08.12.2010 @ 9:30 PM
Smalls, New York, with Joe Martin and Billy Drummond
Biography 
Saxophonist and composer Jerome Sabbagh was born in Paris, France in 1973 and moved to New York in 1995. There he formed the collective Flipside with guitarist Greg Tuohey, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Darren Beckett. They recorded an eponymous album for Naxos Jazz. Since then, Jerome Sabbagh has been writing music and leading his own bands, recording three albums as a leader, One Two Three, Pogo and North. As a sideman, Jerome has been involved with pianist Laurent Coq's quartet and Guillermo Klein's Los Guachos. He has also played in bands led by Jean-Michel Pilc and Magali Souriau.
Jerome has performed in many festivals including the Newport Jazz Festival, JVC Jazz Festival (Paris), Jazz In Marciac (France), Belfast (Northern Ireland) and Medellin (Columbia), and at venues such as Blues Alley (Washington), the Jazz Standard, the Jazz Gallery, Smalls, Fat Cat, the 55 Bar, the Knitting Factory, Birdland (New York), Radio France, Sunside, Duc des Lombards, AJMI La Manutention, Cri du Port, Pannonica, Sceaux What (France).
Jerome Sabbagh Trio
For the last five years, I have been playing regularly in a trio format in various clubs in New York City. I started out at the Bar Next Door, in the West Village. In the beginning, I didn't take much time to prepare for these concerts. I would spend most of my energy practicing the saxophone and writing music for my quartet with Ben Monder, Joe Martin and Ted Poor, a band with which I still play today. I naively thought that playing standards in a trio would be comparatively easy. Boy, was I wrong...
In a trio, a saxophonist plays much more often. You need skills, imagination and stamina. You don't get the benefit of a guitarist or a pianist whose accompaniment might help you pace or spark you to reach greater heights and whose presence gives you the opportunity to rest.
In a trio, the genius of the masters and the depth of their legacy are both inspiring and daunting. I find that to be true in jazz in general but perhaps even more so with this particular instrumentation.
In a trio, most of all, the sparseness of the setting casts a shining light on the basic elements of jazz: melody, rhythm, harmonic ideas. A saxophonist alone with a bass player and a drummer constantly makes instinctive choices in these matters, as all improvisers do, but in a trio, these choices have even more impact on the direction of the music. More thought out choices also have to be made, from selecting a repertoire of inspiring songs to play on to figuring out who to play with. It's an opportunity to understand who you really are and to work on becoming who you want to be.
Ben Street has always been one of my favorite bass players, ever since I heard him in Kurt Rosenwinkel's quartet when I first moved to New York. His mastery of the basics of jazz and his willingness to keep exploring them serve him well in many different musical endeavors and he has a very strong musical identity. Among all the musicians I know, he is one of the most devoted to his art.
I first played with Rodney Green when Ben Monder asked me to sub for him last minute at the Bar Next Door. From the very first notes, I knew that we were bound to play together. Rodney quickly became my favorite drummer to play trio with. I love his sound, the way he listens and how well he develops ideas.
As in my previous albums, I chose to record all in the same room, to be as close as possible to a concert setting. I hope you will enjoy One Two Three.
Jerome Sabbagh
Jerome Sabbagh Quartet
The Jerome Sabbagh Quartet, which continues to perform in parallel with the trio, plays modern, organic music that can appeal to listeners beyond the traditional jazz audience as well as regular jazz fans. They have recorded two critically acclaimed albums, North (Fresh Sound New Talent) and Pogo (available on Sunnyside in the US and on Bee Jazz in Europe).
While he considers himself a jazz musician and is very much attached to improvising, Jerome has grown increasingly influenced by many types of music. This breadth of influences is evident in all original tracks assembled on his albums. While the overall sound of the band remains distinct and cohesive, each track brings up a different mood.
In Ben Monder (guitar), Joe Martin (bass) and Ted Poor (drums), Jerome Sabbagh has found some of the most talented musicians of this generation and like-minded accomplices. Ben Monder plays “nearly unsurpassable jazz guitar” (Ben Ratliff, New York Times) and has performed with a variety of artists, including Lee Konitz, Paul Motian, Tim Berne and Jack McDuff. He has appeared in over ninety CDs as a sideman and has four as a leader. Known for his warm sound, facile ear, and harmonic flexibility, bassist Joe Martin has performed with a wide variety of artists, which includes Kurt Rosenwinkel, Andy Bey, Mark Turner and Art Farmer. Ted Poor, despite his young age, has an uncanny ability to shape the music and a refreshingly unique, organic approach to playing the drums. He has been increasingly in demand in today's jazz scene and plays in the Ben Monder quartet, the Cuong Vu trio and with Chris Potter.