Issi Rozen - Dark Beauty (CD)

All Music Guide

From the 1890s (when cornetist Buddy Bolden had his first New Orleans bands) to the fusion era of ‘70s, jazz was in a state of constant innovation. But from the early ‘80s on, very few innovators have entered the jazz field, which isn't to say that jazz has a shortage of personal voicesan improviser can have something personal and meaningful to say even if he/she isn't radically innovative the way that Bolden, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman were radically innovative. Dark Beauty points to the fact that while Israeli guitarist Issi Rozen (now living in the jazz hotbed known as Boston) isn't a radical innovator, he's a personal voice. It isn't difficult to tell who Rozen's main influences are; his airy style of guitar playing clearly owes a lot to Jim Hall and Pat Metheny. But at the same time, he isn't a carbon copy of his influences; Rozen is his own person. For one thing, the postbop improviser has more Middle Eastern leanings than eith...er Hall or Metheny, which makes sense because he grew up in IsraelRozen uses his Jewish heritage to his creative advantage, and that's a definite plus. Another thing Rozen has going for him is his willingness to emphasize original material; eight of the ten tracks on this 71minute CD are Rozen originals. And even the songs that he didn't write haven't been beaten to death in the jazz world; "Segment" isn't one of Charlie Parker's more famous compositions, and the traditional Middle Eastern melody "Sheharhoret" isn't something that students ordinarily learn to play in jazz education classes. Dark Beauty doesn't reinvent the postbop wheel, but it's an enjoyably individualistic effort for Rozen. - Alex Henderson, All Music Guide Read more Less