"One of several astonishing debut releases I've heard this year."
- David Adler, JazzTimes, New York Times
“De Lucia nudges the boundaries of jazz with his free use of Zen concepts and richly talented bandmates.”
— Advance praise from Fred Bouchard, Downbeat
“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.
- Bob Young, Boston Herald
"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."
- George W. Carroll/The Musicians' Ombudsman-EJAZZNEWS.COM
“Every note Jon plays… shines like the words in love. Sweet...with twists and turns.”
— Tiger Okoshi, Jazz Recording Artist
"Catch this group, you won't be dissappointed!"
- Ron Della Chiesa, WGBH Boston
From CD Press Release:
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.
Sample from Face no Face liner notes:
Here's yet 'another fresh face' in modern jazz, that of alto saxophonist Jon De Lucia...but wait! Now you see him, now you don't! And that's just the way he hears it.
With his steady, richly talented quintet, De Lucia nudges the boundaries of jazz with Zen inspired concepts like:a musician's identity may be strong one moment, then disappear the next. This reflects the ephemeral nature of life and art, and the right-brained context of improvisation. Another is yugen - the shroud of mystery surrounding what you cannot see or hear, art's esoteric element. Jon's wispy compositions emerge as mobile and graceful as fall leaves in a breeze. Yet they make spaces for broad development and unique performance, focusing on improvisation as a driving force.
Jon De Lucia – Alto and Soprano Saxophones
Leo Genovese – Piano
Nir Felder – Guitar
Garth Stevenson – Bass
Ziv Ravitz - Drums
Sumie Kaneko - Shamisen and Koto
Biography
Jon De Lucia- Saxophone
Jon De Lucia was born in Quincy, MA just south of Boston in 1980. Raised in Quincy, one of his first major music teachers was Berklee Alumnus Rich Kenneally. In 11th grade he began to study privately at Berklee College of Music with Dino Govoni. He received the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award upon graduation from high school.
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. While at Berklee he also studied Afrocuban folkloric music extensively, including traveling to Cuba to study bata drums. Later Jon 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. Internationally, Jon De Lucia has appeared frequently in newspapers, on television and the radio, notably live on WGBH Boston in 2005, and live on Fuji Terebi for Japanese Television in 2006.
In 2006, Jon released his first CD, Face no Face, on Jonji Music, his own label. 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 Brackeen, and Joe Lovano while also leading a group playing his original music.
Garth Stevenson (Acoustic Bass)
Garth Stevenson was born in Kelowna, BC, Canada in 1982. At seventeen, He received a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, graduating with a
degree in Performance and Jazz Composition. At Berklee, he was a three-time recipient of the Herb Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Jazz Composition and the Louie Bellson and Elvin Jones Award for Excellence in Performance. He has studied bass with John Lockwood, Larry Wolfe (Boston Symphony Orchestra), Bruno Raberg and Dave Santoro and studied composition with Greg Hopkins. Since graduating from Berklee, Garth has played with Joe Lovano, Ben Monder, George Garzone, Bob Gullotti, Mick Goodrick, Greg Hopkins, Jon Faddis and Hal Crook. He is currently touring with singer/songwriter Sonya Kitchell. His band Taq has become a fixture on the European jazz scene and his other trio, 202, is in the process of joining the Fresh Sound Label in Spain.
Ziv Ravitz (Drums)
Ziv was born in Beer-Sheva, Israel in 1976. Born to a family of musicians, he was drawn to music at an early age and by 13 he had begun his professional career, playing at various clubs in Israel as a drummer for performers from Europe and the United States. Ziv moved to the US in the summer of 2000 to attend the Berklee School of Music, eventually graduating with a degree in Jazz Composition. He has been performing and recording with numerous ensembles in the Boston area, both as an artist playing his own compositions and performing with musicians such as Hal Crook, Greg Hopkins, Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz, Eugene Friesen, Mick Goodrick, Eli Deji-bri, James Genus and George Garzone. In the winter of 2003, Ziv became an official recording artist of Huber Music Management and Recording label of Germany. He has toured extensively in Europe with various groups such as Taq, Minsarah, Sin, Nicolas Simon Group, and the Iasi Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Website
http://www.jondelucia.com
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