Rush
SSC1775 2026-09-11
Track List
Dark Blue - 7:48
Serenade For Andrew - 5:24
Cristina’s Hope - 4:29
Rush - 4:09
Elevation - 5:52
Congestion Tax - 4:16
Chakra - 4:56
Syndrome - 4:23
Golden Oriole - 5:36
Musicians
Lucian Ban - piano
Abraham Burton - tenor saxophone
John Hebert - bass
Eric McPherson - drums
Gavril Tarmure - vocals
The easiest ways to ingrain oneself into a community is by finding its leaders and establishing meaningful relationships. Pianist/composer Lucian Ban founded his Elevation ensemble in 2006 with saxophonist Abraham Burton as a vehicle for Ban’s original compositions, which bridges his European musical heritage and his experience in New York’s jazz world. For nearly two decades, Elevation has matured into one of the city’s most distinctive working ensembles, as can be heard on their new recording, Rush.
Ban moved to New York from his native Romania in 1999 to study at The New School and to be closer to jazz’s source, immersing himself in the city’s vibrant and diverse creative community. Since then, Ban’s career has spanned European folkloric traditions, contemporary classical music, jazz, and free improvisation. His collaborations with violist Mat Maneri, woodwind masters John Surman, Alex Harding and Evan Parker, amongst other leading improvisers, are documented on more than twenty albums for Sunnyside, Clean Feed, Jazzaway, and ECM Records.
The linchpin of Elevation is saxophonist Abraham Burton, a native New Yorker whose profound connection to the jazz tradition is tantamount the Elevation’s sound and his partnership with Ban, also documented on their duo recording Blacksalt (Sunnyside, 2021). Bassist John Hébert has been one of Ban’s closest collaborators, from Ban’s radical reinterpretations of the music of Roman composer George Enescu on Enesco Re-Imagined (Sunnyside, 2010) and Oedipe Redux (Sunnyside, 2023) to Elevation. His deep musical intelligence and ability to move effortlessly between tradition and innovation pairs seamlessly with drummer Eric McPherson, whose rhythmic imagination helps to form one of contemporary jazz’s most respected rhythm sections.
Over the years, Elevation has grown into a living and breathing entity. The ensemble’s recordings have documented their evolution. Mystery (Sunnyside, 2013) was an intense live recording at Cornelia Street Cafe in Greenwich Village, capturing the quartet’s live energy, while Songs From Afar (Sunnyside, 2016) expanded the ensemble’s palette through Ban’s compositions and the evocative vocals of Romanian folkloric artist Gavril T?rmure. Songs From Afar was named one of DownBeat’s Best Albums of the Year in its 2016 Critics Poll.
Rush is the third Elevation release on Sunnyside Records and it reflects both the quartet’s evolution and the musical voices that have shaped Ban’s artistic path. Its dedications to Abdullah Ibrahim, Andrew Hill, Larry Willis, and Billy Strayhorn are less tributes than conversations across generations. The album was recorded on August 28, 2024, by Tom Tedesco at Tedesco Studios and mixed by Katsuhito Naito.
The program begins with “Dark Blue,” a haunting ballad dedicated to the late, great Abdullah Ibrahim with Burton’s warm tenor floating over the piece’s lush harmonies. “Serenade for Andrew” is a tribute to Andrew Hill which captures the spirit of the 1960s Blue Note sound with its angular melody and off-kilter swing. Burton steps aside for a trio rendition of “Cristina’s Hope,” a heartfelt ballad that first appeared on Ban’s solo piano album, Ways of Disappearing (Sunnyside, 2022).
The title track is a ferocious piece with a fast-moving theme that leans into Ornette Coleman’s untethered sound. The composition provides a particularly strong showcase for McPherson’s celebrated time feel and rhythmic imagination. Hébert’s resonant bass is featured on “Elevation,” a poignant composition that takes cues from the wonderful writing style of Larry Willis. “Congestion Tax” is a freely played piece that begins with a Ban and McPherson interaction before Burton and Hébert enter the conversation, reflecting the unpredictable energies of New York.
Burton’s masterful playing is amplified by Ban’s “Chakra,” written with a nod toward Billy Strayhorn’s exquisite chromaticism. The buoyant “Syndrome” demonstrates the quartet’s ability to move fluidly across the jazz vocabulary, combining groove, interaction, and improvisational freedom. The program concludes with the heart-rending “Golden Oriole,” the pianist’s arrangement of an ancient Transylvanian folk song. The piece brings Ban’s musical journey full circle, uniting his love of the jazz tradition with the melodic memory and emotional resonance of his Romanian heritage.
