DAVID CHEVAN AND WARREN BYRD: Let Us Break Bread Together: Further Explorations of the Afro-Semitic Experience

David Chevan and Warren Byrd

Let Us Break Bread Together: Further Explorations of the Afro-Semitic Experience

© 2000 David Chevan and Warren Byrd (786626104925)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

(About MP3 downloads at CD Baby)

Gorgeous jazz. A piano and bass duo who interpret Jewish and African-American Sacred music.

tracks

1 Let Us Break Bread Together
2 Oseh Shalom (take 2)
3 How Much More (of Life's Burdens Must We Bear)
4 Eliyahu HaNavi
5 Little David, Play on Your Harp
6 Etz Chaim Hi (modern version)
7 If I Can Help Somebody
8 Etz Chaim Hi (traditional version)
9 Soon I Will Be Done
10 Hineh Mah Tov
11 Oseh Shalom (take 1)

notes

Gorgeous jazz. A piano and bass duo who interpret Jewish and African-American Sacred music.

See the reviews, below...

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • Perfectly placid!
    author: Diva Joan Cartwright

    Playing piano has always brought me peace. Listening to David and Warren is doing the same for me, right now! I believe the piano/bass duo is so underrated and I'm happy to see two musicians who know how to make the BEST of this musical ensemble! Stay in tune!

  • Perfect for get togethers with family and friends
    author: Nia

    Loved it

  • Takes you into another world
    author: Jeudi Carr

    This CD is a joy to hear. For those who know the Jewish tunes, it is doubley nice, but even it you don't know them, the Jazz is mindbending and the music very satisfying.

  • This is a must-hear!
    author: Deb Harris

    We were fortunate enough to hear the Afro-Semitic Experience live last month and bought a CD that night. After listening to it - again and again - we just decided we had to own more. Don't pass up a chance to hear them!

  • A spiritual experience. A jazz experience. An achievement.
    author: Lawrence M. Miller

    These guys are in tune with the music, the culture of their religious traditions, and with each other. Lots of nice melodic surprises. Makes me feel good.

  • Buy the CD!
    author: Ez Weiss Of Blues Connotation

    This CD reminds me of the Charlie Haden/Hank Jones Spirituals CD. The playing is excellent, the recording quality is excellent -- the bass sounds really good. And it's cool to hear the Jewish songs in a jazz setting, as well as the traditional gospel music. Great CD!

  • so well matched
    author: Judy Caplan Ginsburg

    Byrd is a sensitive and expressive pianist and Chevan a masterful bass player. Together, they incorporate a variety of sounds and playing techniques on each of their instruments. As their photos on the CD's cover blend together, so does their music. They are so well matched that the listener almost feels as if only one person is playing. Byrd and Chevan seem to "feel" this music in an identical way.

  • enjoyed for the sheer beauty and musicality of the playing
    author: Seth Rogovoy, Berkshire Magazine

    The musicians improvise on the songs' strong melodic cores, but they also play with the rhythm. "Eliyahu Hanavi," for example, is given a tango lift before pianist Byrd takes off on a dazzling, giddy solo that touches down in Monk and stride territory. It suits the piece, which celebrates the coming of the Messiah. Most importantly, "Let Us Break Bread Together" works as a jazz duet album, and can be enjoyed for the sheer beauty and musicality of the playing.

  • author: Ari Davidow, Www.klezmershack.com

    The duo... is a pleasure to watch. This album is a pleasureful capturing of that experience. It's jazz, and good listening jazz, but it's also a reminder of shared history and sacred space, something that is good to encounter when done this well.

  • a magical mix of music
    author: Bob Cumming, Hometown Publications

    The bonding . . . is unbeatable. It's a bond that's wholesomely natural, appropriately spiritual and inevitably unbreakable. It's truly the kind of bond in which it's worth investing. Imagine: All that jazz coming from two dudes on two instruments-love links to God. Listening angels might call it a magical mix of music . . . That's quite a combo!

  • no reason not to tap your toes
    author: Nils Jacobson, All About Jazz.com

    more a joyous celebration of diversity than it is any kind of solemn piece of gravity. . . "Let Us Break Bread Together" successfully accomplishes its goal of combining African-American and Jewish experiences, offering a mixture of music which can be appreciated from any cultural perspective. And there's no reason not to tap your toes while the music dances forward.

  • such joy in the duo's delivery
    author: Richard Kamins, Hartford Courant

    The up-tempo numbers have a zing and the slower pieces resonate sweetly. Byrd's rolling piano lines and rich chords are compelling, calling for repeated listening. Chevan's bass not only has a supportive role but serves as percussion (on the faster pieces) and counterpoint (especially on the slower tunes.) Yes, there are several jazzy takes on Jewish prayers but there is such joy in the duo's delivery it's hard to find fault with their interpretations.

  • a jazz recording well beyond the ordinary!
    author: Willard Jenkins, Open Sky

    a jazz recording well beyond the ordinary, run-of-the-mill new record release

  • intelligent and thoughtful music, and I recommend it highly
    author: George Robinson, The Jewish Voice

    Communication on the most elemental level and yet, at the same time, the most elevated . . . "Let Us Break" is an excellent record of intelligent and thoughtful music, and I recommend it highly. 4 ½ stars!

  • a CD of heartfelt inter-denominational duets
    author: Bob Blumenthal, The Boston Globe

    a CD of heartfelt inter-denominational duets

  • Leave it to the artists among us to heal the breach
    author: Martin Goldsmith, Former Host And Senior Commentator For Npr's P

    Leave it to the artists among us to heal the breach. On their new CD, "Let Us Break Bread Together: Further Explorations of the Afro-Semitic Experience", pianist Warren Byrd and double bassist David Chevan explore and celebrate the musical ties that have bound these two traditions together across centuries of suffering and redemption. Listening to this CD is a bit like checking out a funky little club in the basement of a church or shul. Or listening to a sermon on a bus ride headed South.

email

Please log in to email this artist.