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| David Buchbinder and Odessa/Havana |
| Explosive Jewish/Cuban MASH-UP |
Award-winning trumpeter and composer David Buchbinder teams up with a crew of Canada's top jazz and World musicians to present this exciting, unprecedented project of musical discovery: the Jewish-Cuban connection.
Odessa/Havana is a high-powered collision of two great musical styles (predated but not predicted by the Jewish-fuelled, American Mambo craze of the 1950s) that came about as a result of the meeting of Buchbinder with master Cuban pianist and composer, Hilario Durán. The two musicians came together in late 2006 to compose a complete set of music grounded in their respective musical backgrounds. Working from the roots of each tradition and finding many areas of sonic commonality, Buchbinder and Durán crafted a sound that is exciting, fresh and compelling as it challenges listeners' comfortable genre preconceptions. While Odessa and Havana might seem many miles apart, their musical associations are many-faceted, multi-layered and rich indeed, rooted in their common ancestry on the Iberian peninsula and sharing Arabic, Roma (Gypsy), Sephardic and North African forbearers. And both musical traditions have long since proven their suitability for creative adaptation, serving as a kind of “raw material” for musical development (Latin jazz, modern klezmer/John Zorn’s “Radical Jewish Cuture”).
From Bulgar to Bembé, Sher to Son Montuno, Hora to Habanera, Odessa/Havana brings audiences along on an exciting journey of musical discovery. Sparked by the suitability of these two magnificent sounds as potential collaborators—and bolstered by Buchbinder’s track record as a presenter of high-powered, passionate music—Odessa/Havana presents original compositions filtered through a highly-developed jazz sensibility.
Odessa/Havana's debut recording—produced by award-winning producer Roberto Occhipinti—will be released in November, 2007 on the Tzadik label and the ensemble will tour across North America in support of the release, from Halifax to San Francisco.
Odessa/Havana's creators are accomplished instrumentalists, composers, producers and bandleaders, with six JUNO and seven National Jazz Award nominations and awards between them. Buchbinder is a leading light in the Canadian world music & jazz scenes, has toured internationally with his Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, created large scale multimedia works, was the founder & artistic director of the ASHKENAZ Festival of New Yiddish Culture and has won numerous awards for his composition. Durán has performed with some of the great Cuban stars and now records and tours with his trio and amazing big band.
Along with Buchbinder Odessa/Havana includes the some of the most sizzling musicians in the country: Luis Guerra (piano), Roberto Occhipinti (bass), Quinsin Nachoff (reeds), Mark Kelso (drums), Aleksandar Gajic (violin), and Rick Shadrach Lazar (percussion). Featured as a guest on the recording and at times in performance is Grammy-nominated, Cuban drumming great, Dafnis Prieto.
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