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Xavier Reija

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72
Album Review

Xavier Reija: The Sound Of The Earth

Read "The Sound Of The Earth" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Spain-based artists, guitarist Dusan Jevtovic and drummer Xavi Reija, reunite for a supergroup-like endeavor, including world-renowned bassist, stick artiste Tony Levin (Stick Men, King Crimson) and touch guitarist Markus Reuter, who performs/records with Levin in Stick Men amid numerous projects with others. Recorded in upstate New York, the musicians' noise-shaping, sound-designs and bone-rattling progressive rock improvisations often spearhead matters into parts unknown. Jevtovic's winding single note leads, gargantuan crunch chords and searing extended notes interweave with surreal electronics ...

6
Album Review

Xavi Reija: The Sound Of The Earth

Read "The Sound Of The Earth" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


After the acoustic trio interlude of Reflections (Self Produced, 2017) Spanish drummer/composer/bandleader Xavi Reija returns to electric rock/jazz fusion territory, once again in the company of the extraordinary Barcelona-based, Serbian-born guitarist Dusan Jevtovic--his playing partner on several other MoonJune albums, most notably Resolution (MoonJune Records, 2016). The group is filled out by legendary American bassist/Chapman Stick player Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) and German touch guitarist Markus Reuter (a band mate of Levin's in Stick Men, as well as ...

12
Album Review

Xavi Reija: Reflections

Read "Reflections" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Spanish drummer Xavi Reija's previous trio was a fusion outfit with guitarist Dusan Jevtovic and bass guitarist Bernat Hernandez, as heard on Resolution (MoonJune Records, 2016) and Live at RZZ Barcelona (MoonJune Records, 2016). He turns to a traditional acoustic piano trio here, with pianist Nitai Hershkovits and bassist Pau Lligadas. There's a different kind of energy in this band, but there is energy aplenty. That energy is especially audible in a track like “Capella (we still dance)," ...

8
Album Review

Xavi Reija: Reflections

Read "Reflections" reviewed by Matthew Aquiline


Deviating from his reputation within the realm of boundary-pushing progressive rock/jazz fusion, Catalan drummer and composer Xavi Reija removed the presence of electrified instruments that dominated previous works for an acoustic album that explores the jazz piano trio format. Reflections, his eighth recording as a leader, synthesizes Reija's dynamic authority behind the kit with the lyrical proficiency of bassist Pau Lligadas and the great pianist Nitai Hershkovits (best known for his work with bassist Avishai Cohen). What results is a ...

13
Album Review

Xavi Reija: Resolution

Read "Resolution" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Catalan drummer Xavi Reija's fifth recording and his first with MoonJune Records is a highly charged affair that draws from rock, jazz and the shifting ground between. Reija's hard-edged polyrhythms, bassist Bernat Hernandez' thundering bass lines and guitarist Dusan Jevtovic's raw, fuzz-toned electric guitar combine to stir up a storm that evokes memories of drummer Tony Williams' Lifetime and mid-seventies King Crimson. That, however, is only half the story, for a meditative, slow-burning quality reigns at times while ambient loops ...

10
Album Review

Xavier Reija: Resolution

Read "Resolution" reviewed by Mark F. Turner


Like the classic game Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots where the goal is to literally knock the other opponent's head off, Catalan drummer/composer Xavi Reija delivers plenty of head-banging good times in his power trio date Resolution. Yet this isn't your typical fusion-esque recording as it takes some unexpected detours from the progressive-rock idiom with its panache and methodology. A graduate from Berklee School of Music's class of 1999 and widespread activity in Barcelona's eclectic music scene, ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Dreamscape Room

Self Produced
2020

buy

The Sound Of The Earth

MoonJune Records
2018

buy

Reflections

Self Produced
2017

buy

Resolution

MoonJune Records
2014

buy

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