Nadav Remez - Summit

Label: Outside In Music, 2025

Personnel - Nadav Remez: guitar; Gregory Tardy: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Guy Moskovich: piano; Ben Tiberio: bass; David Sirkis: drums.

It’s not uncommon for a musician’s most personal to also become an artistic triumph, driven sincerity, effort, and honesty. That’s the case with Israeli guitarist and composer Nada Remez, whose sophomore album, Summit, places him in the company of American saxophonist Greg Tardy, pianist Guy Moskovich, bassist Ben Tiberio, and drummer David Sirkis. The program features eight Remez originals, written over the pat two decades, alongside three covers.

With a clean tone and resolute attack, Remez opens with “The Awakening”, a mature, layered piece that causes frisson at every turn. A solo piano prelude yields to a bass melody, the drums fortify the atmosphere, and the saxophone guides sumptuous melodic paths with the aid of the guitar. It’s as if John Abercrombie’s magic guitarism met a modal slice of Jewish folk, briefly disrupted by contemporary effects.

The quintet reimagines Yedidia Admon’s “Shedemati”, a century-old agricultural song, with sharp focus and modal enchantment. Entrancing bass lines launch solos from Remez, who colors under a swinging backdrop; Tardy, whose phrases weave in and out without losing narrative articulation; and Moskovich, who, catching Tardy’s solo tail, develops from there his own ideas.

Marked by epic expansiveness and exploratory drive, “Hephaestus” unfolds as an odd-metered contemporary klezmer before Tardy’s blazing solo. On Noam Sheriff’s “Hinach Yaffa Raayati”, harmony and rhythm are laid down with a modern feel, with the luminous main melody fronting a well-developed theme. The group shows cohesiveness, riding sequences of 16-beat cycles with joy and purpose. 

Remez’s compositions demand both skill and sensitivity, qualities the group embodies fully on “Beyond!”, with its asymmetric form and the bandleader’s hypnotic, patiently built solo. Remez trades ideas with Tardy on the title track, while the saxophonist also shines on the closer, “Adon Olam”, a traditional Jewish prayer lifted into spiritual resonance. 

Authentic and deeply personal, Remez’s style radiates integrity. Summit not only showcases his voice but also the remarkable chemistry and talent of his quintet.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - The Awakening ► 02 - Shedemati ► 04 - Hephaestrus ► 09 - Beyond!


Cooper Malanowski - Summit

Label: Tidebloom Records, 2024

Personnel - Cooper Malanowski: trombone; Kai Burns: guitar; David Macchione: bass; Alex Yoo: drums // guest: Ariel Vera: vocals (#7).

Summit is the likable, occasionally surprising debut album from trombonist Cooper Malanowski, who was born in New York and is currently based in Boston. Competently handling eight compositions crafted over the three-year period he has been studying at the New England Conservatory, Malinowski’s inBetween Quartet shows potential and taste in the way they shape these pieces.

Your Name”, with its reflective rubato intro, leads into “A Glimpse of Opportunity”, where plaintive trombone melodies hover over Kai Burns’ softly textured guitar. Both Alex Yoo’s effective brushwork and David Macchione's supple bass underpinning help settle into a valley of relative peace, later swept by a cleanly articulated guitar solo.

De.F” recalls Dave Douglas’ mature contemporary jazz, evolving confidently with some interesting guitar reactions to the trombone solo. Yoo intensifies his chops to reach a peak right before the calm ending. “Rocky” displays fairly obscure yet exquisite guitar chords and texture, impelling us to search beyond. Flowing with a three time feel, this piece denotes an organic sense of narrative with the contribution of fleet, conversational solos from trombone and guitar. The group embraces a more amped-up rock-tinged aesthetic here, well anchored by the rhythm section.

The post-bop drive of “The con-front” revels in exciting swinging currents laid down with groove, while “I Missed the Train” features gust vocalist Ariel Vera in consonance with the brass melodic routes, in a series of flawlessly intermeshed ideas among bold rhythmic variations. A beautiful tranquility returns with the closer, “Shir Le Itzick”. Summit is a successful collaborative effort by Malanowski and his developing band.

Favorite Tracks:
05 - Rocky ► 06 - The con-front ► 07 - I Missed the Train