Electric or acoustic? Paper or plastic? Latte or mocha? Lots of choices in modern society. Here are a couple guitar albums from artists you might not know, but could easily become friends with.
Cool toned electric guitarist Eric DiVito mixes it up here, leading both a trio and a sax quartet with Jake Saslo/ts-ss, Corcoran Holt/b, Motohito Fukushima/eb and Nadav Snir-Zelniker/dr. Sasio’s chestnut tenor mixes well on the graceful “For Maria” and post bop “Like Minded,” while the trio tunes have DiVito sauntering through “Layin’ It” and gently bopping on “Pass’ Time.” He does a ebullient solo piece on “Time Remembered” as well, while the rhythm team shows impressive team work on “From an Old Sketch.” Nice modern guitar sounds here.
As for acoustic guitars, you’ve got the nylon strings of Oren Neiman and the steel of Gilad Ben Zvi going at it like a pair of trash talkers on this exciting collection of (mostly) originals. The sparks fly on mano a mano pieces like “Schuna,” while the traditional “Reah Tapuach” gallops along at a feverish pace. A folksy Yiddish feel is quite romantic and passionate on “Eishes Chayil” and the delicate interplay during “Prei Hayam” shows remarkable taste. The disc closes with a trio of rousing jewish dance pieces, and if you’re not on the floor doing the grapevine by the time “Isra-Freilach” finishes, you’re going to need your pulse checked.
Pioneer Jazz Collective
www.israalien.com