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| Noshir Mody at Somethin' Jazz Club, 03/29/2014  Throughout his career, guitarist Noshir Mody has recorded consistently rewarding and thought-provoking sets of original music. His recent Stories From The Years Of Living Passionately features five of his sophisticated compositions performed by a quintet also including Tsuyoshi Niwa on soprano, pianist Carmen Staaf, bassist John Lenis and drummer Yutaka Uchida. On Stories From The Years Of Living Passionately, the musicians stretch out on the songs, with only one piece being under 11 minutes long, yet they make every moment count. Their performances are as colorful as the song titles which include "The Next Chapter, " "India, " and "A Pearl Discovers The Oyster." Mody's guitar playing, while occasionally recalling Gabor Szabo and Pat Metheny, is quite distinctive, thoughtful and unpredictable. Niwa and Staaf also have plenty of solo space and the high quality of the improvisations and the grooves always hold on to one's attention. Whether it is the peaceful but danceable "To Be In Your Thoughts, " the pretty melody of "Beckoned By Mercury" or the 5/4 groove of "A Pearl Discovers The Oyster, " every selection on this CD will be of strong interest to modern jazz fans. The music brings out the best in the musicians and vice versa, resulting in a particularly memorable set.Born and raised in Bombay, India, Noshir Mody was self-taught on guitar. He had an original and unique conception to playing jazz from the start. His early inspirations included Indian classical music, Al Di Meola's Elegant Gypsy, music from Bollywood, rock and the modern jazz guitar masters. Mody immersed himself in jazz after moving to New York in 1995, leading his own trio in clubs. His eclectic and open-minded approach to music was well showcased in his groups the EthniFusion Rock Ensemble and the EthniFusion Jazz Ensemble. Noshir Mody's solo guitar recording In This World With You and his trio set Union Of Hearts displayed both his memorable originals and his impressionistic playing. Now with the release of Stories From The Years Of Living Passionately, a project that features his compositions interpreted by a top-notch quintet, Noshir Mody's musical vision is fully realized. write your comments about the article :: © 2014 Jazz News :: home page |