Artist: Jerry Leake
Title: Cubist
Cat.#: 1
Label: Rhombus Publishing
Genre: World Beat

Text by Jim Hoey

The number of instruments played by Jerry Leake on his latest album is dizzying and far-reaching, representing five or maybe six continents (I didn’t catch a didgeridoo but I may have missed it), enough to make this one of the most eclectic collections of globetrotting global percussion that I’ve heard yet.

Recorded at the New England Conservatory of Music, where Leake teaches at the Berkeley School of Music in Boston, Cubist is the third in a trilogy of works done with the help of producer and guitarist Randy Roos, whose work on this album on guitar, along with Will Graefe, balances out the heavy pulse of the percussion with long, twining jazz lines.

From the lush ample vibraphone of “Freehand”, African pulse and call and response vocal of “Caldera”, to the Afro-Cuban jazz vibe of the title track “Cubist”, with echoes of complex Indian vocals, Leake’s latest explorations into the mysteries of rhythm worldwide leave the listener refreshed, intrigued, and occasionally mesmerised by the depth and sweep of these subtle, strong and smooth songs.

Featuring guest artists

Randy Roos (guitars, controlled synth), Noam Sender (Turkish ney, zurna, vocals, duduk), Mister Rourke (turntables), Rohan Gregory (violin), Lisa Leake (vocals), Derek Beckvold (bass sax and bari sax), horn arrangements by Ken Schaphorst featuring: Stan Strickland (tenor sax), Dave Harris (trombone, tuba), Mike Peipman (trumpet), Mike Rivard (bass), Brad Hatfield (keyboard), Will Graefe (guitar).

Listening to tracks and buy CD