In New York City since 2005, by way of Kiev and Moscow,
bassist/composer/arranger Ark Ovrutski connects generations, continents
and unique musical voices through his groups and projects. Integrating
here the great Brazilian musicians, pianist Helio Alves and drummer
Duduka Da Fonseca, with southern American transplants, trombonist
Michael Dease and saxophonist Michael Thomas, the band, with an age
range of over thirty years, provides an exciting example of how the
progressive jazz tradition sounds today. From Ovrutski's arrangements of
modern jazz standards - Bill Evans's 'Waltz for Debby,' Wayne Shorter's
'Tom Thumb,' and Kenny Dorham's 'La Mesha,' to tart originals from Da
Fonseca, Dease and Ovrutski, he means to make music with all the nuance
and technical finesse of Western classical tradition, with which he
began, and all the spirited soulfulness of jazz, at which he's arrived.
