Avi Rothbard: guitar; Vicente Archer: bass; Darrell Green: drums.

Avi Rothbard, a New York-based, Israeli-born guitarist with a clear and expressive language, releases his fifth album in trio, presenting a few compositions of his own, together with some emblematic songs that were part of his childhood.
The melody in Gerry Rafferti’s “Baker Street”, a widely known soft pop/rock tune from the 70’s, echoes in style and transpires the trio’s confidence and joy while interplaying.
In “Lawra” we have Archer and Green holding on an encouraging swinging groove while Rothbard’s guitar flows sparsely, letting the music breathe by itself. His improvisation arrives impregnated of catchy motivic figures.
“Maya’s Waltz” breaks the predominant 4/4-meter and introduces contrasting flavors in a record that also presents “Apache”, an instrumental hit from the 60’s written by Jerry Lordan and popularized by The Shadows, and a less muscled and more groovy homage to Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” in the bluesy “Smoke Screen”. The stereotyped “Before the Noon Comes”, also a blues, doesn’t add much to the record.
“Bennie and the Jets”, one of Elton John’s highlights, loses its glam-rock outfit in favor of a mid-tempo swinging pace and traditional jazz patterns. In turn, the breezy “See Walk” exhibits an enjoyable melody over the well-drawn bossanova accentuations.
Interweaving past and present, Rothbard, even not sounding particularly innovative, shows solid compositional skills and has the ability to give fresh dimensions to old popular songs.

Favorite Tracks:
03 – Lawra ► 06 – Bennie and the Jets ► 07 – See Walk