David Chevan and the Afro-Semitic Experience
Further Definitions Of The Days Of Awe
www.chevan.addr.com
By George W. Harris

Ever since the earliest days of jazz, an integral part of the songs and solos have been inspired by the Cantoral yearnings from the synagogues. Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw made swing tunes out of traditional songs that they grew up with in the Jewish ghettos of New York. Here, leader/bassist David Chevan mixes sounds from the long ago past to the present and future of jazz, creating a soulful mix of instrumental and vocal passion that will illuminate your ears and inner being.

To the uninitiated, don’t let it dissuade you that most of the songs are delivered by a mix of cantors in traditional Hebrew language. Instead, if you think of the vocals as a John Coltrane solo, the music will make much more sense. Taken that way, the two discs which cover a series of concerts in NYC, New Haven CT and Greenfield MA connect a bridge between three continents of music. A tune like “Adoshem, Adoshem” featuring Cantor Jack Mendelson out in front is a vocal tour de force of passion that is a natural kin to Coltrane’s “I Want To Talk About You” while the rhythmic choir chanting on “R’tse Asirasom” is as hypnotic as anything on the vintage Impulse! recordings. The band is able to mix together some fervent latin grooves along with the Semitic vocals as well, with some snappy horns added for extra spice on a couple of the tunes, creating a sort of musical diaspora in reverse! A real mitzvah here.