Mostly Ballads Arik Strauss

• 1Paris Bossa04:25
• 2Before04:27
• 3Rising Montuno 104:20
• 4Rising Montuno 205:11
• 5Aller-Retour07:40
• 6Revenir05:15
• 7Jardin d'Amour08:15
• 8Modulation Waltz07:25
• 9My Father's Song05:43
• 10Aquarelle06:07
• Total Runtime58:48

Info for Mostly Ballads

"Paris Bossa kicks the whole thing off with a catchy bossa with haunting background vocals from Sigal Adler-Strauss. Strauss’ piano work is elegant yet punchy. Tal Ronen and Dudu Kochav also establish themselves as a capable yet unobtrusive unit. In the second track, Before, Strauss finds the octaves well and demonstrates some nice dexterity on the keys without being tempted to stray into ostentatiousness. His classical influences shine through in the climax of the song. Rising Montuno 1 continues the laid back motif established by the previous track. A certain franticness envelops the track midway but Strauss brings it all back down to earth with consummate ease allowing the track and the listener some breathing space. By Rising Montuno 2 the band are clearly enjoying themselves. Also by this juncture you also realise that the album is doing exactly what it says on the tin. The songs so far could be aptly described as “mostly ballads” as per the album’s title. There is a subtle softness to the music juxtaposed with, at times, improvisational abandon that is controlled but effective. Allez-Retour raises the tempo as the trio really begin to find their groove. The track swings in the oldest and truest sense of the word. Yet just as you are about to get the feel of the song Strauss pulls the rug from under you and slows things down dramatically with a wonderfully cascading solo. The track is perhaps a microcosm of the album – something more than the sum of its parts." (Kevin Lowe,jazzineurope)

Arik Strauss, piano
Tal Ronen, double bass
Dudu Kochav, drums
Sigal Adler-Strauss, vocals

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 44.1 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Arik Strauss
(born in Jerusalem) is a pianist, composer, arranger and music teacher. He performed in the USA, Japan, Europe and Israel. Strauss spent 12 years in New York where he studied with Jack Reilly and Richie Beirach and performed with top musicians and in leading jazz clubs, such as Birdland, New York, and Blue Note, Philadelphia. Strauss was the arranger of a tribute to Duke Ellington and worked with his son, Mercer Ellington.

Back in Israel he released - between 2002 and 2012 - 4 CDs, the last of which, "Mostly Ballads", was released by Dot Time Records in 2012. Production of the CD was made possible through the support of ACUM's social and promotion fund. In 2015 a new solo piano recording of Strauss's original music will be released in a vinyl album by Dot Time Records also through the support of ACUM's social and promotion fund.

In 2010 Strauss was chosen by Israel's Ministry of Culture and Sport for a six months' stay at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris as an artist resident, where he performed, recorded and wrote most of his last CD's music.

In April 2013 Strauss performed in Jazzahead held in Bremen, Germany.

In addition to performances in the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival of 2005 and 2011, Strauss performs in clubs around Israel.

Strauss is among the founders of a jazz department in the Givaataim conservatory where he teaches.

"… fellow pianist Marc Copland once remarked…"Playing ballads is, in many ways, the ultimate challenge. A ballad is like a window into the soul of the artist." Strauss meets the challenge and comes away as a winner because he dares to enter the emotional territory where a ballad becomes interesting …he plays with refined sense of feeling and sensitivity somewhere between Bill Evans and Frédéric Chopin and yet there's also the charm of the pop song present… Together these three balladeers get the best out of the material and capture the sweetness and sadness of love in all its guises." - All-About-Jazz

"Buddy Rich said something else that has stuck in my head. In another interview he remarked that “jazz should be treated the same as classical music – it’s to be listened to.” His words certainly apply to this sterling effort from the Arik Strauss Trio – an album that you will come back to again and again." - Jazz in Europe

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