Bobby Few Releases "Few And Far Between: Live At Tonic" on Boxholder Records
On a June afternoon a few days after his triumphant solo piano performance at the fifth annual Vision Festival in New York City (just released by Boxholder Records as Continental Jazz Express), Bobby Few met with saxophonist Avram Fefer and bassist Wilber Morris to perform and record this trio performance at Tonic. In his four-star review of Few and Far Between in the June issue of Down Beat, James Hale writes:
“Bolstered by the sturdy bass of Wilber Morris, saxophonist Fefer's trio with veteran pianist Bobby Few is a soulful unit that can wring emotion from stately ballads like Fefer's “'Loss' and swing powerfully on Mingus' “Nostalgia in Times Square.' The music is richly textured, courtesy of Morris' percussive left-hand technique and Fefer's grainy sound, and Few rains cascades of notes. Fefer is an exciting player, but Morris is most memorable here for his two lengthy solos that anchor the set."
Avram Fefer was born in Seattle, Washington. After receiving a degree in psychology from Harvard, he pursued musical studies at Berklee, then at New England Conservatory with George Russell and Ran Blake. He spent five subsequent years in
Paris, working with such musicians as Sunny Murray, Steve Lacy, Jack Gregg, and, for the first time, Bobby Few. He has released two CDs as a leader: Calling All Spirits (Cadence Jazz Records), and Lucille's Gemini Dream (C.I.M.P.). Reviewing the latter, Derek Taylor wrote in All About Jazz, “He weds the best from both the free jazz and postbop camps with alacrity and confidence and in the bargain comes up with a musical jargon that is wholly his own."
Bobby Few is a native of Cleveland, Ohio who studied and played in New York but has lived for over thirty years in Europe. In those decades, he was part of Center of the World, with Alan Silva, Frank Wright, and Muhammed Ali, Silva's Celestial Communication Orchestra, and the Steve Lacy Sextet. Recent recordings have been with Zusaan Kali Fasteau, David Murray, Ricky Ford, and Noah Howard. He can be heard on Howard's classic Red Star, released last year for the first time in America on Boxholder Records. Though an infrequent visitor to the United States, he returned in 2001 for another Vision Festival performance and has just completed a successful tour of the midwest with Avram Fefer in support of this release.
Wilber Morris is the leader of his own group, Wilberforce, and a member of the BMT Trio (with Thomas Borgmann and Reggie Nicholson) and Lou Grassi's Po Band. He has played and recorded with David Murray, Charles Gayle, Andrew Lamb, Arthur Blythe, Billy Bang, Ivo Perelman, Avram Fefer (on Lucille's Gemini Dream), and many others. Gary Giddens calls him a “stirring four-to-the-bar bassist, noted for the ringing clarity of his phrases."
Artists: Bobby Few (Piano), Avram Fefer (Tenor Saxophone), Wilber Morris (Bass).
Distribution: Northcountry Distribution Cadence Building Redwood, NY 13679-3104 Tel. 315-287-2852 Fax 315-287-2860 E-mail: northcountry@cadencebuilding.com
