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Mosaica attempts to convey a picture of the possibilities of cultural collaboration through music. Mosaica combines the word “musika,” —or music—and “mosaic.” —a picture or decoration made of small, usually colored pieces of inlaid stone, glass, et al.
The title of this album—the combination of the two words—is purposeful. The Heritage Ensemble reimagines popular Hebraic melodies in various jazz, Afro-Caribbean, Brazilian, and classical styles. Instead of small, usually colored pieces of inlaid stone, our materials are small, black notes on a page and the influences of various musical cultures. This is why the New York City Jazz Record called the Ensemble “a cross-cultural collaboration that spins and grooves.”
The backgrounds of the Ensemble’s musicians reflect the “Mosaica” of the Ensemble’s repertoire and performance. Bronx-born multi-Grammy-nominee drummer Bobby Sanabria and virtuoso percussionist Matthew Gonzalez are Nuyoricans —they are of Puerto Rican descent, born and raised in New York City. NEA Performance Grantee saxophonist Michael Hashim is of Lebanese descent. Phi Beta Kappa bassist Frank Wagner’s family hails from Eastern Europe. My own family background is Polish, German, British, and Ukrainian.
This is also the first Heritage Ensemble album that features a vocalist, Shira Lissek, herself a cantor, who brings a prodigious performance to four of the album’s tracks. The Zikkaron/Kristallnacht (Remembrance) Special Version track features aural effects and a narration by my Aunt Ruth who survived Kristallnacht (“The Night of Broken Glass”) in Leipzig, Germany in 1938.
Enjoy,
Eugene Marlow, Ph.D. Founder/Leader/Arranger/Keyboardist
The Heritage Ensemble
November 2014 -
“A stunning collection of song that simultaneously sound familiar and brand new.”
— The Jewish Journal“It is more than just music. It is an experience and one you won't want to miss.”
— Mike Longo
Jazz Pianist, Composer, Author, Former Music Director for Dizzy Gillespie“Marlow’s jazz and world music realignments of familiar Hebraic melodies work two ways: non-Jews can groove on the instrumental fire (provided by Marlow, saxophonist Michael Hashim, drummer Bobby Sanabria and singer Shira Lissek among others), and the observant can marvel at the smart treatments of traditional fare.”
─ Kirk Silsbee
LA Times“Mosaica, is an unusual but very successful project. Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble performs nine mostly vintage Jewish melodies. Unlike what would be heard from a Klezmer band, these interpretations turn the melodies into jazz with modern chord changes and reharmonizations but without discarding the emotional melodies and the essence of the music.”
─ Scott Yanow
www.scottyanow.com/LAjazzscene“Imaginative and wildly creative. . .A first rate example of the harmonic road less traveled.”
─ Brent Black
www.criticaljazz.com“This is nothing if not convincing forward-thinking jazz even though its melodic sources are often ancient. It is jazz simultaneously at its purest and most multicultural.”
─ Jeff Simon
Buffalo News“Marlow’s group does strong work in the Hebrew-Jazz realm.”
─ Jerome Wilson
www.cadencemagazine.com“This is music that goes well beyond the local to make universal significance out of it all. This is masterful. This is exciting music.”
─ Grego Applegate Edwards
www.gapplegatemusicreview.blogspot.com“You have produced a masterpiece. I will play Mosaica to our audience with great pleasure!”
─ Gary Lowe
WUNH"There are better known figures on the Jewish jazz scene than pianist and arranger Eugene Marlow, but few come close to him in terms of sheer musicality. And his album, Mosaica, with his excellent Heritage Ensemble is his best, deepest felt and, both musically and thematically, most widest ranging release yet. Can be recommended unreservedly."
─ Mike Gerber
Author of Jazz Jews, host of the Kosher Jam Internet radio show on UK Jazz Radio“Mosaica reminds us how jazz can embrace and transform music from every region, every tradition. It's great to hear these eternal Hebrew melodies, conveying joy and solace, in sophisticated, emotive renditions by Eugene Marlow's Heritage Ensemble.”
David Adler
Jazz Journalist“Marlow and company touch deep associations while making personal contemporary statements.”
— Kirk Silsbee
Glendale News-Press“A stunning collection of songs that simultaneously feels familiar and brand new.”
— Shelley A. Sackett
The Jewish Journal“There’s no doubting Marlow and his gang are consummate pros, it’s just that they’ve served up something so unexpected, it’ll probably take a few listens before you can wrap your head around it.”
— Chris Spector
Midwest Record“Mosaica is a CD that offers one of the most charismatic mergers: Hebrew rich compositions mixed with
Latin Jazz. . .Marlow is always on the wave of new ideas.”
— Luis Raul Montell
Jazz Caribe Radio“Mosaica is simply one of the finest jazz albums of the year.”
— Fontas Trousas
Diskorycheion/Vinylmine, Greece“Like the Jewish faith itself, this music is inclusive, not exclusive. The multi-ethnic compositions of The Heritage Ensemble reflect this inclusion, and lend a distinctive flavor to the music, which ranges from introspective to energetic.
— Andy LaVerne
Jazz Pianist -
Title: Mosaica: Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble Reimagines Popular Hebraic Melodies
Catalog #: J-3-2014Release date: 2014
UPC: 0026141227
©2014 MEII Enterprises/BMI