The title of John Favicchia's second independently
released recording Dharma may first bring to mind a popular
ABC sitcom, but that's just our pop culture talking. On a deeply
spiritual level, "Dharma" is a Sanskrit word for
one's purpose in life, the reason one is put on this earth.
For the New York native and popular, well traveled jazz musician,
that means playing the drums. Or more specifically, getting
behind the skins with an amazing group of Big Apple musicians
at a club or in the studio and playing his heart out. His well-received
1997 solo debut World Time earned rave reviews and was a critics
pick for Top Ten of the year by Jazziz Magazine.
On his dynamic follow-up Dharma, Favicchia expands upon the
strengths of that recording-brilliant melodies, wondrous eclecticism
and tight ensemble playing-with an even wider variety of stylistic
excursions, an exciting array of all-star guests (Steve Khan,
Chieli Minucci, Dean Brown, David Mann, Harvie Swartz,) and,
most importantly, a greater showcase for his ever evolving skills
as a timekeeper nonpareil.
"I created my first record for the very simple reason that
I was always moved so much listening to the music of other artists
and I thought it would be exciting to share the music I'd been
playing with more people the same way," says Favicchia. "Along
the way I learned that the real joy is in the doing . World Time
featured musicians who had played with Pat Metheny and as a result
the album had a cool, Metheny-esque, be-boppish vibe. The concept
behind Dharma was to be more contemporary, aggressive and upbeat.
Last time, my drumming was mostly in the service of the whole
ensemble, but here I wanted to play more aggressively, put more
of my own stamp on it. There's a lot of diversity here, from
world rhythms and Latin grooves to fusion and even smooth jazz,
but it's all music that's close to my heart and it's wonderful
to have the freedom on an indie project to express myself this
way."
For Favicchia, the key to creating Dharma
was in finding great songs which worked melodically, harmonically,
rhythmically and gave him room to either be featured prominently
in the mix or find the perfect spots to do solos. "I wanted each song
to have a different feel to it," he says. "Working
with or using songs by a wide variety of writers with different
approaches really made the tracking unique."
 Dharma begins with keyboardist Chris Geith's
heavily percussive Fusion tune "Coincidence," on which Geith and saxophonist
David Mann carry the lead melody line before Mann and then Favicchia
roar in with intensely improvisational solos. Harvie Swartz's "Pyramid" is
an old favorite of Favicchia's and is usually done as a straight
ahead jazz tune; the band here turns it into an Afrocuban jam
featuring a bembe rhythm, opening with a drum solo, leading into
Mark Gatz's gentle soprano sax melody, then exploding into a
festive jam with Steve Khan's snappy acoustic guitar solo. "Antes
Te extremeces," an exotic interlude duet between Favicchia
and conguero Cristian Rivera, leads into the fiery, Latin big
band hurricane explosion "Te Estremeces," which was
composed by keyboardist Mario Cazeneuve. The tune features a
small Latin vocal chorus, the nylon string guitar melody of Matt
Cardin (enhanced by surrounding horn section accents) and a lively
solo by Cazeneuve. "Restless Heart" is Dharma's one
smooth jazz flavored piece, a breezy, funky gem led by David
Mann's cool tenor melody. After the drum solo interlude "Dharma" comes
Cardin's ultra-fusion tune "Pez," which features a
balance of mystical atmospheres and a space-age synth melody
that may remind listeners of the work of one of Favicchia's early
heroes, Chick Corea. "Pa'delante" is a feisty Cazeneuve
party perfectly joining aggressive be-bop with exciting, brassy
Latin flavors (and includes powerful solos by Mark Gatz on tenor
and the composer on keys), while "Animation" gives
smooth jazz guitarist Chieli Minucci (who wrote the blistering
fusion rocker) a rare chance to stretch out and go completely
wild with his axe. "World Time II," a percussion-vocal
pastiche written by Favicchia with Jeff Haynes, is a sequel to
a similar piece on the drummer's World Time album; each of the
five globetrotting sections (Asia, Mediterranean, Africa, Drum
Solo, African Vocal) were recorded separately before being edited
together. Dean Brown's "The Gauntlet" closes the set
with the same type of wild, free for all ensemble energy that
defines the rest of Dharma.
Several of John Favicchia's great uncles were well known trumpet
players who played with legends like Benny Goodman, but the downside
of their traveling musical lifestyles led the drummer's father
to originally discourage his son's pursuing a career in music.
Favicchia's Dharma won out, however, and in junior high, he saved
enough money to wheel home in a shopping cart his first used
drum kit; he was also by this time playing drums in the marching
band in school. His influences soon shifted from progressive
rockers like Rush to the jazz eclecticism of Chick Corea and
versatile drumming of Steve Gadd. At 16, the Long Island native
began studying drums with many private instructors and soon thereafter,
he began an intense practice schedule which included many hours
of private drum instruction from the top teachers in the country,
as well as receiving his A.S. degree in Jazz - Commercial music
from Five Towns College. At the same time, he was a drum instructor
at the Long Island Drum Center and doing as many side club gigs
as possible.
 The record release party for World Time
was broadcast live on the Jazz radio station 88.7 WRHU FM.
A few months later his band performed on a cable TV show that
is broadcast to 750,000 homes in the NY area. In February,
1999 Favicchia recorded bass player Gerhard Graml's CD in Vienna
Austria and in April of that year, his band toured Canada and
started work on Dharma. He also has been recording a group
lead by himself and his Partner Mario Cazeneuve. The group
plays Latin/Jazz and the group and the CD are called "Pa'delante".
When not on the road, John resides in the New York area where
he is engaged in many creative activities: playing in a Latin/Jazz
group called Afro Dysia; doing gigs with Enee recording artist
Natural Elements; leading his own Fusion band as well as his
own Quintet; running his own music company called FAV MUSIC for
which he books Jazz acts for all kinds of situations; and keeping
a busy schedule as a freelance artist playing with the (Blue
Note Recording Artist) Lonnie Plaxico, Inner Voice Band, Billy
Eric Band, Destiny, and Primo.
In the educational field, John has been teaching
in his own studio as well as doing drum clinics world wide .
Recent drum clinics for Vic Firth,LP, Sabian, Yamaha, Remo & Hansenfutz
have been an East Coast Tour for Guitar Center, Quebec City Music
in Quebec Canada, Drum Fest 2005, Slam Jam 05' , Drummers Collective
NYC,Just Drums Toronto,Salem Music School Toronto. John has just
completed a play along book and is working on a book about his "Elements" teaching
concept.
In the spirit of "Dharma" and
his belief that we should all use our own individual gifts
to help benefit others, a portion of each CD sale will go to
cancer research.
"In addition to all of the diverse musical situations I've
been able to plug into and create during my career, the most
rewarding thing for me is having the opportunity to meet new
and different players all the time," Favicchia says. "I
love playing with them live and it's been amazing to have the
chance to document some of these performances now on disc. Working
on Dharma has been an unbelievable journey, from building a small
studio in my house to finding writers to write me songs in which
I could express myself fully. I'm happiest when I'm playing,
and it's so exciting to once again be able to share that joy
in this way."
For a complete
discography, tour and clinic information, visit John online!
http://www.johnfav.com
|
