The members of multi-national Minsarah met in September 2000 while all three of them attended BerkleeCollege of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. The three musicians developed an intense musical connection, which produced an exceptionally unique, and personal trio sound. Since that time they have been touring extensively throughout Europe and the US. The trio attended the majority of the big festivals such as the Berlin jazz festival, Paris JVC Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival and many more. In the past year the trio recorded a quartet album with the jazz legend Lee Konitz. They are currently touring with the Lee Konitz + MinsarahQuartet.
The word Minsarah is Hebrew and means "prism". Like a prism showing the colors in light, the trio goes for new sound colors and new ideas in band playing. A team of densely interacting improvisers, the three of them play with powerful and dramatic intensity, fresh lyricism, a sense of melody that is all their own and a great openness for improvisation and innovation. Their music transports ballad moods never heard before while at other times it provides structural experiments of high complexity. This is what the press wrote on first listening to Minsarah: "A new discovery", "world-class", "the miracle of Cologne", "a first class trio", "vivid expression and strength".
Reviews
...Their music is fresh, spontaneous and challenging. I hold them and their music in a very high regardJohn Taylor ECM recording artist www.johntaylorjazz.com
Florian Weber met his partners, bassist Jeff Denson and drummer Ziv Ravitz, while studying in the U.S.A. After they were introduced to one another, they formed a trio, which communicates and plays together so well that they seem to trust each other blindly Listening to the trios CD (which is like a journey through the land of creativity) you will witness breathtaking technique, perfect timing, and great melodic richness; experimental techniques are utilized to build a perfectly-formed arc whose climax exhibits vivid expression and strength. Hans-Jurgen von Osterhausen, Jazz Podium magazine www.jazzpodium.de
Festival Review ... Minsarah selflessly communicated with concentration and ease while maintaining powerful intensity. The trio has energy, nobody would doubt this. It was more often about improvised music rather than jazz, which binds the three together and challenges them The group understands itself explicitly as a band, everyone writes music and no one disrupts or destroys it. Especially beautiful and dramatic, The Flow; weightless, thematic, rousing, not static Often the pieces are reminiscent of thrilling mind cinema in which Kieslowski or Rohmer conjured the pictures. As with Scar Tissue, written by Denson, an ingenious catwalk of mature playfulness fed from an unconsumed view of life of the three musicians who really have something to say. No fights, nothing artificial, no babble; thats probably the secret to Minsarah. They understand each other, as do their listeners. It can be said that they made a real statement, one, which could be described as the miracle of Cologne. We can state: that was music; the most beautiful compliment for a concert.
Festival Review By Ingo Petz Freelance Journalist Lee Konitz and Minsarah (Festival Review)And again the story continues: Lee Konitz releases the album Deep Lee in May 2008 and is praised all over for it. He recorded the album in September 2007 in New York from where he came straight to Mannheim to celebrate his 80th birthday with Enjoy Jazz, an exhilarating musical moment in the Alte Feuerwache. Back then Lee Konitz was already enchanted with the MinsarahTrio and the inspiration gained from the work with these three musicians. People must have been listening as they themselves were blown away almost exactly a year ago by the two overwhelming sets full of dynamic, mature ideas, fresh and innovative (Berliner Zeitung) when the MinsarahTrio performed in the Karlstorbahnhof in Heidelberg. The three musicians Florian Weber, Jeff Denson and Ziv Ravitz met years ago at the BerkleeCollege of Music in Boston and rapidly became one of the most interesting and individual trios. They capture the audience with innovative improvisations but hold back when it comes to the exposition of technical virtuosity. The Minsarah Trio is not too fond of pigeonholes even when is comes to the jazz label, as for example Florian Weber is classically trained. Somehow it doesnt seem coincidental but rather inevitable, born of a similar mind-set, that he works with the cool saxophone player and gifted improvisator. The press release on Deep Lee names it: The Konitz idea in a band format. (Enjoy Jazz Festival 2008)
Lee Konitz and Minsarah (Album Review)The history of jazz is full of ultra-gifted but self-destructive musicians who should have had very long careers, but instead died much too young (Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro, Bix Beiderbecke, among countless others). But that certainly isnt true of Lee Konitz, who turned 80 on October 13, 2007. One cannot accuse Konitz of not living up to his potential or wasting his considerable talent; the alto saxophonist started recording in the late 40s and remained impressively productive 60 years later in the late 2000s. Deep Lee was recorded in September 2007 (when Konitz was 79) and finds him joining forces with the acoustic piano trio Minsarah, which consists of Florian Weber on piano, Jeff Denson on upright bass, and Ziv Ravitz on drums. Konitz enjoys a strong rapport with the members of Minsarah, who are young enough to be his grandchildrenand their encounter yields rewarding post-bop results on an album that is dominated by original material. Konitz has a long history of excelling on Tin Pan Alley standards, but the only Tin Pan Alley warhorse on Deep Lee is Stella by Starlight; Konitz, true to form, offers a version that is warm and lyrical but not overly sentimental. And once again, the cool-toned saxophonist demonstrates that cool doesnt mean cold. Konitz also demonstrates that his chops have held up nicely over the years; at 79 bordering on 80, Konitz is clearly very much on top of his game. Deep Lee falls short of essential, but even so, this hourlong CD is a rewarding example of the veteran altoist continuing to excel in his senior years.
Alex Henderson, All Music Guide:
...The trio led by the internationally renowned young jazz musician performed Friday night at the very well attended hall of the conservatory The scales, modal sound layers, and rhythm are meanwhile decreased to a common tool which the three young men developed with diligence and creative inspiration on the highest level all songs had an introverted, ballad-esque, meditative aura. They sounded as pure as water. It was wonderful to listen to and had a powerful effect on the audience. T. Schwabe, Lippische-Landes-Zeitung Newspaper
