Here is a guy you’ve never heard of before, and Israeli pianist/composer named Eden Rabin. Somehow, he went from playing metal music (which I’ll never understand-must be the synapses of youth) to putting together a jazz team with Roy Oliel/dr, Adam Ben Ezra/b, Kobi Salomon/sax, Naama Shalev/fl and Lee Rabin/g (who’s also the leader’s mom! Is THAT Jewish or what?!?).
The thirteen pieces come off as a suite, beginning with Rabin’s quite piano intro and speech on “Solidao” and segueing into a passionate and lusty “The Streets of Granada” which include wondrous harmonies by the woodwinds. Rabin does some intriguing work on pieces like “Muse” , melding jazz rhythms and Salomon’s sax with vocal backgrounds serving almost like punctuation marks or traffic directions. You think that this is a one-time deal, but he pulls it off again on the dreamy “Lulishe” which combines soprano sax, flute and voices into an enthralling gumbo of sounds. Strings including violin, cello and Celtic harp add to the framework as flowing drapes on the Eastern European atmospheric “Art of Beksinski,” while fertile melodies abound on “Playground at 7am and “”Chick’s” which is enhanced by Ezra’s bluesy bass line. Lots of fascinating ideas are bouncing around, and the best part is that there is an absence of dissonance and cacophony; all ideas have an uplifting ending. Not a bad way to spend an hour!