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Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet/Intents and Purposes/Enja Records

Rez Abbasi presents a new recording for jazz fans which takes well-known jazz rock 1970s anthems in a new direction. Many fans of jazz-rock are familiar with some of the most well-known 1970s anthems from the supergroups that attracted huge followings worldwide, such as Return to Forever, Weather Report, Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock, and others.  Some listeners may have desired from time to time to hear these selections through a different, more subtle, less noisy lens. Admittedly, many of the 1970s supergroups did at times employ intense amounts of electricity to transmit their performances to arena-sized audiences.

On Intents and Purposes, Abbasi and his quartet take eight selections and present them with vastly different shades of instrumental color than their original readings in the 1970s bands that have been  featured for you many times on Last Call. The listener may find new meanings in delightful renditions of "Black Market", "Butterfly", "Resolution" and "There Comes A Time", in addition to four other gems of interest.

Veteran guitarist Rez Abbasi is in the studio on steel string, fretless and baritone acoustic guitars, with the inspired company of Bill Ware on vibraphone, Stephan Crump on acoustic bass and Eric McPherson on drums. Together they create simply gorgeous music.   

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Rez Abbasi has made his home in New York City for over 20 years. He attended  school at the University of Southern California and the Manhattan School of Music in jazz and classical music. Also, he studied with the master percussionist Ustad Alla Rakha and took a pilgrimage in India with the master percussionist.  

Rez Abbasi has worked many of today's finest musicians-- including Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa, and recorded a series of outstanding efforts, which have combined  jazz and Indian music. He has also worked some of the finest artists in jazz and contemporary music including Peter Erskine, Kenny Werner, Billy Hart, Dave Douglas, Rudresh Mahanthappa, and many more.

Last Call has featured Abbasi's recordings in previous years, including Bazaar(2007), Things To Come(2009), Suno Suno(2011) and Continuous Beat(2012).

For more information you may visit http://www.reztone.com/

Chris Cooke has been a voice on public radio in Omaha since 1989. Working at KVNO-FM during college, Cooke hosted a weekend progressive jazz show on the station in addition to working as an on-air announcer. In November 1992, Cooke signed on at KIOS-FM and has been there ever since. He has hosted the Tuesday and Thursday editions of Jazz in the Afternoon since 1996 and has hosted Last Call since that year. A long time fan of jazz music, Cooke enjoys talking with the musicians who make jazz music and presenting those conversations with listeners. When not hosting or listening to jazz, on record or in person, Cooke maintains a busy schedule as a self-employed web design consultant.
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