CD Review – Dave Liebman – Is seeing believing?

Written by | CD Reviews, News, Reviews

The essence of jazz is being timeless and that is exactly what marks this album. “Is seeing believing?” transports us to a point when jazz was the now and it spread like a natural language and the swing was the only requirement.

Each tune in this quintet’s project has the capacity to embrace the listener to make them feel part of what is happening in the music. All the themes invite you to explore the dialectical sounds and the deep communication established between these prolific musicians.

“Bring the audience into our circle”, that’s the goal in the words of experienced saxophonist Dave Liebman. This achievement is more than evident once the music stops and you feel like you have been swinging along with all the tunes. The first track itself, a brilliant arrangement of the classic “Old folks”, is a statement of the inner sense of the groove that each musician has. Especially when you have the guidance of Eric Ineke on drums.

The all-encompassing swing element that gives the album a holistic personality combines with an interesting minimalistic taste. This kind of simplicity prevails, indistinctly, in mid-tempo tunes like “Ditto”, visiting Brazilian rhythms like in “Rainy Sunday” or in the standard, “I remember you”. In this varied repertoire, beyond the instrumental voices, silence develops an important role in the lyrical narration, something that is almost a physical perception in the ballad “Beatriz”.

There is a palpable tense calm gliding over all the melodies that is never resolved. It feels like something, an emotional break, is missing. However, when you listen to the album again you understand that this is part of their strong musical maturity, the one that lets it perfectly control the intensities, cutting off from ostentation, to stoke the tradition with mastery.
Track Listing:

01- Old folks

02- Coraçao vagabundo

03- Skylark

04- Everybody’s song but my own

05- Rainy Sunday

06- I remember you

07- Is seeing believing?

08- Ditto

09- Beatriz.

Personnel: David Liebman: soprano and tenor saxophones, flute; Mário Laginha: piano and Fender Rhodes; Ricardo Pinheiro: guitar; Massimo Cavalli: double bass; Eric Ineke: drums.

Images: Dave Liebman | Mário Laginha |
Ricardo Pinheiro |Massimo Cavalli
Eric Ineke image by Jan Klapper

(Challenge Records INT, 2016)

Last modified: July 15, 2018