Photo by Elmar Lemes
Eric McPherson (drums) + special guests
“Elevation has established itself as a unique voice in the world of jazz. The group has taken elements of modern jazz and the avant-garde, employing musicians who have been movers in both, creating an original direction. ELEVATION is an enlightened state of mind and this music is certain to take you there” Jazz Inside Magazine NYC.
Founded in New York in 2006 by Transylvanian expat pianist Lucian Ban and saxophonist extraordinaire Abraham Burton, ELEVATION features one of the best rhythm sections in contemporary jazz – John Hebert (bass) and Eric McPherson (drums). The group has performed countless concerts and tours in the past decade developing a unique body of work inspired by the great traditions of jazz and eastern European folk music. The quartet’s first album MYSTERY – an incendiary live set recorded in NYC – was nominated for several BEST ALBUMS OF 2013 Awards by Jeff Stockton (NYC Jazz Record), Ken Micaleff (Downbeat) and Elzy Kolb (Hot House) and was followed in 2016 by SONGS FROM AFAR, an album that added special guests Mat Maneri (viola) and Transylvanian traditional singer Gavril Tarmure that got a 5* “masterpiece” review and was named a 2016 Downbeat BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR.
Press highlights:
“Alluring timelessness . . . a strong life force that seems to flow through this music . . . like many of the great masters, pianist Lucian Ban makes personal art that feels universal – 5* STARS!”
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“The pianist Lucian Ban has a new album which honors his Transylvanian folk heritage even as it pursues a modern chamber-jazz ideal”
“Like Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner and other vanguard bandleaders of that era, the Romanian born pianist-composer Lucian Ban alongside intense saxophonist Abraham Burton, bassist John Hebert and drummer Eric McPherson favor searching post bop that cranes toward the avant-garde without losing the buoyance of swing”
“Songs From Afar is a triumph of emotional and musical communication, and is not to be missed”
