IN THE EAR OF THE BEHOLDER
Jorge Sylvester Afro-Caribbean Experimental Trio
By C. Michael Bailey for AllAbout Jazz, NYC 2003
If Ornette Coleman had be born and reared in Nassau, his music would have sounded like this.
Sylvester has a large imagination and he spreads it over the shifting rhythms established by drummer Bobby Sanabria and bassist Donald Nicks. This music is like the lime one adds to a Corona®. It transports the consumer to a whole new place.
A SMALL DREAM IN RED
Nora McCarthy & Jorge Sylvester
By Jim Santella for Jazz Improv, NYC, July 2007
Recorded during a 2003 concert performance in Cleveland State University’s recital hall, this album ..s the adventures of a superb, contemporary jazz duo that forges its own trail. You can’t sit back and say that she recalls this or that singer or that he recalls this or that alto saxophonist. They’re both soulful, dramatic and highly original in their intimate recital, which includes two self-penned songs as well as several highly original interpretations. Nora McCarthy sings with an emphatic delivery. She interprets lyrics with fits of passion and relaxes casually with wordless sprees.
The program includes periods of tension mixed with areas of leisurely release. Alto saxophonist Jorge Sylvester brings a virtuosic character to the session, conversing with his musical partner in an equal balance of their two voices. There’s closeness in their duo performance that you don’t find in some ensembles. McCarthy and Sylvester have given a name to their duo, A Small Dream In Red, which amplifies several of the characteristics from their session: dreamy musical interplay mixed with fitful segments of dramatic tension.
Miles Davis’ “All Blues” is one of those standards that we can recognize without even trying. It lovely melody and comfortable rhythm can make for a pleasant afternoon. Here, McCarthy and Sylvester adhere to the song’s familiar waltz pattern while going off on tangents that instill a serious tone. She uses her fluid delivery to jump effortlessly to the highest and lowest regions of her vocal range, while follows her cues in empathy. McCarthy’s Miles Mind” carries a significant impression, as her voice recalls the frailty found in Davis’ horn through the years. Punctuation the piece with vocal and saxophone surges, the duo delivers a thoughtful tribute. Sylvester’s “Akara Moi Moi” swings with a relaxed jazz frame of reference, as wordless vocals combine with soulful alto fun to close the concert on a comfortable note. The two artists combine intuition with a love for their music and it shows.
JORGE SYLVESTER
Alto-Saxophonist, Conductor, Composer, Arranger
Born in Colon, Panama attended the Panama Conservatory of Music and the University of Panama. He received a Bachelor of Science in Music from the State University of New York College at New Paltz in 1981.
A unique innovator in the idiom of creative music, Sylvester’s sound is reminiscent of another time in jazz history when artists like Dolphy and Ornette were exploding on the scene and experimenting with concepts that would ultimately revolutionize music at large. A throwback to the future, Mr. Sylvester has been on the cutting edge of that scene since 1980 when he first came to New York City.
His blend of African-Caribbean Rhythms with new music is what gives Sylvester his distinguished voice. An impressive composer and arranger, his music moves, entices and stirs the imagination, as visual as it is physical, his ability to transform colors into sounds and sounds into textures place him in the company of the great expressionist painters.
By age 14, Jorge was fronting his own Caribbean dance band and writing his own arrangements and compositions. He studied privately with saxophonist, Euclides Hall, who took him along on gigs to observe from the bandstand in the “old school style”. When Jorge’s professor at the conservatory, Efrain Castro, sent him to sub for him in a band led by the great Panamanian pianist Victor Boa, Jorge was taken on as a regular. Heading for Europe in his early twenties, Sylvester spent ten years touring and recording with his ensembles and as a freelancer.
Upon his arrival to New York, he studied with Dave Holland, Oliver Lake, Steve Lacy, Ramsey Ameen, Marion Brown and many others at vibraphonist Karl Berger’s Creative Music Studio in Woodstock. Since that time, Sylvester has performed with such notables as Stefon Harris, Rodney Kendrick, Karl Berger, David Murray Big Band, Sekou Sundiata, the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra, the Oliver Lake Big Band, Kuumba Frank Lacy’s Vibe Tribe, the Next Legacy Orchestra, Joe Bowie’s Defunkt Big Band and most recently with Nora McCarthy with whom he co-leads several groups, namely:
The ConceptualMotion Orchestra, A Small Dream In Red (voice and saxophone duet) and The ACE (Afro-Caribbean Experimental) Collective – all of which also include spoken word and poetry contributed by McCarthy.
The ConceptualMotion Orchestra, conducted and orchestrated by Sylvester, is a 20-piece all original music orchestra with compositions contributed by both he and McCarthy, opened the renowned avant garde VISION FESTIVAL X in New York City, June, 2005. Also in 2005, a cd entitled A Small Dream In Red, was released on the Sundown label and is a live performance of the voice and saxophone duo recorded in March, 2003 at Cleveland State University’s Drinko Hall.
In the Spring of 2006, Jorge Sylvester toured Europe and Israel with the World Saxophone Quartet filling the chair formerly occupied by founding father Julius Hemphill, Arthur Blythe, James Spaulding, Eric Person, John Purcell and Bruce Williams. Mr. Sylvester performed alongside luminaries David Murray, Oliver Lake and Hammiet Bluiett.
In January, 2007, Mr. Sylvester returned to his native Panama as a member of the Panamanian All-Stars led and directed by Danilo Perez at the fourth annual Panama Jazz Festival performing with Carlos Garnett, Santi Debriano, Billy Cobham and Renato Thoms.
Later on April, 23 of the same year he performs at the JAZZ and WORKSHOPS FESTIVAL in Podgorica, Montenegro with the Voice and Saxophone Duo, A SMALL DREAM IN RED.
DISCOGRAPHY:
New Double CD just released on Sylvester’s label Lizoka Music : Following The Line/ Live in New York City is the documentation of his 1999 quartet featuring Monte Croft on vibraphone, Jeff Carney on bass, Terreon Gully on drums, and a special appearance by pianist James Hurt on the Bud Powell composition Willow Grove.
2008 release Waldron Ricks with trumpeter, composer Waldron Ricks, Danny Grissett, Jaleel Shaw, Nashiet Waits and Vicente Archer, featuring Jorge's Quintet version of his composition "Playground."
Co-leader of the quartet Asymmetry with pianist, Lucian Ban, Sylvester recorded a cd for Jazzaway records which was released in December, 2005 entitled Playground – which is also the name of the title track a composition written by Sylvester.
In The Ear of the Beholder, 2001 (Billboard’s Spotlight, Feb. 2001) Jazz Magnet Records, features: Donald Nicks on electric bass and Bobby Sanabria on drums and is Sylvester’s second release as a leader since the critically acclaimed MusiCollage (Postcards, 1996, re-released on Arkadia Records featured Claudio Roditi - trumpet, Marvin Sewell – guitar, Monte Croft – vibraphone – Gene Jackson – drums, Santi Debriano – acoustic bass and Bobby Sanabria – percussion. It received a **** rating from Downbeat Magazine and won a Billboard Critics’ Choice award).
In 1999 Jorge Sylvester appeared on BET Jazz “Live From the Knitting Factory with his group, The ACE Trio.
Additional discography includes: Magic Night (Jazz Stop Records, Madrid Spain, 1989 ) with the Chastang/Sylvester Sextet; Viriato Blue ( Jazz Stop Records, Madrid Spain, 1983 ); The Mass (Palmetto Records, 2000) with the Collective Identity Saxophone Quartet featuring Sam Newsom, Aaron Stewart and Alex Harding; Another Side (CIMP Records, 2000) with tenor saxophone Ken Simon Quartet featuring drummer Barry Altschul; The Blue Oneness of Dreams (Mouth Almighty Records, 1997) with Sekou Sundiata; The Essence Allstars featuring Doug Carn, Idris Muhammed and Josh Roseman (Hip Hop Records, 1997).
Jorge Sylvester's distinctive alto saxophone sound is imbued with the volatility of Caribbean basin's complex mosaic, transformed and focused by the probing musical linguistics pioneered by the great saxophonists of modern jazz. Jorge's composer's imagination is the matchless structural coherence of his improvisational work.
Violinist, Composer Ramsey Ameen
12/2005 Tribes Magazine
Paz – Inspiración – Salud - Bendiciones y Mucha Musica. Feliz y Prospero Año 2009 - Happy New Year 2009. Frohes Weihnachten und viel Glück im Neuen Jahr 2009. .......Never stop the beat....... Alvaro.
Hey Jorge, Keep up the great music, its always a pleasure to play your music and listen to your ideas and improv!!! All the best to you and Nora in the New Year!!
Today's the day. We've come way to far to turn back our turn our back on change. It's been a long time coming, but a change is going to come. That change comes today!
Yes we can! Yes we will! Tonight we'll say 'Yes we did!'
JORGE SYLVESTER
Alto-Saxophonist, Conductor, Composer, Arranger
Born in Colon, Panama attended the Panama Conservatory of Music and the University of Panama. He received a Bachelor of Science in Music from the State University of New York College at New Paltz in 1981.
A unique innovator in the idiom of creative music, Sylvester’s sound is reminiscent of another time in jazz history when artists like Dolphy and Ornette were exploding on the scene and experimenting with concepts that would ultimately revolutionize music at large. A throwback to the future, Mr. Sylvester has been on the cutting edge of that scene since 1980 when he first came to New York City.
His blend of African-Caribbean Rhythms with new music is what gives Sylvester his distinguished voice. An impressive composer and arranger, his music moves, entices and stirs the imagination, as visual as it is physical, his ability to transform colors into sounds and sounds into textures place him in the company of the great expressionist painters.
By age 14, Jorge was fronting his own Caribbean dance band and writing his own arrangements and compositions. He studied privately with saxophonist, Euclides Hall, who took him along on gigs to observe from the bandstand in the “old school style”. When Jorge’s professor at the conservatory, Efrain Castro, sent him to sub for him in a band led by the great Panamanian pianist Victor Boa, Jorge was taken on as a regular. Heading for Europe in his early twenties, Sylvester spent ten years touring and recording with his ensembles and as a freelancer.
Upon his arrival to New York, he studied with Dave Holland, Oliver Lake, Steve Lacy, Ramsey Ameen, Marion Brown and many others at vibraphonist Karl Berger’s Creative Music Studio in Woodstock. Since that time, Sylvester has performed with such notables as Stefon Harris, Rodney Kendrick, Karl Berger, David Murray Big Band, Sekou Sundiata, the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra, the Oliver Lake Big Band, Kuumba Frank Lacy’s Vibe Tribe, the Next Legacy Orchestra, Joe Bowie’s Defunkt Big Band and most recently with Nora McCarthy with whom he co-leads several groups, namely:
The ConceptualMotion Orchestra, A Small Dream In Red (voice and saxophone duet) and The ACE (Afro-Caribbean Experimental) Collective – all of which also include spoken word and poetry contributed by McCarthy.
The ConceptualMotion Orchestra, conducted and orchestrated by Sylvester, is a 20-piece all original music orchestra with compositions contributed by both he and McCarthy, opened the renowned avant garde VISION FESTIVAL X in New York City, June, 2005. Also in 2005, a cd entitled A Small Dream In Red, was released on the Sundown label and is a live performance of the voice and saxophone duo recorded in March, 2003 at Cleveland State University’s Drinko Hall.
In the Spring of 2006, Jorge Sylvester toured Europe and Israel with the World Saxophone Quartet filling the chair formerly occupied by founding father Julius Hemphill, Arthur Blythe, James Spaulding, Eric Person, John Purcell and Bruce Williams. Mr. Sylvester performed alongside luminaries David Murray, Oliver Lake and Hammiet Bluiett.
In January, 2007, Mr. Sylvester returned to his native Panama as a member of the Panamanian All-Stars led and directed by Danilo Perez at the fourth annual Panama Jazz Festival performing with Carlos Garnett, Santi Debriano, Billy Cobham and Renato Thoms.
Later on April, 23 of the same year he performs at the JAZZ and WORKSHOPS FESTIVAL in Podgorica, Montenegro with the Voice and Saxophone Duo, A SMALL DREAM IN RED.
DISCOGRAPHY:
New Double CD just released on Sylvester’s label Lizoka Music : Following The Line/ Live in New York City is the documentation of his 1999 quartet featuring Monte Croft on vibraphone, Jeff Carney on bass, Terreon Gully on drums, and a special appearance by pianist James Hurt on the Bud Powell composition Willow Grove.
2008 release Waldron Ricks with trumpeter, composer Waldron Ricks, Danny Grissett, Jaleel Shaw, Nashiet Waits and Vicente Archer, featuring Jorge's Quintet version of his composition "Playground."
Co-leader of the quartet Asymmetry with pianist, Lucian Ban, Sylvester recorded a cd for Jazzaway records which was released in December, 2005 entitled Playground – which is also the name of the title track a composition written by Sylvester.
In The Ear of the Beholder, 2001 (Billboard’s Spotlight, Feb. 2001) Jazz Magnet Records, features: Donald Nicks on electric bass and Bobby Sanabria on drums and is Sylvester’s second release as a leader since the critically acclaimed MusiCollage (Postcards, 1996, re-released on Arkadia Records featured Claudio Roditi - trumpet, Marvin Sewell – guitar, Monte Croft – vibraphone – Gene Jackson – drums, Santi Debriano – acoustic bass and Bobby Sanabria – percussion. It received a **** rating from Downbeat Magazine and won a Billboard Critics’ Choice award).
In 1999 Jorge Sylvester appeared on BET Jazz “Live From the Knitting Factory with his group, The ACE Trio.
Additional discography includes: Magic Night (Jazz Stop Records, Madrid Spain, 1989 ) with the Chastang/Sylvester Sextet; Viriato Blue ( Jazz Stop Records, Madrid Spain, 1983 ); The Mass (Palmetto Records, 2000) with the Collective Identity Saxophone Quartet featuring Sam Newsom, Aaron Stewart and Alex Harding; Another Side (CIMP Records, 2000) with tenor saxophone Ken Simon Quartet featuring drummer Barry Altschul; The Blue Oneness of Dreams (Mouth Almighty Records, 1997) with Sekou Sundiata; The Essence Allstars featuring Doug Carn, Idris Muhammed and Josh Roseman (Hip Hop Records, 1997).
Jorge Sylvester's distinctive alto saxophone sound is imbued with the volatility of Caribbean basin's complex mosaic, transformed and focused by the probing musical linguistics pioneered by the great saxophonists of modern jazz. Jorge's composer's imagination is the matchless structural coherence of his improvisational work.
Violinist, Composer Ramsey Ameen
12/2005 Tribes Magazine
