Jérôme Sabbagh - Plugged In (2012)

The simple act of “plugging in” is easy to take for granted, but it provides power, illumination, charge; the same could be said for connecting a power cord or for the meeting of creative minds. On Plugged In (Bee Jazz), his fifth album as a leader, French-born, Brooklyn-based saxophonist Jérôme Sabbagh discovers the spark of inspiration provided by both, assembling an exhilarating electric quartet and collaborating with the jaw-dropping Belgian keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin.

The result is an album that is all about electrifying connections – that between Sabbagh and Dumoulin, the intense grooves forged by Martinique-born bassist Patrice Blanchard and American drummer Rudy Royston, the conjunction of the electric and the lyrical, the raw edge of rock girding the sophisticated communication of jazz.

Sabbagh first encountered the keyboardist on record, knowing as soon as he heard Dumoulin’s unique approach that he wanted to work with him. “I heard something really pure in Jozef’s playing that I connected with,” Sabbagh recalls. “He was using a lot of effects, but at the same time he had a really distinct, original voice, and a degree of lyricism that is quite rare in an electric context.”

The two came together via a grant from the French-American Jazz Exchange program administered jointly by Chamber Music America and the French American Cultural Exchange. Sabbagh and Dumoulin each composed half of the repertoire, agreeing not to check in on one another during the writing process. “I had no idea what he was writing and he had no idea what I was writing until he flew to New York,” Sabbagh says. “We trusted that we would make it work once we actually got together.”

Not only did they make it work, but Plugged In is a powerfully cohesive album comprising fourteen diverse pieces.The session is possessed of the excitement its creators were feeling during its recordings. The date marked Dumoulin’s first visit not only to New York but to the States; Sabbagh was fresh off playing a week at the Village Vanguard in Paul Motian’s New Trio, alongside frequent collaborator Ben Monder (the legendary drummer, sadly, passed away two months later). That experience stood out, even among the other greats with whom Sabbagh has performed or recorded, including Victor Lewis, Bill Stewart, Billy Drummond, Andrew Cyrille, Daniel Humair, Guillermo Klein, Ben Street and many others.



Tracklist:

01. Drive
02. Special K
03. Aisha
04. Jeli
05. Ronny
06. Walk 6
07. UR
08. Minor
09. Rider
10. Boulevard Carnot
11. City Dawn
12. Walk 3 Bis
13. Kasbah
14. Slow Rock Ballad
15. Milonga (Bonus Track)