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The following are reviews of Jon De Lucia’s debut album Face no Face, released in 2006.

 

Whether you’re into swing, hard bop, free jazz or M-Base, jazz has and always will be about emotion, interplay and spontaneity. On this debut album, saxophonist Jon De Lucia dazzles not only with his virtuosity and compositional skills, but also with his ability to convey emotion through probing, focused melodic statements and the sublime coherence of his band.

The album starts with the pulsing, M-Base groove of The Glass Bead Game, an odd-metered anthem with an angular melody over the dynamic drumming of Ziv Ravitz and the persistent ostinato of Nir Felder’s guitar and Garth Stevenson’s bass. De Lucia’s lithe alto emerges from the busy opening section to introduce a second theme that clears the air for Felder’s guitar to build. Over a boomy bass pedal and mantra-like alto figure, the guitarist starts with single, sustained notes before unleashing a torrent of virtuosic runs and jarring rhythmic suspensions.

Following the atonal blues of Emptiness and a couple of M-Base tunes, De Lucia pays homage to his love of Zen and Eastern thought with Edo Komoriuta and Yugen. The first, a Japanese lullaby, features contemplative alto in tandem with Sumie Kaneko’s koto and shamisen. The leader’s distinctive tone resonates before being joined by the metallic pluck of Kaneko’s traditional string instruments and Ravitz’s sparse bell accompaniment. Yugen, a modal ballad, features the cry of alto over the pulsing mallets and plucked colorations.

Face No Face ends with The Open Eye, an adrenaline-laden blowing piece, and the standard I Wish I Knew. After earlier extended solos and rhythmic extrapolations, I Wish I Knew is striking in its utter simplicity. The melody, faithfully rendered by De Lucia, sings out over Leo Genovese’s sensitive piano and puts a serene cap on an impressive debut.

     This group, minus Genovese and Kaneko, played at Vox Pop, a coffee shop/music venue in Brooklyn, on a rainy night last month. The quartet was even more impressive in person, performing many pieces from the album and taking even more chances. De Lucia’s precise rhythmic phrases had a captivating urgency and his Zen-like state seemed to be shared by his bandmates. The youthful ensemble navigated breakneck tempos and odd meters with veteran ease, and the modest crowd responded strongly to a rare degree of group cohesion.

- Matthew Miller, All About Jazz
 

 

The proliferation of university-level jazz programs has created a groundswell of young artists, ensuring that jazz remains alive and evolving. Still, the cookie-cutter approach of some programs means that only an exceptional few emerge as distinctive voices; the rest are competent but unmemorable. That, along with the sorry state of mentoring in the jazz community and a weak club scene in most cities, has resulted in too many albums by artists who are not yet ready to be leaders. At times, saxophonist Jon De Lucia’s debut is mired in some of these problems. But Face No Face also transcends them enough to suggest that De Lucia and his group are worth watching.

The beginning of The Glass Bead Game is promising enough, with a lengthy David Binney-like riff carried by guitarist Nir Felder, bassist Garth Stevenson and drummer Ziv Ravitz. De Lucia’s economical solo ultimately leads into a theme that’s doubled by pianist Leo Genovese, acting as a rallying point for the second part, which is where it hits some trouble. It may have shifting bar lines, but it’s still a conventional two-chord vamp, and even Felder’s jagged solo can’t save it from being overly ponderous. A third section where De Lucia duets with Genovese is more interesting, as the pianist proves an oblique foil to De Lucia’s clear construction.

Emptiness is altogether more satisfying, demonstrating a clearer group chemistry. The more open-ended nature of the piece allows the group to take considerable liberties as it moves from a bass ostinato supporting De Lucia’s cerebral solo into a more swinging middle section that lets him shift gears. Ravitz and Genovese are particularly responsive. Felder’s solo, beginning as a delicate duet with Ravitz, moves towards more angular territory once Stevenson and Genovese re-enter reminiscent of Jack DeJohnette’s mid-1970s New Rags (ECM, 1977) with John Abercrombie.

De Lucia’s interest in the Far East is evident on the traditional Edo Komoriuta, featuring guest Sumie Kaneko’s koto and shamisen. Leading into Yugen, Ravitz’s mallet work and Stevenson’s fluid lines find the nexus of Occident and Orient.

The energetic The Open Eye should have closed the disc. De Lucia delivers his most passionate solo of the set, and Genovese sounds equally vibrant, while Felder ranges from Frisellian chordal work to a more direct post bop stance. The rhythm section is on fire throughout. But De Lucia and Genovese falter with a lacklustre duet of Harry Warren’s I Wish I Knew that diminishes the individuality demonstrated elsewhere.

Still, Face No Face has its moments. De Lucia and his fellow Berklee grads are worth following for the promise of their strengths, rather than being dismissed for their weaknesses.

-John Kelman, All About Jazz

 

Featuring Jon De Lucia on alto & soprano sax, Nir Felder on guitar, Leo Genovese on piano, Garth Stevenson on bass and Ziv Ravitz on drums, plus Sumie Kaneko on koto & shamisen on 1 track. Jon De Lucia and Nir Felder played a duo set here at DMG recently and I was quite impressed considering I hadn’t heard of either before this. Dave Tronzo, who is a teacher of Mr. De Lucia at Berklee in Boston, recommended that I check him out. All members of De Lucia’s group met at Berklee and they sound as if they have been playing for years.

This is not some free/jazz offering, it is very well written and well played. “The Glass Bead Game” opens with some tight spinning lines, the guitar and alto sax playing intricately together. Nir takes a sly, slow and bluesy solo that shows that he is a contender. John Scofield, watch out! The group then comes to a halt so that Jon can take a fine laid-back sax solo with just understated piano beneath. Then its back to that difficult, quick theme fueled by some spirited drums. A perfect opening tune! “Emptiness” is far from being empty, it is another challenging piece that keeps shifting tempos throughout with Jon taking another fine alto solo as both Nir on guitar and Leo on piano play inspired lines around him, again stopping as Nir takes a solo with just the rhythm team below, building slowly to another crafty conclusion. I dig the way the rhythm team plays in waves, so slippery, moving faster and slower in cycles as the soloist steadily keeps a central pace that doesn’t shift, yet they always end up together.

“Really” is quite lovely, dreamy and enchanting with so sublime soprano sax and exquisite guitar. “Amir, The Brain Kid” has one of those M-Base like themes that is both funky and challenging to play. I dig the way the alto sax, piano and guitar trade short solos in a round robin fashion. “Edo Komoriuta” is a traditional Japanese lullaby with a guest shamisen or koto player sitting in and mostly dueting with Jon’s lush sax. On the surface some of these tunes sound mellow, melodic and not very intense, yet there is always more going on than meets the eye or ear. The structure of some of these pieces move in unexpected ways, you just never know what’s behind the bend. This is a particularly strong debut from some folks that few of us have heard of, hopefully this will change soon.

-Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

 

Having been prepared by Fred Bouchard’s liner notes and other details about young saxophonist Jon De Lucia, my expectations were to anticipate the musician’s leanings towards the boundaries of jazz with his free use of Zen concepts and richly talented bandmates. All of this, plus other biographical information, tends to set up a new listener for a bracing session of new outside music. Consequently, it was quite a surprise to hear De Lucia’s new album and find quite a listenable and likeable session in which his group maintains a stimulating and far more mainstream sound than these words would suggest.

Jon De Lucia is a Massachusetts musician who graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2002. His ensemble features guitarist Nir Felder, pianist/keyboardist Leo Genovese, bassist Garth Stevenson and drummer Ziv Ravitz. In addition, Sumie Kaneko plays koto and shamisen on Edo Komoriuta. On the opening selections, De Lucia’ s alto and soprano saxophone playing is intense, but kept at a low boil. The first portion of the album allows for a suite-like continuity in which the original compositions The Glass Bead Game, Emptiness and Really follow each other in a natural order.

The inclusion of the Japanese folk song Edo Komoriuta introduces the influence of Asian music. The album builds to a peak with the lengthy  The Open Eye, which is just short of ten minutes and features De Lucia’ s stepped-up playing prodded by Leo Genovese’s keyboards. The album then concludes with a lyrical and tender reading of the Harry Warren ballad I Wish I Knew. I wonder if a more more natural non-Zen order of song sequences could have allowed this piece to have been played earlier on the session?

-Michael P Gladstone, All About Jazz

 

Composer & jazz sax-er Jon De Lucia is a soul on a mission!! He & his totally committed sextet wash us viably with his vision of how he views original music. The result is a player who is perfectly at home creating blues, bebop, free jazz, fusion, probably even the classical idiom. I sense that Jon is one of those artist…..A visionary & true artist constantly searching & growing as he plies his trade. With his highly original approach to this art-form, De Lucia is one of those comprehensively gifted musical craftsmen with flawless technique, plus an abundance of compositional ideas.

-George W. Carroll, EJAZZNEWS.COM Review

 

Jon De Lucia’s Glass Bead Game borrows its namesake from a heady Hesse novel, but the musicians definitely stress the last word of the title. Ziv Ravitz (drums) and Garth Stevenson (bass) lay down a solid, cloak and dagger backdrop for playful solos by De Lucia (sax) and Nir Felder (guitar). After a thrilling 5-minute tapestry of sonic plot twists, things dissolve into an introspective dirge, lead by Leo Genovese’s choral-like piano comping, before once again building up the tension which saturates the undercurrent of this zesty little number.

-Newmusic.org Review 9-06

 

One of several astonishing debut releases I’ve heard this year (Francisco Mela, Walter Smith III and Gilad Hekselman are among the others). De Lucia, alto/soprano saxophone, plays mostly originals with a young, hypercreative New York lineup: Nir Felder on guitar, Leo Genovese on piano, Garth Stevenson on bass and Ziv Ravitz on drums. Sumie Kaneko plays koto and shamisen on “Edo Komoriuta,” a traditional Japanese lullaby.

-David Adler, NY Times, Jazz Times

 

Let the music breathe is one of jazz’s most revered mantras, but far easier said than done. Boston-based alto and soprano saxophonist De Lucia accomplishes it with substance and style on his new CD, stitching together edgy improvising with surprise-filled writing that sounds both mysterious and eminently accessible.

-Bob Young, Boston Herald

 

Saxophonist JON DE LUCIA’s ridiculously assured Face No Face (Jonji) was one of the pleasant surprises of 2006. De Lucia’s alto solos had the headlong linear drive of the Tristano school by way of Steve Coleman and Greg Osby, and his wide-ranging compositions varied texture, dynamics, and harmonic framework without ever losing the groove. 

-Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix

 

Alto saxophonist and composer Jon De Lucia , a Quincy native, brings his quintet to Ryles to play edgy but accessible compositions that blend jazz with Zen philosophy, as showcased on their superb recent CD, Face no Face.

-Boston Globe

 

We like Jon De Lucia’s new Face no Face (Jonji Music) not simply because the young saxophonist has chops (yes he does) but because he challenges those chops with fresh writing, ambitious pieces that unfold unpredictably, deploying different rhythms, different combinations of instruments, and dynamic shifts without every losing a sense of form or groove.

-Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix

 

3 out of 3 stars. This is a good mix of eight tunes culminating with “I Wish I Knew”, a soothing ballad. Jon plays sax and wrote most of these compositions. He’s done so while keeping the interests of his band members at hear. Nir, Garth, Leo and Ziv all make strong contributions during the session. They have played with Jon since they were all students at Berklee. The tranquility of “Really” and most of the other ballads make this a set to chill with.

-D. Oscar Groomes, O’s Place Jazz Review

 

Saxophonist Jon De Lucia landed at Ryles 8/18 with a quintet (guitarist Nir Felder, pianist Pete Rende, bassist John Lockwood, and Mark Ferber on drums) and the results were good. John Lockwood had never played with the group before, but he’s so far beyond being merely a pro that there were no problems. He chugged along as if he were a founding member of the band, and, as Bostonians know, he’s a superb soloist. The group sounds like a Boston band (yes, there is such a thing as a Boston combo sound), but there is a lot more going on than a familiar context. De Lucia is refreshingly personal in his improvisations and the charts apparently are fairly flexible, leaving a lot of space for soloist and supporters to stretch out. Let’s hope the fresh air continues…

-Stu Vandermark, Cadence Magazine

 

Face no Face was also listed as one of 4 notable new artist releases of 2006 in Jazziz Magazine.