DANIEL SUSNJAR - Su Su Nje
www.danielsusnjar.com
Daniel Susnjar ( drums, percussion, compositions and arrangements) Alex Poe Norris ( trumpet and flugelhorn) Troy Roberts (tenor sax) Chad Bernstein ( trombone and conch shells) Yuri Juarez ( acoustic guitar) Paul Bollenback (jazz guitar) Sam Anning (acoustic bass) Freddy Huevito Lobaton (cajon) with special guests, Gabriel Alegria (trumpet) Laura Andrea Lequia (soprano & tenor saxes) Danny Susnjar (electric guitar)
Recorded in various locations, no specific dates given.
Australian drummer Susnjar, fresh from five years of study and performing in the U.S.A. has produced a remarkably stimulating debut album featuring compositions based on his doctoral dissertation enquiring into the application of Afro –Peruvian rhythms. To help him realise this project he has utilised the talents of some very able stateside musicians and the result is an effervescent cross cultural mixture that belies its rather academic origins.
Most of the compositions are Susnjar originals; often quite stately, legato themes laid over infectious polyrhythmic percussion and containing spirited solos from horns and guitars. By way of contrast there are three arrangements of traditional Afro-Peruvian material and, for me, these represent the highlight of the album having that airy, lyrical quality one associates with indigenous pan –pipes music: refreshing, danceable and lively.
The only negative I found was the rather contrived vocal exhortations that pollute a couple of the numbers but those un-afflicted by my conservatism will see these as part and parcel of the music’s appeal.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
www.danielsusnjar.com
Daniel Susnjar ( drums, percussion, compositions and arrangements) Alex Poe Norris ( trumpet and flugelhorn) Troy Roberts (tenor sax) Chad Bernstein ( trombone and conch shells) Yuri Juarez ( acoustic guitar) Paul Bollenback (jazz guitar) Sam Anning (acoustic bass) Freddy Huevito Lobaton (cajon) with special guests, Gabriel Alegria (trumpet) Laura Andrea Lequia (soprano & tenor saxes) Danny Susnjar (electric guitar)
Recorded in various locations, no specific dates given.
Australian drummer Susnjar, fresh from five years of study and performing in the U.S.A. has produced a remarkably stimulating debut album featuring compositions based on his doctoral dissertation enquiring into the application of Afro –Peruvian rhythms. To help him realise this project he has utilised the talents of some very able stateside musicians and the result is an effervescent cross cultural mixture that belies its rather academic origins.
Most of the compositions are Susnjar originals; often quite stately, legato themes laid over infectious polyrhythmic percussion and containing spirited solos from horns and guitars. By way of contrast there are three arrangements of traditional Afro-Peruvian material and, for me, these represent the highlight of the album having that airy, lyrical quality one associates with indigenous pan –pipes music: refreshing, danceable and lively.
The only negative I found was the rather contrived vocal exhortations that pollute a couple of the numbers but those un-afflicted by my conservatism will see these as part and parcel of the music’s appeal.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
