Rez Abbasi

“Django-shift”

(Whirlwind Recordings WR4762)

Rez Abbasi – fretted and fretless acoustic guitars
Neil Alexander – organ, electronics, synthesisers
Michael Sarin – drums

A somewhat belated look at this album, which was originally released at the end of August 2020.

Guitarist Rez Abbasi was born in 1965 in Karachi, Pakistan, but raised in California from the age of four. He began playing guitar at the age of eleven, his interest in jazz inspired by witnessing Joe Pass performing with Ella Fitzgerald.

Abbasi studied guitar at the University of South Carolina and at the Manhattan School of Music. graduating in 1989. He released his first album as a leader in 1993 and “Django-shift” represents his fifteenth recording under his own name, and his third for Whirlwind, following “Unfiltered Universe” (2017) and “A Throw of Dice” (2019).  Abbasi was also part of the core quintet that appeared on bassist and Whirlwind founder Michael Janisch’s excellent 2019 release “Worlds Collide”. Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/michael-janisch-worlds-collide

Based in New York for the past twenty five years Abbasi leads a number of ensembles, ranging from trio to sextet, and has collaborated with many of America’s leading contemporary jazz musicians. He has also explored his cultural heritage, travelling to India to study with tabla master Ustad Alla Rakha and collaborating with American Indian musicians such as saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and pianist Vijay Iyer. He has also studied Qawwali, the spiritual music of Pakistan, elements of which informed his 2011 album release “Suno Suno” (Enja Records).

Abbasi’s music has regularly fused elements of jazz, rock and world music, creating a style of ‘fusion’ that is very much his own. A more comprehensive overview of his career to date can be found at his website http://www.reztone.com

The “Django-shift” project came about when Abbasi was commissioned to present a project on Django Reinhardt by Peter Williams, Artistic Director of Freight & Salvage’s Django Festival in California. Abbasi chose to focus on Reinhardt’s work as a composer, rather than his acknowledged brilliance as a guitarist. Abbasi made a point of carefully listening to Reinhardt’s entire catalogue before eventually choosing seven Reinhardt original compositions, plus a further two tunes that formed part of the Reinhardt repertoire.

An extract from Abbasi’s comprehensive liner notes explains how he approached the project;

“My research took me far beyond Django’s ‘greatest hits’. While exploring his full catalogue I was struck by the depth of his work. Peter was well acquainted with my music and embraced my project idea:  to re-contextualise Django’s music in a personal way, as opposed to presenting it in a conventional style. My aim was to honour Django’s compositional character while infusing it with my own compositional voice. Thus I kept his melodies intact, utilising them to serve as the foundational identity of each piece. From there I had the freedom to add my own voice, through harmonic content, rhythmical cadences, meter changes, textural development, as well as improvisation. I also composed introductions, solo sections, and applied a diversity of grooves. Two of the selections were not written by Django but were part of his repertoire. I chose to include them because they had Django’s stamp, and I really liked them”.

He continues;
“Approaching Django’s music from the mindset of a composer helped me to resonate with his compositions on a profound level. In fact it’s not a stretch to say that when playing this music with this trio, it feels like our own. Creating this album was a beautiful challenge that I hope serves to introduce hardened Django fans to an alternative interpretation of his work, and draw new fans to the compositions of this extraordinary musician.”

The press release that accompanied my review copy of the album offers yet further insights with regard to the project, as Abbasi observes;
“One of the stronger feelings I get from Django’s music is euphoria, and I resonate deeply with that, but equally enjoy the darker phenomena of the music – both sides of the same coin! I didn’t realise how prolific a composer he was until working on this recording because the focus has always been on his heroic playing. I hope ‘Django-shift ‘ introduces this aspect of his genius to a broader audience that may also have been hypnotised by his playing.”

Of his colleagues in the project Abbasi enthuses;
“Neil tells a story when he improvises. He has a storehouse of musical knowledge but never plays just licks, which has always been central to my own approach to improvising. I’ve been playing with Michael for 25 years and he remains one of my favourite drummers. Both are very creative in how they sustain yet depart from various musical traditions, which is what it’s always been about for me. I live that!”.

Certainly it’s fair to say that this is Django as you’ve never heard him before. The melodies may be familiar, the interpretation of them emphatically not! The arrangements are far removed from the usual acoustic ‘gypsy jazz’ style that can be heard at various levels of competence the whole world over.  It’s a style that developed due to the portability of the instruments involved – guitars, violin, clarinet, even double bass. It’s rare for gypsy jazz to feature drums or any type of keyboard instrument, least of all organ and synthesiser! Even Abbasi’s choice of instrumental line up sets his group apart.

Turning now to the music itself as the album kicks off with “Diminishing”, in a 6/8 arrangement that adds yet another element to the mix. While working on the piece Abbasi began noticing similarities between the composing styles of Reinhardt and pianist Thelonious Monk, perhaps not the most obvious of parallels to the average listener. “I started hearing connections in their compositions” Abassi explains. “There’s a joy and bounce within both their styles, so I approached arranging a few of Django’s tunes with Monk in mind”.
These links are emphasised by an arrangement that emphasises those compositional similarities, but which also sounds startlingly contemporary. Abbasi, Alexander and Sarin prove to be a highly interactive unit, bouncing ideas off each other as Abbasi and Alexander exchange phrases and solos on guitar and organ respectively. Sarin is a busy and hugely adaptable presence throughout, who is also rewarded with his own feature. Abbasi plays acoustic guitars throughout the album, and hopefully there will be enough that is familiar here to keep hardcore Reinhardt listeners on side.

On “Swing 42” Abbasi deploys a seven beat cycle derived from Carnatic music, as he brings a world music element to the table. Reinhardt’s melody remains intact, albeit in an unusual setting, one that combines both loosely structured and densely rhythmic material. It’s a powerful performance, with Alexander’s keyboards a forceful presence throughout and with Sarin delivering a muscular performance behind the kit.

“Heavy Artillery” announces itself with a quiet, guitar led intro that belies its title. But there’s also an ominous feeling that finds expression in the heavier, blues tinged sounds that follow, with Sarin’s drums briefly almost assuming the lead, before handing over to Alexander’s feverish Hammond soloing. Abbasi’s guitar solo then serves to lower the temperature.

“Django’s Castle” also begins quietly, with Sarin deploying brushes, accompanied by organ washes and the remarkably expressive sound of Abassi’s fretless guitar, almost sitar like at times. Alexander subsequently takes over on synthesiser, sounding more like Django Bates than Django Reinhardt!

Written by Ion Ivanovic “Anniversary Song” represents the first non-Reinhardt selection, but it was one of Django’s favourites. The introduction, with its tautly strummed acoustic guitar, sounds almost conventional, but the patter of Sarin’s drums and the sound of Alexander’s keyboards soon steers the music in a more contemporary direction. The odd meter grooves are very much of the now and Alexander’s organ solo gives the music the feel of Django Reinhardt as played by Medeski, Martin and Wood! The leader’s acoustic guitar later brings something of a flamenco flavour to the piece, albeit in a loosely structured, almost free jazz, setting. Subsequently his nimble guitar soloing is supported by another powerful, cerebrally funky groove, incorporating a mix of keyboard sounds and something of a drum feature for the impressive Sarin. Hugely invigorating stuff.

“Cavalerie” slows things down, in that it is delivered at mid tempo,  albeit with Abbasi adding subtle rhythmic and harmonic variations. Sarin graduates from brushes to sticks, while Alexander adds a mix of synth and organ sounds. The main focus is on the leader’s fluent acoustic guitar soloing, followed by Alexander’s highly inventive keyboard excursions.

The ballad “Douce Ambiance” remains one of Reinhardt’s most popular tunes and is given an elegant arrangement featuring the sounds of acoustic guitar, gently brooding organ and brushed drums. There’s both beauty and melancholy in the trio’s treatment of this piece, encapsulating both the euphoria and the darkness of which Abbasi speaks.

“Hungaria” is more playful, placing the focus on the ‘euphoria’ aspect. An uplifting groove helps to fuel a series of exhilarating exchanges between Abbasi and Alexander, together with a rousing drum feature from Sarin.

The album concludes with “September Song”, written by Kurt Weill and here performed as an intimate duet between Abbasi on exotically accented fretless acoustic guitar, hinting at the sounds of of India and the Middle East,  and Alexander on gospel flavoured Hammond.

I habitually approach ‘tribute’ albums with an element of caution, which is probably why this album has been sat on the back burner for so long. I’m grateful to Michael Janisch for providing the subtle nudge that finally persuaded me to actually listen to it, and now, of course, I’m very glad that I did.

I’ve heard Reinhardt’s music performed in the ‘Hot Club’ style by literally dozens of gypsy jazz bands, but Abbasi and his colleagues cast the music in a whole new light. They bring it into the 21st century and literally make it their own, very much as Abbasi himself says.

The inherent beauty of Reinhardt’s music remains intact but Abbasi updates it with such skill and imagination that it sounds thoroughly contemporary, which is no mean achievement.
The inventiveness of the arrangements is matched by the quality of the playing. Technically all three players are hugely accomplished musicians and both Alexander and Sarin are totally attuned to Abbasi’s vision. This is a supremely well balanced trio, which benefits greatly from its many years of playing together.

Most ‘tribute’ albums are marketed on the basis that the performer “brings something of themselves” to the recording. That’s sometimes a debatable point, but the Abbasi trio do this in spades, but in doing so still retain Reinhardt’s essential spirit. The album certainly casts his compositions in a new light and demonstrates just how adaptable they can be, it’s not compulsory to play them in the now rather too familiar ‘Hot Club’ style, as enjoyable as that can be.

There will probably be some gypsy jazz purists out there who will retch at the very idea of this recording. However most adventurous listeners should find something to enjoy and appreciate here. I was very pleasantly surprised and impressed by this album. Rez Abbasi is still comparatively little known to UK jazz audiences, but he’s a name to watch out for.

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