release date: 20.08.2020 via Whirlwind Recs
“Guitarist Abbasi’s homage to Django Reinhardt is no nostalgia bath. Quite the contrary, Abbasi uses Reinhardt’s ingeniously constructed compositions as a touching-off point for unusual sonic explorations with drummer Michael Sarin, and Neil Alexander playing organ, electronics and synthesizers. The textural effects are often startling, casting Reinhardt tunes in unlikely, sometimes otherworldly contexts.” – Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune “The best jazz recordings of 2020 to date: From Wynton Marsalis to Adam Palma”
“On Django-shift, guitarist and composer Rez Abbasi deconstructs two separate traditions simultaneously: the music of 1930s Gypsy swing icon Django Reinhardt, and the 1960s organ trio…. Abbasi’s take on Reinhardt’s compositions is neither driving swing nor funk – instead, it’s played in his own now well established style, which is complex, knotty, chromatic, and timbrally unique (note his extensive use of the fretless guitar)…. challenging and rewarding.” – Rick Anderson, CD Hotlist
“Abbasi is living, breathing proof that jazz music can be as vital and boundary-pushing as ever.” – AllAboutJazz.com.