Matt Herskowitz
Jerusalem Trilogy
Justin Time Records
www.justin-time.com
By George W. Harris

Here’s a thrilling and wildly ambitious work by pianist Matt Herskowitz. He’s joined together an eclectic group which includes Mat Fields/b, David Rozenblatt/dr, Lara St. John/v, Mike Block/cello, Daniel Schnyder/ss-fl, bassam Saba/nays-oud, and Randy Crafton/perc for a mix and match set of originals that go from the middle east to Austrian and back to the Fillmore East like a ping pong match.

Some of the tunes, like “Gottingen,” (with a string quartet) and “Duologue on Under Your White Starry Heaven” have a Pavanesque and haunting beauty to them, with strings and piano forming a feathery pillow. In contrast, the “Jerusalem Trilogy” has some cathartic electric and kinetic energy in an almost heavy metal vein, while “Polonaise Libanaise” mixes the enthusiasm of the latter with the melodic fluidity of the former. Herskowitz’s chops are impressive, and his ideas even more so. Get this guy in town!