IT’S IN THE TWILIGHT

THE NEW YORK TIMES:

As on his new album “It’s in the Twilight” (Tzadik), Mr. Shapiro, a tenor saxophonist, transforms the ritual of a Friday night Shabbat service into a rollicking downtown jam.  His co-conspirators are Steven Bernstein on slide trumpet, Peter Apfelbaum on tenor saxophone, Brian Mitchell on piano, Booker King on bass and Tony Lewis on drums.

THE NEW YORKER:

The saxophonist Paul Shapiro doesn’t tread lightly upon the Jewish-themed music he plays. His latest CD on the Tzadik label, “It’s in the Twilight,” displays all the turbulent beauty and tradition-bucking funk that his growing coterie of fans now expects.

THE VILLAGE VOICE:   (Voice Choices) 

Jewish music usually runs either hot or cool, and this saxophonist’s Tzadik debut turns out to be a scorcher.  Shapiro, assisted by an outstanding outfit featuring the irrepressible trumpeter Steven Bernstein, applies the heat to a handful of Jewish standards.  Light fuse and step away.  Gehr

TIME OUT NEW YORK:

Tenor saxophonist Paul Shapiro (who’s played alongside artists as far-flung as Michael Jackson, Lou Reed and the Microscopic Septet) leads a band of friends in the feisty, funky arrangements of Jewish themes found on his new Tzadik CD, It’s in the Twilight.

Berkshire Living Magazine:   By Seth Rogovoy

     21st-Century Transcendence Harkens to Early Hasidim

One of the best albums to come out of the new Jewish music scene so far was Paul Shapiro’s “Midnight Minyan,” his 2003 collection of tunes from the Sabbath morning service reconfigured for a jazz ensemble and filtered through a scrim of Afro-Cuban and R&B influences. It was at once a terrific jazz album — jazz is notoriously well suited to such cross-cultural attempts, with such greats as John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, and Sonny Rollins having looked afar for ways to enliven the typical stew of ballads and blues —and a brilliant commentary on the strength and elasticity of the Jewish prayer melodies. 

Shapiro may just have topped himself creatively with his follow-up effort, “It’s in the Twilight,” which was released earlier this year in the Radical Jewish Culture series on John Zorn’s Tzadik label. Joining bandleader Shapiro, who handles the tenor saxophone duties, is an all-star lineup of downtown jazzmen, including fellow tenor Peter Apfelbaum, pianist Brian Mitchell, bassist Booker King, drummer Tony Lewis, and trumpeter Steven Bernstein, who, like Shapiro, has been mining traditional Jewish music for about a decade and coming up with some remarkable juxtapositions. 

 

This time out, Shapiro’s repertoire consists of eight numbers either taken from or inspired by the Friday night Sabbath liturgy. Some are wholly original melodies, such as his “Lecha Dodi Twilight,” and others are improvisations upon preexisting melodies, such as his version of the “Kiddush,” the blessing over the wine, which perhaps aptly has the bit of a flavor of a woozy, New Orleans funeral march.  

 

Friday night is as much a time for happiness and celebration as it is for introspection, and one can just imagine pushing the chairs and table out of the way after a delicious Shabbat dinner and dancing around to “Oy Veys Mir,” a Cab Calloway-style jump blues number that quotes liberally from “Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn” and other Yiddish swing-era hits.

 

Shapiro is one of many jazz musicians of his generation who, after years of playing all kinds of styles – in his case including funk with the Brooklyn Funk Essentials, avant-garde with the Microscopic Septet, hip-hop with Queen Latifah, rock with Lou Reed, and pop with Ben Folds – are coming around to the music of their forefathers, and reinvesting it with a contemporary imprint whose effects will undoubtedly reverberate both musically and spiritually to a whole new, and younger audience.

 

In this way, Shapiro and his peers are very much the heirs of the early Hasidic rebbes, many of whom took folk songs from their co-territorial surroundings and elevated them into nigunim, ecstatic melodies of mystical transcendence.

JAZZTIMES:

The press release accompanying this CD calls saxophonist/flutist Paul Shapiro “ambassador of hip to the world of Jewish music.” OK, I’ll stipulate that. Shapiro makes his Jewishness the central theme of his work. Creatively, however, the music owes less to klezmer than to ’60s and ’70s hard bop and early fusion. In any case, it’s a fun listen. 

Shapiro combines a big, ruddy, prebop tenor sound with a postbop harmonic sensibility. He’s a creative and exciting player. Shapiro’s bluesy compositions are girded by a variety of rhythmic feels, from early jazz to more contemporary grooves. Joining him is fellow tenorist Peter Apfelbaum, trumpeter Steven Bernstein, pianist Brian Mitchell, bassist Booker King and drummer Tony Lewis. Apart from the leader, Mitchell is the most interesting soloist, fluent in the varied styles comprising the band’s repertoire. Bernstein is an attractive presence as well. The rhythm section is mighty fine, always just as tight or loose as it needs to be. 

In practical terms, Shapiro’s religious slant matters not a whit, except perhaps in terms of marketing. There’s nothing intrinsically spiritual about this music. It’s simply very good. Were it made by an atheist, it would be no more or less affecting.    Chris Kelsey

BUFFALO NEWS:  Jeff Simon

Talmudic soul jazz has arrived. Are you ready for a jazz band with klezmer in its bloodstream? How about boogie down horas or music for Hebrew prayers based on the simplest montuno rhythms of salsa bands everywhere? No? Well, how about 16th century Kabbalist poetry inspiring downtown New York City music with a groove that's reminiscent of nothing so much as the African jazz of the great Abdullah Ibrahim? Would you believe that the most melodic and sheerly enjoyable jazz record to come along in many months from jazz's younger generation is this monster delight from Shapiro, a fat-toned tenor power player, composer and bandleader who is a one-man jazz diversity movement? For anyone who has forgotten how much passionate fun jazz can be, Paul Shapiro and this bunch are a gift from on high, brought to us by John Zorn's record label.

EJAZZNEWS.COM: Glenn Astarita
New York City downtown tenor saxophonist Paul Shapiro's sophomore effort for this record label mingles traditional jazz, and groove drenched aspects into a contemporary light. Shapiro and his sextet sport a rather large sound as they seamlessly intersperse Latin and African rhythms with mainstream swing vamps and wily soloing endeavors. On "The Sun Keeps On Coming Up," Shapiro steers a revved-up funk motif via his raspy, blood and guts like attack. The band also abides by changeable tempos along with frothy R&B stylizations. And during the piece, coyly titled with the Jewish phrase, "Oy Veys Mir," Shapiro goes for the proverbial jugular to coincide with the ensemble's upbeat swing, morphed into a brash Dixieland motif. Ultimately, Shapiro proclaims an overriding sense of newness sparked by wit and the pursuance of good-cheer, throughout this undeniably compelling effort that should not be overlooked.

SQUID’S EAR:

It's big, it's fat, it's sassy and it smells like pastrami (and salsa). No, it's not your aunt Sadie; it's the new Paul Shapiro record. On this, his second release on the Tzadik label, Paul Shapiro once again delivers a platter dripping with soulful and sumptuous sounds that will make you feel good inside and out.

But more relevant than a dissection of the album track by track, lets look at the band. From the ground up, this band is a solid as they come. Starting with the rhythm section of Booker King and Tony Lewis on bass and drums respectively, these guys are locked in. When listening, it's obvious they have been rhythmic partners for well over 10 years now. They lay a firm groundwork for the band so every step is steady and confident. With sensitive interplay, they put joy in the rhythm even during the most solemn of passages. Layer that with Brian Mitchell, pianist. His playing is well informed, thoughtful and just downright upright. It's obvious he's been putting in his time in the bluenote woodshed, his playing dripping with emotion. He makes every note count as both member of the rhythm section and as a soloist. Add to all that the horn section. Big, bold and brimming with authority, saxist/leader Shapiro, saxist Peter Apfelbaum and trumpeter Steven Bernstein sound as if they have been playing together for ever. Based on Shapiro's solid arrangements, these three speak as one and as individuals in a most authoritative manner.

ALL ABOUT JAZZ:  John Kelman

Reconvening the same group that made his debut, Midnight Minyan (Tzadik, 2003), so engaging, tenor saxophonist Paul Shapiro's new release is an even more exuberant affair. Combining a wealth of musical styles with the distinctive Jewish flavour that has made John Zorn’s Radical Jewish Culture series so unpredictable, Shapiro proves that twilight needn’t be a time for introspection. If anything, Shapiro’s music aligns itself with the idea of twilight as a transitional meeting time, creating something not of any one style, but instead a nexus point where various elements conjoin into something altogether new. 

One might expect an album referencing erev shabbat--the moment when the work week ends and the sabbath begins--to be more subdued. But while It’s in the Twilight is rarely hurried, neither is it reflective. Instead, it’s about playful interaction, and the members of Shapiro’s sextet are clearly comfortable enough with each other to take risks with complete trust. 

A rich Latin rhythm is the foundation for the traditional “Light Rolls the Darkness,” whose melody conjoins Cuban and Jewish traditions--a connection also made on Cuban ex-pat Roberto Juan Rodriguez’s rhythm-heavy Baila! Gitano Baila! (Tzadik, 2004). The warmth of the trumpet and twin-tenor lineup makes for an especially lush sound. Shapiro and saxophonist Peter Apfelbaum play with a burly tone, and trumpeter Steven Bernstein has never shied away from brightness, but despite the front line’s expressionist behaviour, it’s never brash or harsh. 

The dervish-like “Children of Abraham” is propelled by Tony Lewis’ pounding tom toms and a two-chord vamp that lets everyone solo to extremes while remaining focused on its insistent rhythm. “The Sun Keeps Coming Up” revolves around a traditional minor mode, but its funky groove creates an infectious 1960s Blue Note soul vibe. The equally soulful “Lecha Dodi Twilight” injects a 21st Century facelift into 16th Century kabbalist Rabbi Shelomo Halevi Alkabetz’s “Come, My Beloved.” 

Shapiro transforms the traditional “Kiddush”--the blessing over the cup of wine that is traditionally shared by all at the table--into a rubato tone poem that’s the most poignant moment on the disc. “Oy Veys Mir” looks fondly back to the jump swing era--even quoting 1932’s “Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn” (“To Me You are Beautiful”) by Sholom Secunda and Jacob Jacobs. Traditionally sung at the end of Sabbath and morning services, “Adon Olam” (“Master of the Universe”) gets a breezy treatment, with both saxophones soloing over Shapiro’s gentle singing. 

Finishing on a melancholy note, “One Must Leave So Another May Come” finds Shapiro at his most lyrical. It's a beautiful way to end It’s in the Twilight, another fine entry in Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture series, placing one ethnic tradition in such a broad context that it has truly become a world music.      

ALL ABOUT JAZZ:  Nic Jones

If this is an example of radical Jewish culture, as Tzadik bills it, then a whole lot of Gentiles would be doing themselves an enormous favour if they tapped into it. Listeners of all cultures from around the world are familiar with the idea of the “keeper,” meaning an item that will find a permanent home on their shelves, as opposed to landing in the racks of the local second-hand store, and I knew this title was a keeper by the end of track two. 

In a world better than the one we presently live in, music which so effortlessly spans the distance between the joyous and the melancholic, at the same time as it often unites the two in the most unlikely juxtaposition, might transcend cultural differences. So at the same time as the music on offer here is self-evidently of its culture, it also reaches out beyond those confines in ways that are nothing but positive, frequently evoking thoughts of David Murray's octet at its most trenchantly communicative. 

All six musicians are entirely at home in Shapiro’s music, and if this is a stable lineup, then Shapiro is fortunate indeed to have such a band at his disposal. That's especially true in view of the fact that this is very much music of two halves, with the rhythm section at times doing little more than maintaining a groove, as opposed to injecting rhythmic momentum, while that burden falls upon the soloists. This is best exemplified by the second piece, “Children Of Abraham.” 

If cross-cultural references are relevant here, then “Kiddush,” a traditional piece, has an air of Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath in the way its melody is interpreted. This alone suggests that such labelling, while it might indeed be helpful in enabling listeners to gain vicarious knowledge of what the music actually sounds like, is not ultimately in the music’s best interests, especially in view of the fact that the Brotherhood Of Breath was a South African-European-West Indian band. Ultimately, though, “Oy Veys Mir” is the sound of a hot band eager to lay some music on us, and as a cross-cultural phenomenon, it’s second to none. 

If there’s any justice in the world, this disc will be figuring highly in those year-end polls. It shows the degree to which improvised music can still be creative when a tradition is considered in its entirety, not just as something worthy only of unquestioning reverence.      

ALL ABOUT JAZZ:  Jerry D’Souza

The blessings of the sabbath were clearly upon Paul Shapiro when he wrote the music for and recorded this album. On Midnight Minyan, his first record as a leader, he dwelt on Saturday mornings and the Jewish tradition. This time he turns back the clock to Friday evenings and the glow of twilight that the sabbath brings. He has the same band of musicians in tow; they make this a listening experience that will long linger in memory. 

Shapiro writes with traditional Jewish motifs and then expands them into startling essays, the music leaving its mark as it goes past different signposts. Those can be the beauty of orchestrated ensemble playing, an exhilarating sense of swing, or a ride out into the wide open where content is moulded by free form. 

The traditional “Kiddush” is burnished on the liturgical melodies on which it is based. The horns interweave to form a rich, resplendent tapestry, with Tony Lewis adding vibrant splashes of colour on the drums. It is all heartwarming and beautiful. “Lecha Dodi Twilight” was a poem written in the 16th Century, veiled by time in several melodies, but the jump melody here was written by Shapiro. His saxophone is edgy and filled with the rhythm of soul, and on his return, a nifty dose of bop. Steven Bernstein cuts to the core of the melody on the trumpet, touching on klezmer, and then Brian Mitchell loosens up some bright boogie. 

Fire and brimstone visit with “Children of Abraham,” which careens forth, propelled by drums and bass, with the tenor in majestic voice commanding the path. Shapiro pushes the edges, visiting peaks and valleys, and form begins to slide out of shape when pianist Brian Mitchell opens a vent for a freewheeling fusillade. But one must complete the circle, and the horns draw that final elliptical line.

ALL ABOUT JAZZ:  Sean Patrick Fitzell
Day’s slide into night, the work week’s conclusion, and prayers of the Jewish Shabbat inspired saxophonist Paul Shapiro’s compositions and arrangements for It’s in the Twilight. It is celebratory music, imbued with optimism for change arising at these temporal transformations, a musical salve for these troubled times.

Inviting melodic heads develop from Shapiro, combining with fellow tenor saxophonist Peter Apfelbaum and trumpeter Steven Bernstein. The three play tight unison lines and punchy horn pops, exploring the Jewish scales. The catchy horn hooks are bolstered by the inventive rhythm section--pianist Brian Mitchell, bassist Booker King and drummer Tony Lewis--which lays down a variety of funk and R&B feels, brings the swing, and even drops some Gulf Coast Afro-Cuban flavors. The danceable grooves are appealingly familiar and form an elegant union with the melodic themes.

‘Light Rolls the Darkness’ opens with a hip Afro-Cuban pattern for the horn section’s interpretation of the melody accompanying the evening prayer. The unison part recedes for a succession of dynamic solos: Shapiro’s round tenor takes a narrative turn, Mitchell’s piano playfully inverts the rhythmic feel, and Bernstein’s trumpet adds a lyrical touch. Concise solos are the norm, consistently accentuated with rhythmic modulation and harmonic snippets to play off.

A classic “jungle beat” propels ‘Children of Abraham’ and becomes a spotlight for Bernstein’s soaring performance; on ‘The Sun Keeps on Coming Up’ the rhythm section quickens the tempo to spur Apfelbaum’s urgency. The old-time swinging feel of ‘Oy Veys Mir’ finds King’s thumping bass line transforming into a ripping bass feature, before Lewis takes a classic drum solo and modernizes it with melodic ingenuity around the kit.

All the pieces converge for the infectious ‘Lecha Dodi Twilight’. A greasy funk supports the popping melody, setting up a strong Bernstein flight and a few rounds of tenor sparring, before the group vocals add a charming, folksy vibe. 

ALL ABOUT JAZZ:  Dan McClenaghan

Consider a single member of any ethnic group in America (so the joke goes), and that person has more fun at one wedding reception than a “regular Anglo-Saxon white dude” does in his whole life. It's an unfair and untrue observation, of course, but saxophonist Paul Shapiro's It's in the Twilight does make a case for ethnic exuberance, joy and fun. 

The disc comes to us from John Zorn's Tzadik label, known for melding traditional Jewish music with modern jazz. The New York-based Shapiro moves that quest forward with his quintet, stirring up a heady brew: a mix of a danceable Latin flavor on “Light Rolls the Darkness,” a bunch of soul on “Children of Abraham” (a tune that sounds sort of Like James Brown's “Nightrain” churning in the direction of the synagogue), and a Cab Calloway-esque, good-time rollick on “Oy Veys Mir,” which features Brian Mitchell's honky-tonk piano and a romping Gene Krupa-like drum solo by Tony Lewis. All of this is swirled into a base of traditional Jewish music. 

It's in the Twilight has a Friday night, coming of the Sabbath atmosphere--the Sabbath, a time of leisure, for eating and drinking and talking and “messing around.” The three-horn front line of Shapiro (tenor sax), Steven Bernstein (trumpet and slide trumpet) and Peter Apfelbaum (tenor sax) has what Celeste Sunderland, in her AAJ review of Shapiro's Midnight Minyan, called a “brassy panache”: a loose-limbed, jazzy fervor. 

It's in the Twilight, a excellent set, moves the Jewish-jazz mix forward.

JAZZWISE:

John Zorn’s Radical Jewish Culture label presents a joyously kosher slice of Latin, R&B and bop grooves.  Paul Shapiro doubles with Peter Apfelbaum on tenor sax in a sextet that also features Sex Mob’s Steven Bernstein.

GUITAR WORLD’S  BASS GUITAR:

In spirit, New York’s Microscopic Septet hovers with ethereal majesty over this set, but Shapiro is the main conduit, leading an elastic band that includes Brooklyn’s Booker King on acoustic bass and Peter Apfelbaum (ex-Hieroglyphics Ensemble) on tenor sax.  The feel here is radical Jewish jazz, but it gets funky in a heartbeat on such cuts as “The Sun Keeps On Coming Up”.

All Music Guide:   Thom Jurek

Arranger, composer, and saxophonist Paul Shapiro issued a whopper of a Tzadik debut in Midnight Minyan. That amazing set took six traditional Jewish melodies and ramped them up into a modern jazz blend that took meaty bits and pieces from post-bop and modal jazz, and deep honking R&B forms, and grafted them freely onto the originals. It was in his own compositions -- there were two -- where Shapiro's true musical brilliance shown brightest. On It's in the Twilight, Shapiro turns that record inside out and performs six originals and two devotional pieces. The same band performs Shapiro's music with energy, glee, and true sophistication. The romp starts on the first track, "Light Rolls the Darkness," a traditional piece. Shapiro grafts an Afro-Cuban rhythm and harmonic line onto the original melody and so what you get is a modern Jewish bolero. There is no stretching involved, either. The front line with Peter Apfelbaum and Shapiro on saxophones, Steven Bernstein on trumpet (and slide trumpet later) urged on by Brian Mitchell's piano playing is utterly groove-driven. Drummer Tony Lewis and bassist Booker King can shift on a dime, but can take the entire mess deeper and wider. Mitchell, for his part, allows traces of his influences to shine through from Herbie Hancock and Frank Emilio Flynn to Ramsey Lewis and Vince Guaraldi, his melodic and rhythmic sensibilities are fluid and in the pocket. Shapiro's "Children of Abraham" takes the big beat further on this gorgeous charger that brings in everyone from Latin jazz maestros Machito, and Tito Puente to the klezmer of Dave Tarras. The lyric line is grafted onto salsero and bolero while remaining fully Jewish. But when the honking and shouting goes on in the solos, it's strictly edgy post-bop with an ear for the rail. On "Oy Veys Mir," the melodies come from Yiddish folk forms but are laid out in bluesed-out Ellingtonia from the Cotton Club era as it met the great soloists of the Duke's Blanton-Webster band. And so it goes: there isn't a moment on this wonderful set that doesn't push the listener toward delight; it swings, wails, sings, and cries with pleasure. 

POPMATTERS:  (UK)   Will Layman

 Of all the clever klezmer-jazz sides that have emerged from John Zorn’s Tzadik label (including the leader’s own string of Masada discs), none is more fun than It’s in the Twilight by Paul Shapiro. There is an inherent sense of play in setting minor-hued Eastern European melodies to a jazz groove, but Paul Shapiro also adds healthy doses of Latin music, rhythm-and-blues swagger, and humor. The result is robust and rousing: A celebration of Friday night and the coming day of relaxation, an embodiment of hanging out after sundown. 

Mr. Shapiro is a denizen of the downtown jazz scene, as well as an accomplished contributor to various funk, hip-hop, and pop projects. But his eclecticism is not a form of blandness. His tenor saxophone sound is weighty and all beef. Both his solo and his arrangement style here are reminiscent of Blue Note sessions from the ‘50s and ‘60s—with as much funky hard bop as brisket, much of it leavened with a dash of clave. When he blows, for instance, on “The Sun Keeps Coming Up”, he honks and shouts like a Texas tenor, but then moves decidedly beyond the chords like a full-fledged member of the avant-garde. The track, however, has a rich romanticism that sweeps back in. Mr. Shapiro’s expressionistic blowing is never cold. This is, in the end, a good-time record. 

As fun as anyone on It’s in the Twilight is the pianist Brian Mitchell, who plays like a mad jazz polymath. You probably don’t know his name, but he’s jammed with everyone from Mary J. Blige to Bob Dylan to David “Fathead” Newman. Here, he is continually on fire. On “Light Rolls Away the Darkness”, he combines funky Horace Silver with a thick slab of Eddie Palmieri. On “Lech Dodi Twilight” (the title track), he brings fist-rolling blues groove to the whole event. To my ears, Mr. Mitchell takes control of the session from the start, acting as the coal in its engine. 

Twilight is not all groove, however. “Kiddush”, based on the Jewish blessing of the wine, is a beautifully voiced arrangement for all the horns over slow, free tempo. Along with the leader, Peter Apfelbaum plays tenor and Steven Bernstein is on trumpet. There are no solos, yet the track reeks of individuality. Also quite insinuating and contemplative is “Adon Olam”, with Mr. Bernstein’s muted trumpet leading an ensemble that evokes Herbie Hancock, followed by a very lyrical collective statement from all the horns at once. The modest vocals on the end of this track (as with the title track) are not a distraction but, rather, a way to bring the sound of the band back to the cantorial Jewish tradition. 

In addition to post-bop jazz sounds, Mr. Shapiro also evokes swing and jump bands. “Oy Veys Mir” sounds for all the world like a variation on Slim Gaillard’s “Flat Foot Floogey”, with all the soloists weighing in with brief statements of pre-bop glory. Mr. Bernstein is superb—shaking his trumpet for Pops-like, broad vibrato on an ensemble section of collective improvisation before the theme returns. The closing track, “One Must Leave So Another May Come”, is a ballad with Ellingtonian tinges that might also give you visions of Charles Mingus in a yarmulke. It’s good company to keep. Paul Shapiro seems more than capable of becoming a significant jazz player. 

But he’s a busy man with, obviously, eclectic interests. It’s in the Twilight, however, is the follow-up to a similar disc (Midnight Minyan, also on Tzadik) of klezmer-jazz fusion. With Tzadik promoting this kind of expressive, exciting, cross-cultural jazz, the jazz future of performers and composers like Mr. Shapiro seems in good hands. That this music is out there is enough to make you grab the hands of your sweetie (or maybe your grandma, Jewish or otherwise) and put yourself out there on the dance floor. More fun than the “Hava Nagila”, and hipper than most of today’s seemingly serious jazz, Paul Shapiro’s music makes a bid for serious good times. 

Lord knows we need them.            

Signal to Noise:   Spencer Grady

For his second outing as band leader the New York saxophonist (and one-time Brooklyn Funk Essential) Paul Shapiro has swapped the piety of the synagogue for the dance hall.  Taking his inspiration from the moment in Jewish liturgy when the working week comes to an end and the luxury of the Sabbath begins at twilight on Friday night, he makes music for the celebration of life’s little pleasures.  The tone is set by “Light Rolls the Darkness”, Shapiro’s Latin-infused take on the traditional evening prayer “Maariv Aravim”, which harks back to the 1940’s when Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Kenton first combined Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz stylings.  The crowd pleasing continues throughout the first half of this beautifully realized work.  From the Yiddish swing of “Oy Veys Mir”, a “Hi De Ho” Cab Calloway style cut that Shapiro often performs with his Ribs & Brisket project, to “Lecha Dodi”, which adds group vocals to the bar mitzvah brew, the emphasis is placed squarely on having a good time.  It is only towards the latter stages of It’s in the Twilight that Shapiro and his fine sextet (especially Brian Mitchell on piano and drummer Tony Lewis) let in some introspective shade.  Their interpretation of another Sabbath prayer, sung in Jewish households for centuries, “Kiddush” conjures a spiritual, albeit non-denominational brand of jazz, aligned with the spirit of John Coltrane.  It is a master class in restraint, and one of this album’s many highlights.  Elsewhere “Adon Olam”, Shapiro’s version of the “Lord of the World” prayer, is a sunny jaunty number, rescued from the brink of an easy-listening chasm by a squall of turbulent saxophone that swirls around at its heart, before finally melting into a coda of Shapiro’s delicate voice riding home a wave of saxophone.  Twilight radiates a unique sense of warmth, no matter which emotion is being tapped, a direct product of its master’s big beating heart.  

tomhull.com 

Part of Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture series. Shapiro's website says: "You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Paul Shapiro's music. But it helps to have a heart." So Jewish is a big part of Shapiro's identity, all the more clear from the booklet, but had you blindfolded me I would have missed it. Radical too, but I might have picked the name of a band he founded in the '90s, but I've never heard: Brooklyn Funk Essentials. And the big heart theme is clear. Shapiro plays tenor sax, but he sound here is thickened with a second tenor sax (Peter Apfelbaum) and trumpet (Steve Bernstein), giving the record a fat, vibrant sound. Two songs have vocal bits, which pop up informally for a social feel. If I was doing Choice Cuts, one I particularly like is Shapiro's Ribs & Brisket tune, "Oy Veys Mir" -- starts out like "Flat Foot Floogie" and takes a boogie woogie piano break. B+(**)

From newmusicbox.org:    Children of Abraham  Paul Shapiro  Album: It's in the Twilight

I have an aural vision of Jewish-tinged music, and excepting a few raucous turns in the Hava Nagila at wedding receptions, "upbeat" is not generally one of the descriptors that comes to mind. But Paul Shapiro's It's in the Twilight dismisses all the lamentation lodged in my ear and clears the floor for some wine and celebration. He keeps up the beat though six original tracks and two traditional tunes, leaving not an inch of space for Babs or Itzhak to induce me to tears of melancholia. The bass and drums lay down a percussive foundation on Children of Abraham that sets the stage for a classic cartoon chase sequence, really, with an ever-changing leader and a good share of friendly intersections and re-routing along the way. It all fosters enough of an adrenaline surge to keep everyone's enthusiasm up as the players dash towards the finish line.

—MS 

Cleveland Jewish News    

Jazzman plays liturgy with a groove       By: ALAN SMASON Staff Reporter

Tenor and soprano saxophonist Paul Shapiro has combined his love of jazz and of Jewish liturgy into a beautifully rich and harmonic set of compositions that has drawn critical acclaim.  Make no mistake about it: This is not klezmer music. It is modern, contemporary jazz with Jewish modes and themes.  Shapiro’s Midnight Minyan will perform at the JCC’s Stonehill Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, in a special Jewish jazz concert.

“Other people have done jazz with Jewish themes, and other people have done Jewish scales and modes using materials that characterize the sound of Jewish music,” says Shapiro. “I don’t think many people have used the liturgy with a jazz band.”

Shapiro’s appearance is being timed to coincide with the release this week of “It’s in the Twilight,” the second of his Jewish jazz albums on the Tzadik label. The first release entitled “Midnight Minyan” was issued in 2003 and helped to establish the name for his highly talented sextet.  “Midnight Minyan” captured the essence of the Saturday morning liturgy with such compositions as “Aitz Chaim He,” “Amidah,” “Haftorah Prelude” and “Haftorah Postlude.”

It was a revelation for true jazz aficionados to hear Shapiro’s rich tenor sax take the lead with his group on these works taken from ancient Hebrew prayers and trope.   “I think, by all accounts, it was very, very well received,” he said in a CJN telephone interview. “I was featured on National Public Radio, and I think people were really charmed by the recording.”

“It’s in the Twilight” pays homage to the Friday night liturgy in much the same way that “Midnight Minyan” paid tribute to the Saturday morning liturgy. Even though listeners will recognize the titles of “Lecha Dodi,” “Adon Olam” and “Kiddush,” more of the recordings found on “It’s in the Twilight” are original Shapiro compositions, and only two hail directly from the liturgy.  The title of the new release refers to the onset of Shabbat during the period when the workweek ceases and the Sabbath bride is welcomed. The opening selection, “Light Rolls the Darkness” is based on the Hebrew blessing rendered prior to the Shema where praise is given to God who “rolls light away from darkness and darkness from the light.” It is a Latin-tinged number that hails the beginning of the day of rest in a most unusual jazz styling.

Paul Shapiro’s Midnight Minyan has been playing together and individually in downtown New York jazz clubs over the past ten years. The camaraderie and musicianship are evident on their recordings.  “The band has grown and has become a well-oiled machine,” Shapiro continues. “It’s really a groove monster now and ‘fat,’ as we say.”  Peter Apfelbaum, a fellow saxophonist, and trumpeter Steven Bernstein constitute the other members of the group who are Jewish. According to Shapiro, they were all responsible for exposing the remaining half of the sextet to the sum and substance of idioms found in the Jewish liturgy.  “The sound is a little stronger, a little bulkier, and more sure of itself,” he continues. “We are continuing on certain paths that we walked on for the first album.”

The new version of “Lecha Dodi” is a good example of how Shapiro has taken a recognizable selection and made it uniquely his own. “I made up my own melody, and towards the end of it, all three saxophone players sang on it,” he explains. The call and response of the singing to the music is surprising and exuberant, yet strictly in accordance with similar modern jazz offerings.

One can hear Shapiro’s reverence for the jazz masters of yesterday, such as John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Pharoah Sanders, in many of his band’s riffs.

“Tenor is really my principal instrument,” he explains in determining how he composes his music. “I’m listening to many different qualities about the piece, and it really is something in the ear. I decide what tone, what tambour would fit the music best.”

A native of Westbury, Long Island, Shapiro enrolled at McGill University in Montreal as a freshman student in film and English. But soon he embraced music, and his schedule was filled with studies in jazz. “I took a year studying theory, electronics and composition,” he says. “I created an inter-disciplinary thing before it was readily available.”  Meanwhile, the jazz clubs of Montreal beckoned, and Shapiro soon found himself playing before live audiences as he continued to hone his craft.

Following graduation, he ended up in the East Village jazz scene, sitting in with others and getting notice for his playing. He formed his own avant-garde funk band, Foreign Legion, which synthesized jazz and modern sounds into what jazz enthusiasts now term post modern.  He also became a member of the Microscopic Septet, a group specializing in what Shapiro terms a “wacky, creative jazz.” They released three recordings in the mid-’80s.

All this got the attention of John Zorn. A former member of the Microscopic Septet, Zorn is the wunderkind of Tzadik Records, which caters to what he calls “radical Jewish culture records.” His label has been gathering Jewish artists in experimental artistic expression since the early ’90s.

Zorn signed Shapiro and his group to a contract with Tzadik, and he encouraged them to use new approaches to bring Jewish prayer into their jazz. As an example, Shapiro revisited the “Haftorah Prelude” as a Latin jazz mambo and structured the notes of the “Haftorah Postlude” to be played in a scientifically-verified series from nature identified as Fibonacci numbers.  “When we play it, it has this kind of rushing forward and repetitiveness that I remembered comes after the Haftorah,” explains Shapiro.  Both albums were recorded in single sessions following two rehearsals.

Shapiro is scheduled to give a free, hour-long symposium “What Makes Music Sound Jewish?” at Case Western Reserve University Hillel on Friday, Mar. 3, at 4 p.m.  Non-musicians are invited to attend, and local musicians are being encouraged to bring their instruments for an impromptu jam session with Shapiro.  Later that night he is also tentatively scheduled to sit in and perform with local singer Helen Welch’s trio at Nighttown.

THE SUN PRESS:  Shapiro blends styles in sizzling JCC show   By Peter Chakerian

Saxophonist and woodwind virtuoso Paul Shapiro has been around the block a time or two. 

No stranger to pushing the musical envelope, his talent as a musician and composer has put him in company with diverse musicians and producers over the years. 

Throughout the 1980s, Shapiro led the avant-funk band Foreign Legion, swerving into styles and time signatures like John Zorn did in his heyday. In the 1990s, Shapiro's instrumental prowess was in demand by many producers of hip-hop and dance music. 

Just a couple short years ago, the Museum of Jewish Heritage commissioned Shapiro to compose a score to the 1925 silent boxing movie classic His People.  And despite all of this, Shapiro is probably best known for his work with chart-topping superstars like Janet Jackson, Marc Anthony and Queen Latifah. 

These days, he is concentrating on being the bandleader of a wickedly talented sextet called Midnight Minyan. They dropped into the Stonehill Auditorium of the Mandel Jewish Community Center of Cleveland March 4. To say the group electrified the audience would be an understatement. 

Shapiro and friends Steven Bernstein (trumpet), Peter Apfelbaum (saxophone), Brian Mitchell (piano), Booker King (bass) and Tony Lewis (drums) offered up a fiery set. Material from Shapiro's Midnight Minyan album and the band's new release, It's in the Twilight, made up the 90-minute set. 

Cleveland Rocks, man, Shapiro offered early on in the show, and he made a point of repeating it often _ letting all in on the secret that the band chose Cleveland to debut live versions of some of the Twilight selections. 

For his part, Shapiro delivered stately phrasing, competent solos and spicy mambo/samba elements that luminaries like Louis Prima and Ornette Coleman would have been proud of.  His bandmates were equally adept, coupling musical prayer with cosmopolitan flair. Each number was a tasty treat, with unfettered swing, smolder and international intrigue. 

Shapiro creates artful arrangements that incorporate jazz with the modal components of traditional Jewish music. Spicy and silky, his compositions unfurl a whole new view on the liturgical music at its core.  Shapiro is a gem at dovetailing styles. Even without being familiar with the origins for such wondrous melodies, compositions like Freigish Behavior, Ma Lecha Hayam and the groove-centric Bar Room Mitzvah were zesty and highly enlightening. 

From Jazzcorner Speakeasy:     Midnight Minyan  Beachwood, Ohio 3/4/06 

Last night was an unusual treat as Paul Shapiro's Midnight Minyan made an appearance at the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland. I suppose the impetus for the appearance by the group was a new release on Tzadik, It's In the Twilight, but it was a nice chance to see some adventurous music in this otherwise interest-free geographical area. It was a pleasure going to a venue in which there were more than just "the usual suspects" in attendance. In fact the event was very well attended with perhaps the median age being 70; but the 75 minute set (more or less) was extremely well received.

I was unfamiliar with Shapiro (although reading over his bio, I've surely heard him before) but Steven Bernstein being in the band was a sure draw for me. In fact the music reminded me a lot of Bernstein's various "diaspora" projects in which he deconstructs Jewish themes and melodies. Shapiro has a very Murray-like tone on tenor and his brief solos were models of effective incorporation of ideas. Peter Apfelbaum was equally adept and his performance came as a nice antidote for some of those almost unlistenable releases in his latter days with Polygram. Bernstein was more reserved than when leading his own groups but still provided excellent solos on trumpet and, on one song, slide trumpet. Brian Mitchell was new to me on piano, but quite good at gradually taking his solos more and more "out" and taking the crowd along with him. Booker King and Tony Lewis on bass and drums respectively were very good; the bass kept getting feedback that was the only drawback of the sound, which was otherwise excellent, certainly not set up to blast the audience into submission.

The music was, I believe, from both of the group's Tzadik releases and was extremely well received. I talked with Bernstein briefly after the concert, before he met up with a relative in Shaker Heights; I figured he had some ties to this area since when he brought Sex Mob to Oberlin a few years ago, he displayed a lot of insight into various local points of reference. A very enjoyable evening.

From COOL CLEVELAND…   coolcleveland.com

Schticks and Matisyahu Gimmicks: I’m not Jewish, true. But try growing up in an Irish-Armenian family… it’s about a “Jewish/Catholic” as it gets, with all the guilt and without the actual religion. Anyway, I went to see Paul Shapiro’s “Midnight Minyan” a couple weeks ago when they were in town. Shapiro is a jazz artist who incorporates Jewish spiritual music and jazz into something incredibly moving. It transcends the source of the melodic meter in a very deep and unusual sophisticatedway. So, why is it then, that Hasidic reggae artist Matisyahu (hugely popular, I guess) pushes my buttons so?Because for whatever reason, his combining sounds of Bob Marley and Shlomo Carlebach seems like a huge gimmick to me.