Brett Sroka - Hearsay

[james harrigan]

I'm certain there was a thread on this CD, but I couldn't find it, so here's another one.

JC poster Brett Sroka, aka Hearsay, recorded his debut on Fresh Sound New Talent in 2002, and I finally bought it yesterday. It features Brett on tb, Avishai Cohen (t), Aaron Stewart (ts), Jason Moran (piano & Fender Rhodes), John Sullivan (b), and Eric Harland (d). Just 45 minutes long, this disc has four tunes by Brett, one (the title) by Ellington/Strayhorn, and one by Charlie Shavers.

what a breath of fresh air! Brett's playing is really pretty damned amazing for such a youngster. I'm used to exceptional technical facility in younger players, but rarely such fine soloing and an individual voice. He's no Robin Eubanks yet, but the fact that the thought even occured to me shows you how good he is. It is also not crazy to invoke the ghost of JJ Johnson, since Brett's playing is so fluid and musical.

The rest of the band is also fine. Avishai Cohen is a name I've heard of before but never heard play, and he is also a technically adept player who reels off some excellent solos. Aaron Stewart is a little too indebted to Joe Henderson, but because of that, he's a pleasure to listen to. The rhythm section is top notch and well known, though J-Mo doesn't get a lot of space to solo (no complaint there, just info). A great 3-minute solo by Harland is on one track.

I don't want to give a blow-by-blow description of the tracks, so I'll just say that they are varied, well-arranged, and a hell of a lot of fun to listen to. This is truly an outstanding CD, not just a good debut by a promising younger cat. Check it out.

one more thing: nice liner notes by some cat named Gary Sisco.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by james harrigan

Avishai Cohen is a name I've heard of before but never heard play, and he is also a technically adept player who reels off some excellent solos.

But you probably heard of the other Avishai Cohen, the bass player.

[james harrigan]

Originally Posted by Pete C

But you probably heard of the other Avishai Cohen, the bass player.

indeed, and I have several excellent CDs by him.

[Ennis Snavely]

I'll have to pick this up.

Just so I know; are these Cohens the same Cohen?

[james harrigan]

Originally Posted by Ennis Snavely

I'll have to pick this up.

Just so I know; are these Cohens the same Cohen?

no, they're different. The bass player was on the scene in New York for a while before the trumpeter appeared, and is fairly well known; he's been in most of Chick Corea's groups in the past 5 or 6 years, I think. I recall an interviewer asking him about how he felt sharing his name with another young Israeli jazz musician, and he was good humored about it, saying that "Avishai Cohen" in Israel is like "John Smith" in the US.

[Gary Sisco]

It's a very nice CD, and more than that when you remember that it's a debut. (He said, even if he did write the liner notes -- a freebie, I hasten to add, to avoid the shill label. No money involved. I don't even like liner notes, in general; I wrote the notes for this one for a friend and out of respect for Brett's talents, which outstrip his years, and I hope we get to hear a lot more from him.)

[hearsay]

Thanks, I'm glad you guys like it. We actually recorded that in Feb 2001, which seems like a whole other existance today.

I hope you will stick with me on my next thing, which will be a lot different. (It's the trio you saw Gary, but we've improved immensely since then.)

[Gary Sisco]

Cool, Brett. The trio still has my man Deacon?

[hearsay]

Yes, that's my brother, he's still in the band.

[Gary Sisco]

Cool. Great drummer, great guy.