Lucian Ban
LUCIAN BAN was raised in a small village in northwest Transylvania, in “the region where Bartok did his most extensive research and collecting of folk songs and grew up listening to both traditional and classical music. He studied composition at the Bucharest Music Academy while simultaneously leading his own jazz groups, and notes that his approach to improvisation has been influenced by “the profound musical contributions of Romanian modern classical composers like Aurel Stroe, Anatol Vieru and of course Enesco. Desire to get closer to the source of jazz brought him to the US, and since moving from Romania to New York in 1999 has been leading several projects creating music that reinvents the jazz idiom and collaborating with some of today’s most celebrated jazz musicians. His compositions are performed and recorded by other musicians and Ensembles and he has released 15 albums under his name for labels such as ECM Records, Sunnyside Records, Clean Feed, CIMP, Jazzaway, all the while maintaining a worldwide touring schedule. In 2013 ECM Records releases TRANSYLVANIN CONCERT his duet with violist Mat Maneri. His 2nd album with ELEVATION “Songs from Afar featuring Transylvanian traditional singer Gavril Tarmure was released by Sunnyside Records in 2016 and was a DOWNBEAT BEST ALBUM of the YEAR receiving a 5* review. In 2017 Clean Feed Records releases SOUNDING TEARS featuring Mat Maneri, Lucian Ban and legendary saxophonist Evan Parker
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Album Review
- Dark Blue by Neri Pollastri
- Dark Blue by Glenn Astarita
- Free Fall by Alberto Bazzurro
- Free Fall by Glenn Astarita
- Free Fall by Peter J. Hoetjes
Live Review
Album Review
- Songs from Afar by Neri Pollastri
- Transylvanian Concert by John Kelman
- Enesco Re-Imagined by Raul d'Gama Rose
Interview
Read more articlesSeptember 25, 2012
Angles Of Repose, Featuring: Mat Maneri, Drew Gress, Lucian Ban, Randy...
November 24, 2007
“Like many of the great masters, pianist Lucian Ban makes personal art that feels universal” – DOWNBEAT
“Ban’s tasteful, reflective piano playing combines the elegance and technical precision of the European classical
tradition with wide-ranging musical interests and a passion for improvisation” – Jeff Stockton, All About Jazz
“Ban suggests Keith Jarrett, Monk and early Abdullah Ibrahim with 20th-century classical infusion” – The Guardian
”Ban plays with a fluency and sensibility that recalls Vladimir Horowitz as much as McCoy Tyner” – All About Jazz