory marches.
by Jay Collins, 16 February 2005
Trumpeter
Paul Brody has been deconstructing Jewish music for a couple of albums,
now. This latest effort feels especially loose and interesting. It also
includes four pieces based on works by others: Frank London, David Krakauer,
Ben Goldberg, and Glenn Dickson.
To some degree, the music is distant.
These are not explorations based on a deep sense of the original sources.
Rather, in interpreting the interpretations of others, Brody exemplifies
an approach that is, in effect, engaging the meta information about culture,
rather than the culture, itself. Intellectually, I am pleased at that
insight. Musically, it means that this sounds like music a couple of generations
from direct connection to Jewish cultural sources, so that whereas someone
listening, say, to Aaron Alexander's Midrash Mish Mosh can sense the original
sources and their transformation, here one is first attracted to the music
and the interesting nooks and crannies of same. Practically, of course,
this "insight" might cause the listener to miss the fact that
there is very interesting music recorded here, regardless of the purity
or directness of the source. I do very much like the way Brody mixes Jewish
and meta-Jewish musical elements with jazz elements and weaves them into
an abstractly reconstructed tapestry. Nor are all of the elements Jewish.
The closing "An eye for a you" feels more connected to Spanish
Flamenco. As always, it could be me who is missing the transformation.
Once music goes too far from its source, my ear is insufficiently tuned,
and I sufficiently ignorant, that there are direct transforms that I simply
don't hear.
Listen to the bass clarinet playing
the simple theme that opens "Basketball Barmitzva" for instance,
and then let your ears experience the explorations that follow. Consider
"A fragment of Kafka's friend" whose source is less important
than the interplay between voice sample, trumpet, accordion and clarinet.
Alan Bern's accordion intro to the reconstructed "Masks and Faces"
originally by Ben Goldberg catches the spirit of Goldberg's free jazz
rendition nicely. The result is a relatively loose, but always engaging,
engrossing interplay of sound. Brody's "Timepeace" has a slow,
doina-influenced feel to it. The interplay on "Klezmer a la Bechet"
is doubly fascinating, not just for its own very spacious and relatively
relaxed "Sadawi" beat, but for the mental comparison with Krakauer's
fiery rendition of a conversation between Bechet and Brandwein. In its
own way, the ensemble reaches an intensity not much less than Krakauer's
own, and similarly rocks out on London's "Golem Khosidl" in
ways that make the piece feel entirely different from the original.
One of the few times when I feel
that I hear another artist directly is in "Glass Dance," where
Alan Bern's guest accordion playing at the start is very much his own,
only gradually building in intensity and sounding more and more assimilated
into the group sound.
As always, the final result is simply
interesting and engaging. It is also, in the end, at least deeper than
the quote from Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated (or the
faux profundity of the graphic on the album cover), and seems actually
to have something to say about music building on music which builds on
music, each level of which requires taking the time to learn and to assimilate,
and then, to move on. This album is a pleasure, and as before, I will
be very interested to hear what comes next in its time, as well.
Reviewed by Ari Davidow, 9 Jan 2005, www.klezmershack.com
Following
his '02 debut on Tzadik, Kabbalah Dreams , Berlin-based trumpeter
Paul Brody reconvenes his group Sadawi for a sophomore effort that takes
the tradition of Jewish music and quite literally twists it on its ear.
Over half of Beyond Babylon
evolves from Brody deconstructing pieces by four modern klezmer musicians/composers—Frank
London (”Golem Khosidl”), David Krakauer (”Klezmer ?
la Bechet”), Glenn Dickson (”Fragment of Kafka's Friend”),
and Ben Goldberg (”Masks and Faces”). In some cases the reinvention
of these pieces comes from the most minimal of sources, as in “Fragment
of Kafka,” where Brody takes the last four notes of Dickson's melody
from his “A Friend of Kafka” and establishes them as Martin
Lillich's bass line, with scattered notes from Dickson's clarinet melody
serving as a reference point for the more spacious beginning and end sections.
As a player, Brody straddles the
line between pure lyricism and freer expression, often within the space
of the same piece. Again, on “A Fragment of Kafka's Friend”
he alternates a melodic line with extended techniques that are reminiscent
of some of Dave Douglas' more outward playing.
Sadawi treats the material with a
certain amount of honour, but with an equal degree of irreverence. “Two
Be Simple” begins with a more traditional dervish-like hora, but
while drummer Eric Rosenthal maintains a looser version of the rhythm,
guitarist Brandon Seabrook takes a banjo solo that comes right out of
Derek Bailey territory. Seabrook, in fact, is the find of the set, bringing
a surprisingly diverse aesthetic to the proceedings that leans more to
a rock sensibility. On “Basketball Barmitzva” his overdriven
guitar is equal parts Marc Bolan and Marc Ribot, while his alternating
of chunky Steve Cropper rhythms with heavier power chords on the theme
of “Klezmer à la Bechet” lends an approachable edginess
before Lillich and Rosenthal introduce an almost funky vamp over which
he layers a more free-ranging solo.
Like some of John Zorn's early material,
only less frenetic, Brody's compositions and deconstructions run through
a wealth of ideas in relatively short time frames. “Masks and Faces,”
which features guest accordionist Alan Bern, begins with a simple repeated
phrase before clarinetist Jan Hermerschmidt and Bern deliver the theme
over a rhythmic backdrop that is playful and varied. Time builds and breaks
down, with Lillich and Rosenthal running the gamut from simple groove
to elastic free playing.
It is, in fact, Brody's ability to
embrace a musical tradition, while at the same time managing to avoid
all its trappings, that makes Beyond Babylon such an intriguing listen.
Time shifts, melodies weave in and out, dynamics ebb and flow, and pieces
shift from heavily structured form to complete freedom, yet the program
retains a sense of focus that makes it feel more like a multi-part suite
than a collection of discrete songs. Beyond Babylon challenges
the boundaries of traditional Jewish music by questioning its very essence
and, in the final analysis, takes it to new places not previously envisioned.
Review by John Kelman, www.allaboutjazz.com
On
his second album fronting his band Sadawi, trumpeter and composer
Paul Brody continues his work in the avant-klezmer trenches, helping to
drag that hundred-year-old music kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
On Beyond Babylon he shows his unwillingness to be constrained
by any ghetto boundaries, opening the album with an extended deconstruction
of the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts" (which features a hair-raisingly
skronky banjo solo by Brandon Seabrook), and making use of elements of
both dub (on the contemplative and lovely "Timepeace"), and
rock (note the guitar parts on "Fragment of Kafka's Friend")
as well as lots and lots of modern jazz.
Most of the album is thrilling; Brody's
take on the David Krakauer composition "Klezmer à la Bechet"
is a joyful romp in five/four meter, "Glass Dance" is a masterful
chamber jazz excursion featuring guest Alan Bern on melodica; Brody's
own "An Eye for a You" struts out like a brazen shtetl girl
daring someone to dance with her. Only the scattershot and static "Masks
and Faces" fails to impress. Highly recommended overall.
Review by Rick Anderson, www.allmusic.com
Paul
Brodys aktuelles "Beyond Babylon" Album
mit seiner Band Sadawi ist eine wilde Synthese aus Klezmer und Jazz, und
zugleich eine Reminiszenz an John Zorns Tzadik Label.
Hört man Paul Brodys Musik ist
es, als ob man einen Einblick in sein Leben erhält. Denn der Trompeter
liebt es Klezmer, Punk, Free-Jazz und osteuropäische Musik in seine
Werke einfließen zu lassen und mit Hilfe experimenteller Improvisations-
und Kompositionstechniken miteinander zu verbinden. In einer jüdischen
Musikerfamilie in San Francisco aufgewachsen weckte sein Vater, der von
russischen Einwanderern abstammte, in ihm die Liebe zur Klarinette und
seine Mutter, die vor den Nazis aus Österreich geflohen war, das
Interesse an Klassik. Als Brody nach Boston ging, um klassische Trompete
zu studieren, beschäftigte er sich zudem mit Komposition und Arrangement,
vor allem mit Gunther Schulers Synthese aus Neuer Musik und Jazz, der
so genannten "Third Stream Music".
Eine weitere wichtige Inspirationsquelle
ist der Autodidakt und "Radical Jewish Culture" Vertreter John
Zorn, der mit seiner experimentellen Cut-Up-Kompositionstechnik den Hörern
eine aufrührende Mischung aus Neuinterpretationen von Jazz-Klassikern,
Punk, Klezmer und Free-Jazz um die Ohren knallt. Umso erstaunlicher ist
es, dass es Brody gelingt, all diese Fußnoten seines Lebens in sein
aktuelles Album einfließen zu lassen. Aufgrund der Kombination der
vermeintlichen musikalischen Gegensätze, strahlt "Beyond
Babylon" eine enigmatische Anziehungskraft aus. Virtuos spielen
Brody und seine Begleitband Sadawi zu einem mitreißenden musikalischen
Reigen auf, in dem sich neben fünf Eigenkompositionen vier Neu-Interpretationen
und -Arrangements von weiteren Tzadik-Künstlern, wie Frank London,
The New Klezmer Trio, Naftule`s Dream und David Krakauer finden. Spannender
kann aktuelle Musik nicht sein!
Rezension von Matthias Schneider (arte-tv.com)
Es
ist zu berichten von einem wundervollen Album,
dessen Musik nur denjenigen Sorgen bereiten, die es nicht vom ersten bis
zum letzten Ton gehört haben. Paul Brody und Sadawi nehmen mit, was
auf dem Weg nach Klezmer am Rande der Tour liegt: schrägen Jazz,
Rock'N'Roll-Riffs, Kunstgesang, Blechgebläse. Brody ist kein waschechter
Berliner, sondern kommt aus San Francisco. In der deutschen Hauptstadt
ist jetzt jedoch sein Lebensmittelpunkt, was an der Musik aber überhaupt
nicht ablesbar ist.
Eigenes Material und Stücke
von David Krakauer und Frank London tauchen tief in Strukturen des Klezmer
ein, zitieren Tradi-tionen und lassen sich ausführlich auf New Klezmer
ein. Sprühende Lebensfreude spricht aus den Klängen, die Sadawi
neben der fast jedem Klezmer-Stück innewohnenden Melancholie ausbreitet.
Es ist selten, dass ein so rundes, geschlossenes und mitreißendes
Album das CD-Presswerk verlässt.
Rezension von westzeit.de 18.10.2004
über "Kabalah Dreams":
 The
title track and opening song "Kabalah Dreams"
opens with a harsh funk, that periodically devolves into a frantic klezmer-derived
progression, then opens out into a Miles Davis-style space before returning
to its klezmer roots. The piece nicely showcases trumpeter Paul Brody's
latest ensemble as a delightful, hard-edged fusion of klezmer and jazz.
Later, on the composer's reworking of the traditional "Sadawi"
the band shows an entirely different side to intensity, but never losing
its tightness or edge or drive.
The inventiveness and scope of the
opening number foreshadow the fun yet to come. This is a very exciting
jazz album that incorporates a wide variety of Ashkenazic Jewish elements.
As I wrote elsewhere, recently, this is a rare Tzadik album that actually
seems to have something to propose in terms of fusing Jewish and Jazz
and coming up with something new, something approaching the edges of what
we know musically. It's also impossible not to enjoy an album with song
titles as delightful as "Holy Man's Hum" or "Buber's Big
Boat." The latter especially seems to embody the spaciousness and
even I-Thou connectedness of such a name. Other lighter moments include
"Sleeping on a Rock" which gives room for everyone in the band
short solos before Brody's own lyric trumpet returns to tie things together.
This is also the sort of album that
breaks a bit away from the Tzadik sound. There is the usual clarity, but
the music feels far more original than most. If it resemble's anyone's
work it is that of the other band that doesn't fit Tzadik's categories
well, Naftule's Dream. That may come as much as having Eric Rosenthal,
that band's long-time drummer, along with Boston regular (and I believe,
new Naftule's Dream member) Brandon Seabrook on banjo, guitar, and electronics.
The relaxed energy and nice integration with the rest of Berlin-based
Brody's ensemble is wonderful.
I have to say, as I did on the first
album, how much I enjoy what Brody is doing, and how inventive I feel
his music is. From that opening funk klezmer, to the closer bells of "(Born)
Smaller than a Banana," this album is worth listening to, and a pleasure
to listen to. Brody has fused a variety of Jewish musics with jazz in
a way that is both approachable (albeit, not excessively so) and yet retains
edginess and progressive elements. It's a pleasure.
by Ari Davidow - klezmershack.com
Der aus San Francisco stammende Wahlberliner Paul Brody spielt
Musik mit Zugangsvoraussetzung: Wer weder Klezmer noch Jazz mag, wird
die Musik von Brodys Quintett Sadawi mit Sicherheit nur merkwürdig
finden. Wer aber ein Herz für eine oder gar beide Musikrichtungen
hat, kann eine der Platten des Jahres entdecken. Der studierte Trompeter
und Komponist Paul Brody entwickelte für sich zunächst eine
Synthese aus Jazz und Neuer Musik, um im nächsten Schritt die Mischung
zudem mit Klezmer zu fusionieren. Heraus kommt eine wilde, improvisationsfreudige
Melange, die New Klezmer mit jazzigem Einschlag oder Jazz mit jiddischem
Touch genannt werden kann. Freiheit und Experimentierfreude des Jazz mischt
sich der Lebensfreude und Melancholie des Klezmer zu einer äußerst
ungewöhnlichen wie charmanten Mischung, in der Trompete und Klarinette
den Ton angeben und dabei von Banjo, Gitarre, Bass und Schlagzeug umspielt
werden. Für Hör-Individualisten mit Lust auf Abenteuer.
Simone Rafael (brigitte.de)
Pressestimmen "Tango Toy"
"Brodys Kompositionen pendeln zwischen Tradition und Moderne und
sind voller Spannung und überraschender Wendungen. ... Brody ist
mithin radikale Musik gelungen, die sämtliche Kategorien sprengt."
Jazzpodium 1/2003
"Paul Brody's Trompetenspiel ist voller Humor und Melancholie, er
durchbricht die Grenzen zwischen Blues, osteuropäischer Folk-Musik
und modernem Jazz"
taz
"Mit Tango Toy betritt Paul Brody die Galerie der Klezmer-Größen
der Welt – New Klezmer Trio, Hasidic New Wave, Masada, Neftule's
Dream, Dave Douglas – derer die eine geniale und zeitgemäße
Synthese schufen von osteuropäischer, jüdischer, afrikanisch-Amerikanischer
und westeuropäischer Musik."
Frank London, Trompeter (Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave)
"Eine gelungene Synthese von jüdischer Musiktradition und jazzbezogener
Kompositionstechnik."
Die Welt
"Uneingeschränkte Empfehlung!"
Jazzthing
"CD der Woche"
WDR – Köln (15/2001)
"In Brody's Trompete erwachen sämtliche Klarinettengeister
zu neuem Leben – zu einem Leben in New York. In seinem Instrument
trifft sich die Welt. Nini Rossos "Clown" wirft sich unvermittelt
den mexikanischen Poncho über. Und in ein bisschen Blues ist auch
dabei. Die ausgefeilten Arrangements weisen den 39-Jährigen, ehemaliges
Mitglied des Harlem Opera Ensembles, als Komponisten mit feinem Klangsinn
aus."
Berliner Morgenpost
[...] trumpeter Paul Brody not only created his masterpiece but also
joins the champion league of international the Avant Klezmer scene.
Wolf Kampmann
Full of both humor and melancholy, Paul Brody's lyrical trumpet playing
breaks the borders of blues, East European folk music, and modern jazz.
Tagesspiegel
Brody's band fuses klezmer and electronic jazz together...openning up
whole new musical worlds.
Andreas Vick (RADIO multikulti/SFB)
"Innovative melting of East European, American and African music.
…a must for klezmer and jazz fans."
Beeld & Geluid Opinie (music magazine – Holland)
"Paul Brody´s Tango Toy offers a personal, heartfelt, and
deeply intensive approach to klezmer that will appeal to music fans of
all stripes."
Hankus Netsky (founder and director – Klezmer Conservatory
Band)
"Innovative trumpet playing … with soft lyrical human voice-like
tone. Paul Brody melts klezmer and blues into one sigh."
Paris Music Journal
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