Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » New Zion Trio: Fight Against Babylon

New Zion Trio: Fight Against Babylon

By Eyal Hareuveni
September 18, 2011
View read count

The jazz piano trio and Jamaican dub music—the reggae sub-genre that focuses on slowing down the original reggae mix and emphasizing the bass and drums tracks with studio wizardry—seem to be two distant musical universes. Yet producer and multi-instrumentalist

Jamie Saft

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Jamie Saft's New Zion Trio debut recording succeeds in blowing fresh winds in the traditional piano trio with dub aesthetics, citing King Tubby,

Bob Marley

guitar
1945 - 1981

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Marley,

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans,

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders and

Alice Coltrane

piano
1937 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Alice Coltrane as influences.

All the compositions, except the closing "Fire Ablaze," were recorded live without any overdubs or studio-enhanced manipulations, but still follow in the Jamaican dub footsteps in their unhurried meditative pulse. Saft's piano and Fender Rhodes chime, while double-bassist

Larry Grenadier

bass, acoustic
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Grenadier and drummer Craig Santiago emphasize the trance-like pulse slowly and methodically, as if every note counts. New Zion Trio's articulation of the themes is quite different from the typical piano jazz trio as it is not about exploring complicated harmonic possibilities or chord changes, or developing ever-changing roles amongst the trio. This group clearly does not subscribe to any usual model of the piano trio, nor does it make any attempt to swing.

"The Red Dies," one of the compositions that features a clear reggae drumming style, demonstrates this trio's artistic path. All its members surround the meditative pulse, with the walking bass, the drumming and the piano's harmonic development pushing while still allowing plenty of room to fully absorb and surrender to the the addictive pulse. "Hear I Jah" floats around Saft's chiming Rhodes, while Grenadier and Santiago cement the theme in a light reggae-tinged pulse. Grenadier shares the lead with Saft on "Gates" and "Ishense," with his rich sounding bass, while "Fire Ablaze" sounds like a minimalist piece with its gentle, repetitive sound.

The digital version of this beautiful album adds a bonus dub remix of "Hear I Jah" from Dubmaster Christian Castagno called "Inna Sade Dub, intensifying the positive vibrations message of the promising New Zion Trio.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Slow Down Furry Dub; Niceness; The Red Dies; Gates; Hear I Jah; Ishense; Losr Dub; Fire Ablaze; Ina Sade Dub (Christian Castagno Dub).

Personnel

New Zion Trio

Jamie Saft: piano, Fender Rhodes; Larry Grenadier: double-bass; Craig Santiago: drums.

Album information

Title: Fight Against Babylon | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Veal

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Smoke Ring Halo
< Previous

Philadelphia Folk Festival: Schwenks...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.