Brad Shepik, Sam Minaie, John Hadfield - Believers (2020)

Tracklist

01. Seven Crotales
02. Baraye Shoma
03. Nomadic Days
04. The Sigh
05. Waterwheel
06. Reve Pour Louis
07. Fractured Water
08. Mona Mona (Armenian Traditional)

Believers is a world-influenced jazz/fusion trio that brings together three musicians who have spent years performing music on the borders of jazz, fusion and world music. Guitarist Brad Shepik has performed with Paul Motian and Yuri Yunakov. Percussionist John Hadfield has toured and recorded with Nguyen Le and Kinan Azmeh. Bassist Sam Minaie has spent time in the bands of Tigran Hamasyan and Melody Gardot. Though their influences are global, their aesthetic is rooted in jazz, blues, rock and the art of improvisation. Their collective compositions are influenced by diverse musical traditions such as Balkan music, South Indian Carnatic music, and North and West African folk music.

"In late 2018 Joel Harrison invited me to perform at the Alternative Guitar Summit concert honoring Ralph Towner. Ralph’s music has had a huge influence on my playing and writing since I studied composition with him in the late 80’s while attending Cornish College of the Arts. For the concert I wanted to highlight how Ralph’s music could work in a guitar trio format since much of his music is written for solo guitar or the incredible quartet, Oregon. I had played for a few years with both John and Sam in different situations but they had yet to meet or play together. I felt they would really hit it off musically and this would be a great opportunity. We performed “The Sigh” and “Water Wheel” at the concert for Ralph on March 24, 2019. As soon as we started playing I immediately knew that I wanted to try playing our original music with this trio. Within weeks we found ourselves in the studio, recording what would become this album."

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