piano et saxophone soprano
A deep human & artistic meeting

"Jean-Marie has introduced me to Portuguese fado for which I will be eternally grateful. It is of course the blues in another way and the universality of that feeling is once again confirmed to me. As well Jean Marie is a composer of the first order with each song capturing a mood and conveying a message. I am very glad to share the stage with such a complete artist and hope you enjoy this recording as much as I did." (David Liebman)

NEW album
Caminando
Listen to extracts >>

Jean-Marie Machado and Dave Liebman met in April 2003. Jean-Marie Machado has composed special songs mostly of them inspired by ethnic music (Jean-Marie Machado was born in Tangiers, Morocco of Portuguese, Spanish and Italian origins) but also jazz tunes.

Dave Liebman was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 4, 1946.
In the early seventies, after studying jazz with Lennie Tristano and Charles Lloyd, he reached the zenith of his apprenticeship period playing and recording with Elvin Jones group and Miles Davis. He also began to explore his own music first in, the Open Sky Trio and then with Richie Beirach in Lockout farm. In the eighties he formed the group Quest wich played and recorded until 1991. Throughout the 80’s and the 90’s, Liebman has often been featured with top European musicians. Dave Liebman has recorded nearly 75 CD’s under his own leadership. His artistic output has ranged form straight ahead to chamber jazz, from fusion to avant-garde. This diversity has always been marked by its conviction, singular approach and a sense of adventure so highly valued in Liebman‘s aesthetic. Combined with his written works and teaching activities, David Liebman defines the jazz artist in our times.

Dave Liebman's website : http://www.upbeat.com/lieb/ >>

Dave Liebman's words about this meeting with Jean-Marie Machado :
Playing for so many years in duo with Richie Beirach in the 70s and 80s has I suppose made me a sort of specialist in that particular idiom (…) Piano-sax duo is the most challenging situation for me since every note and nuance is heard without the cover of drums.

I was invited by pianist Jean-Marie Machado to do a few concerts in France and was very pleased at the excellent music he wrote for us.

One of the great things about playing so much with European musicians is that they incorporate the world music influence not as just another style to play, but as a by product of their own roots, in this case Moroccan, Portuguese and of course French.

These types of influences are not something I would readily encounter in the States nor  would I instigate such music myself in this present period of my life. Back in the 70s with Lookout Farm, I passed through an Indian period with tablaist Badal Roy quite before it was in vogue to do such things.