Reviews

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 Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

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/The Musicians' Ombudsman/EJAZZNEWS.com

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.

-Newmusicbox.org Nice Pick

Every note Jon plays on this CD shines like the words in love. Sweet...with twists and turns. 

-Tiger Okoshi, Jazz Recording Artist

These guys jam on some lovely standards and just see where it takes them, hence the name Standard Deviation. Their nimble improvisations show finesse and tease unexpected melodies out of familiar tunes....A clever and genuinely interesting EP, I'm hungry for the full length.

-Tom Horan, WXYC Chapel Hill, NC 89.3 FM

Jon De LuciaさんのSAXで皆が幸せになることを祈って。

-「Bar Calm」酒創人　中野孝之。

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