Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur and bassist Harvie S have recorded together on three albums—Roni's Introspection (2018) and Stories (2021), and on vocalist CeCe Gable's More Than a Song (2020). Now there's a fourth and perhaps their most beautiful and intimate collaboration, with drummer Sylvia Cuenca. [Photo above, from left, of Roni Ben-Hur, Sylvia Cuenca and Harvie S]
Their new co-led album is Wondering (Dot Time), and the result is tender, seductive and swinging. Ever been in a home where several people are preparing an elaborate meal? You could knock over a vase and their attention to the food wouldn't be broken. That's the level of intensive focus and collaborative communication going on here. Roni and Harvie are busy chopping, cutting, slicing and simmering. Then Sylvia comes by and adds fresh herbs and spices, tastes with a wooden spoon and nods or tosses in something else.
Songs on the album have been sublimely selected, as if the music was carefully shopped at a jazz farmer's market: Miles Davis and Gil Evans's Boplicity, Bobby Hutcherson's For Duke P., Antonio Carlos Jobim's Ligia, Raul de Souza’s A Vontade Mesmo, Oscar Pettiford's The Gentle Art of Love, Harvie's Ray, Herbie Nichols's Some Wandering Bushmen, Kenny Wheeler's The Forks, Roni's What Was and Frank Wess's Ménage à Bleu. [Photo above of Harvie S by Nick Carter]
A quick round of applause for Roni and Harvie for selecting fresh songs that are lesser-known and work together joyfully. See, it is possible to find wonderful material that hasn't been hammered into listeners' heads over and over again. This is what true jazz artists do—they roll up their sleeves and dig deep to find powerful songs that have been overlooked. And the ones they picked that are more well known to jazz fans—Boplicity and The Gentle Art of Love—are truly timeless and always welcome. [Photo above of Roni Ben-Hur by Nick Carter]
Roni has such a sensitive, swinging touch, and his ringing guitar chords and runs are stellar. Harvie is a marvelous, elegant bassist with plenty of ache and joy in his notes. And behold Sylvia! Her brushes whisk with fire, her cymbals hiss like snakes and her soft, polyrhythmic figures are in constant motion and sustain a zesty atmosphere. [Photo above of Sylvia Cuenca by Chris Drukker]
Best of all, like our allegorical kitchen chefs mentioned earlier, all three musicians listen to what the other is playing and develop ideas from each other's suggestions. Another one of my favorites this year and perfect for that upcoming fireplace playlist.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Roni Ben-Hur and Harvie S's Wondering (Dot Time), with Sylvia Cuenca, here.
JazzWax clips: Here's Boplicity...
Here's Ligia...
And here's For Duke P....