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REVIEWS OF DAVID LIEBMAN

Liebman Plays Puccini / The Elements: Water
Coltrane's Meditations / New Vista

What critics say about Liebman Plays Puccini:

What critics say about The Elements: Water:

  • “David Liebman just released The Elements: Water and it's a great accomplishment. The recording features a unique combination of players: Billy Hart on drums, Cecil McBee on bass, and Pat Metheny on guitar. Liebman plays soprano and tenor saxophones, and wooden flute on the recording…I highly recommend this recording to any lover of serious improvisational jazz. You won't be disappointed.”
    --Blaine Fallis, about.com, October 1999

  • "Soprano sax icon and modern jazz pioneer Dave Liebman teams up with the equally talented and famous jazz guitarist Pat Metheny for their first ever recording…On “White Caps”, Liebman picks up the tenor sax as his phrasing is furious and stinging while displaying a richly textured luminous sound atop a somewhat laid back funk beat. Liebman and Metheny trade a few choruses that suggest turbulence or rapid movement. “Heaven’s Gift” is a straight four swing as Liebman, on soprano spars with Metheny while the class rhythm section of Cecil McBee (b) and Billy Hart (d) provide a rock-bottom foundation yet remain loose and flexible when called upon. “Reflecting Pool” is one of the best tracks on the album. Here, Liebman’s utilization of the wood flute projects ambiance that seems solemn or spiritual. Pat Metheny’s use of the 48 string Pikasso-Guitar enhances the already vivid imagery, which at times becomes lifelike. The stillness of a reflecting pool is captured in artistic fashion…Metheny’s acoustic and straight-ahead electric guitar work is fabulous throughout this recording.”
    --Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz.com

  • “…The Bulk of the music is simply terrific…"Storm Surge," which includes the mercurial, playful kind of Metheny solo that makes his fans swoon…if (Liebman) just keep making records as engaging as this one, that’ll be libation enough..”
    --John Corbett, Down Beat, May 1999

  • “ As for [Liebman], he’s playing on the level like that of Sonny Rollins in the late 50’s—very complex, harmonically rich and technically assured. His command is so complete it’s a little scary. In short, this CD is not a wading pool in which to dip your toes, it’s a raging, majestic thunderstorm to behold with wonder.”
    --John Chacona, Signal to Noise, Sept 1999

 What critics say about Coltrane's Meditations:

  • "Liebman’s intimacy with this music allows for an exhilarating, chance-taking, yet wholly idiomatic realization of this masterpiece. Tiger Okoshi is a powerful presence on trumpet, reminiscent of how great Freddie Hubbard was on Coltrane’s Ascension; Caris Visentin plays several inspiring oboe solos; Cecil McBee is simply astonishing in his subtlety and understanding of the music. Along with Billy Hart, they augment Liebman’s regular group, rounded out by Tony Marino on fervent, muscular bass, and Vic Juris, who plays a mammoth guitar solo on “Consequences”. From its soul-searching levels of grandeur, to the solemn peace of its final seconds, performance like these are why this music is worth revisiting."
    --Larry Nai, JAZZIZ July 1998

  • "…what frighten others is a challenge that Dave Liebman accepts with this CD…interpreting the music from Trane’s 1965 experiment “Meditations”. Very much a risk-taker, Liebman is someone who has often been willing to jump into a variety of challenging situations…this time he comes out on top. Liebman remains faithful to the spirit of this “outside” music but lets his own charm work its magic. This spiritual effort reveals more and more of its power and richness with each listen."
    --Alex Henderson, L.A. Jazz Scene July 1998

  • "Is it necessary to rerecord a classic? Only if you put your own stamp on it - as saxophonist Liebman does…his passionate tenor playing…reminds us of his closer-than-most link to Coltrane’s legacy. Dual drummers Billy Hart and Jamey Haddad ignite a firestorm on “Consequences.”
    --Art Lange, Pulse! Magazine June 1998

    "David Liebman, long among the most fervent and effective of Trane’s musical offspring, brings all the right ingredients together in this performance. The leader’s tenor sax is vibrant throughout, an emotional anchor for the group as it works its inspiring way through this ever “of the moment” piece of history."
    --Bill Bennett, JazzTimes June 1998

  • "…a superb tribute to ‘Trane from one of his musical legatees, saxophonist David Liebman. The live recording of the bramble-thick, intense, and mystical Meditations gives it a new life. Liebman and his A-team of jazz musicians exult in its power and play their souls out."
    --Jared Rutter, Players August 1998

  • "…a reinvestigation of Coltrane’s earth-shattering 1965 “Meditations” suite. The music…to the ill-prepared to accept its fearsome profundity, is brought closer to the layman on Liebman’s sensitive Arkadia remake. Uncommon tenacity and discipline pervade Liebman’s persona, plus a soupcon of Brooklyn machismo; but at root is a man with a big heart seeking the answers to deeper questions through music."
    --John MacCalkies, Chicago’s Newcity

  • "Liebman and his associates really get inside the music and become part of it. Liebman’s recording of the Coltrane work allows the music to be reborn and live anew, yet sound as audacious and spiritual as originally conceived. Meditations might shock you. But for those with a sense of adventure, this recording is the perfect antidote for the bland pabulum that passes for new music these days. It stays in the mind long after the music stops. For me, that is the benchmark of great art. It lingers and can be recalled."
    --Bret Primack, Jazz Track, jazzcentralstation

  • "***** stars - …a marvelous rendition of a five-piece work by Liebman’s ensemble…stands out because of the powerful playing of Liebman and company."
    --Bob Karlovits Pittsburg Tribune-Herald

  • "…those who may value what Coltrane has contributed to music’s vocabulary may content themselves with superior performances such as this one of his prominent works."
    --Jack Bowers - www.allaboutjazz.com - May 1998

  • "Liebman’s lifelong fascination with the music of John Coltrane has resulted in one of his most powerful albums yet, a new rendition of Coltrane’s “Meditations”. Coltrane’s magnificent composition spans a wide range of human emotion and spirituality from the ecstatic, speaking-in-tongues invocation of the Christian Trinity, to the otherworldly tranquillity of the final movement, “Serenity”. Liebman’s own arrangement of the suite brings an added spiritual and musical dimension to the original. Liebman has rarely sounded as inspired on record, displaying a spiritual longing and restless energy worthy of the suite’s composer. This album will surely be remembered as one of Liebman’s best."
    --Joe Middleton, Stereo Type July 1998

 What critics say about New Vista:

  • Critics’ Picks - Top 5 Recordings of 1997
    --Chuck Berg & Bret Primack, JazzTimes

  • "His effervescent New Vista…reflecting the music of Brazil, Liebman sounds unusually comfortable and relaxed, as his fluid, cleanly articulated soprano lines dart, weave and flutter through the shifting grooves.... Liebman displays a marvelous lyrical facility, bringing a beautiful, somewhat breathy tone to the seductive rhythms and intoxicating melodies. He adds tremendous warmth and feeling to these tunes…It’s hard to recall a Liebman project as buoyant and immediately appealing as New Vista."
    --Jon Andrews, Downbeat

  • "(New Vista) generates a gust of fresh air. Liebman is a player of genuine virtuosity and his command over both his instrument and any context in which it might appear make this album appealing. The music announces its distinction early on through the title track, a Liebman composition that darts through samba rhythms on the wings of a boppish melody. Liebman has…with vast talent and good taste, succeeded in creating music sometimes strong enough to blow back your hair…out of elements that seldom carry such force."
    --William Stephenson, Jazziz

  • "Saxophonist Liebman’s played so well for so long in such varied settings that he may currently be taken for granted. This recording is…full of subtlety and lyricism…on which he contributes fluid, attractive solos."
    --Harvey Pekar, JazzTimes

  • "Former Miles Davis saxophonist Davie Liebman is one of jazz’s most imaginative sax players."
    --Gavin Magazine

  • "New Vista is an astute and penetrating blend of free-bop and Brazilian sounds that will go over equally well with the jazz hard core and those who don’t like to find themselves asking, “Where’s the melody?” after they’ve bought a CD."
    --James Isaacs, Boston Sidewalk Choice

  • EDITOR’S CHOICE
    --Rick Marx, jazzcentralstation

  • "New Vista…is masterful in that Liebman is charged, negotiating his horn splendidly, tunefully and lovingly testing its boundaries. To be sure, the saxophonist/leader shines consistently… proving his stature as one of the outstanding saxmen of our day."
    --Steven A Loewy, Cadence

  • "David Liebman knows only one way to play: with passion and total commitment. New Vista shows that music needn’t be simple or calculated to be accessible The themes included on this recording are as breezy and hummable as anything on the so-called ‘smooth jazz’ radio airwaves, yet Liebman’s commitment is always evident."
    --James Hale, Planet Jazz CD Review

  • "Liebman has evolved a persuasively personal voice and a spare approach that not only focuses on the choice notes but the choice timbre to set them off."
    --Gary Giddens, The Village Voice

  • "New Vista is…a fusion of soundscapes with a decidedly Brazilian flair. This music flows in a torrent of percussive wizardry and melodic lines that at times seem to defy the laws of gravity. New Vista stretches the Brazilian boundaries in unexpected and delightful ways…a rewarding album with that touch of magic that every good Brazilian recording strives to offer."
    --Scott Adams, The Brazilian Review
   
David Liebman The Elements: Water $12.98 71043
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David Liebman Ensemble: John Coltrane's Meditations $12.98 71042
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