“Schwarz-Bart channels the asymmetrical sonorities of John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter into the myth-spirit space of Caribbean folk legend. A remarkable contribution to the Caribbean jazz aesthetic.”
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John STEVENSON, eJazzNews
“With one foot inside Jazz music and the other in the traditional drums from his native island of Guadeloupe,
JSB probes the cosmos through the lens of his new album Abyss.”
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Elodie Maillet, Vibrations Magazine
“Abyss is an immense testimony of love from JSB to his father, the author of "The Last of The Justs".”
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Yann Plougastel, Le Monde 2
“Volcanic and astounding tenor saxman stretches his ideas to the fullest and comes up with a monument of composition. One’s emotions follow the journey to the depths of the man’s soul. The ride is exhilarating and leaves one with a feeling of awe and happiness. An utterly surprising adventure… ”
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Open Mag
“Schwarz-Bart has carried a dream for many years: to combine jazz with Gwoka, the three-hundred year old rhythmic tradition of Guadeloupe, his homeland. Soné Ka-La is the culmination of that dream.”
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J. HUNTER, All About Jazz
“His tenor playing is inventive and colorful, his improvisations stellar throughout, and he blends beautifully with the dense African percussion, rolling rhythms and light female and huskier male native choirs.”
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Jonathan WIDRAN, All Music Guide
“JSB is running the Voodoo down!”
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BET J
“Schwarz-Bart has indeed found an alluring sound that brings together a variety of influences for a truly world jazz.”
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Paul BORELLI, KOOP
“All-round reedsman-composer-arranger Schwarz-Bart injects the island’s native Go-Kwa drum patterns into his already novel callalou of post-bop and Nu Hip-hop influences. The results are simply hypnotic.”
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John STEVENSON, Ejazz News
“Schwarz-Bart soars high enough to suggest stardom is imminent.”
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George VARGA, The San Diego Union Tribune
“Simply infectious”
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Brian SOERGEL, Jazz Times
“Si Miles était vivant il l’aurait enrôlé ! Courtisé par Me’Shell et Roy Hargrove, son sax sculpte un groove teinté de funk et des rythmes de sa Guadeloupe natale.”
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Citizen Jazz
“Ce surdoué au style très personnel mêle jazz afro-américain et sons traditionnels créoles.”
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Michel Comta, Télérama
“La musique du monde atteint ici un niveau inédit, ainsi que le jazz.”
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Thierry Quenum, Jazz magazine
“Avant-jazz saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart has created one of a kind album. It is the Bible of world music’s ancient and modern rhythms.”
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Susan FRANCES, Jazz Review
“Mr. Schwarz-Bart fuses the hard tone of John Coltrane and the young Wayne Shorter in the angular lines and asymmetrical structures atop rhythms from Guadeloupe. There is serious thought in Mr. Schwarz-Bart’s fusion.”
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Jon PARELES, The New York Times
"Soné Ka-La" is worth about a lifetime of listens, as it is wielded with heavy emotions gumbo-ed into one fine art.
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Zakariya WILLIS, Two.One.Five Magazine
“Those infectious beats play a fundamental role in Soné Ka La. Sometimes Schwarz-Bart embellishes his tone with a wah wah pedal, crafting silvery textures and advanced harmonies that point towards electronica. Nervertheless, melodic cogency is always crucial to his serpentine lines.”
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John MURPH, Downbeat