Rez Abbasi would be a very notable guitarist and composer even if he only stuck with Western-styled jazz, but one of the things that sets him apart from some very capable colleagues is his work in fusing jazz with the music of South Asia. That’s probably because the Karachi, Pakistan-born Abbasi would understandably be interested in putting together the music of his heritage with the music of his adopted country of the USA.
Josh Feinberg doesn’t have that Indian subcontinent lineage but that didn’t prevent him from becoming well-versed in traditional Indian music. In addition to being an accomplished jazz bassist, Feinberg has mastered sitar of the Hindustani variety, with an emphasis on the North India Maihar Gharana style.
He and Abbasi recently joined forces to form a new East-meets-West jazz combo Naya Baaz. Together, Abbasi and Feinberg bring tons of familiarity of both western and eastern music forms that few can match. That’s why Naya Baaz isn’t ‘just another’ Indian-jazz fusion project, it’s instead centered on the unique musical personalities of each member and how they how they’re able to mesh their approaches together to make music that really is greater than the sum of its parts. Moreover, Naya Baaz isn’t actually a duo most of the time, it’s a quartet led by a duo. Joining Abbasi and Feinberg is Jennifer Vincent on cello and Satoshi Takeishi on drums.
Their recorded introduction Charm recently came out, advancing their fresh take on bridging two disparate cultures. Consisting of originals written by Feinberg and Abbasi both separately and together, the two succeed in making that bridge seem like a very short one, as they create something that often feels like a new style rather than two or three old ones.
“Bekhayal (without a thought)” is the first tune Abbasi has ever written, which means it wasn’t envisioned with this sort of ensemble in mind. Feinberg, though, makes it work despite this being more of a jazz-rock song than a world fusion one, because he knows exactly how to weave his sitar around Abbasi’s electric guitar.
Bringing in Vincent was an astute move; her five string cello can stretch up to the tonality of almost a violin and down to a bass. It provides an effective stand-in for an Indian violin for the beginning of perhaps the most Indian sounding track offered here, “Bhairavi.” For this performance, Abbasi switches to acoustic guitar, and the interaction between the two are nearly telepathic.
Takeishi has a painterly approach to the drums, which blends in perfectly with what everyone else is doing, especially since he has to largely take on a percussionist role on his drums. Listen to how he shares the front stage with Abbasi and Feinberg during “Chick’s Magnet,” without being overly forceful about it.
The briskly sauntering “No Lack There Of” thrives from a supple rhythm section and Abbasi’s thoughtful guitar leads. “Charm” is scary close to being a swampy blues but with these guys and this array of instruments, there’s nothing run-of-the-mill going on here, and Feinberg’s sitar nicely simulates the lap steel guitar role.
Feinberg’s “Make It So” is influenced by Bach instead of the blues, and the composer plays an inspired aside that takes the sitar to new places. “Peony,” performed by the base duo, is another song the sitarist conceived with classical music in mind but with Abbasi takes it in into a folk direction. Speaking of the base duo, a trio of minute-long acoustic guitar-sitar duets called “Introductions” are dispersed throughout the record, which are intriguing improvisations that highlights the partnership at the core of Naya Baaz.
Rez Abbasi and Josh Feinberg have ample enough chops as musicians and composers to make anything they take on exude quality. With Charm, however, the two channel their adventurous spirits into spiritually satisfying music.
Charm, from Whirlwind Recordings, is now available at all the usual outlets. One place to obtain it is from Bandcamp.
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