SASHA BERLINER

FANTÔME

Outside In Music

Sasha Berliner, vibraphone/congas and auxiliary/composer; Taylor Eigsti & Lex Korten, piano/Fender Rhodes; Harish Raghavan, upright bass; Jongkuk Kim, drums; David Adewumi, trumpet/flugelhorn; Rico Jones, tenor saxophone.

As soon as I heard Sasha Berliner’s first composition on this album, I knew I was going to love this project. “U.M.M.G.” was full of excitement, speed, and beauty. Taylor Eigsti is dynamic during her piano solo, and Sasha Berliner shows extraordinary talent on the vibraphone. She has composed every song on this album except this one, written by the great Billy Strayhorn. It was originally released by Duke Ellington in 1959. The initials UMMG stand for “Upper Manhattan Medical Group.” Berliner and her band come out swinging hard and strong on this tune.

This is Berliner’s third album release as a bandleader, vibraphonist, and composer. The first album was “Azalea,” released in 2019. This was followed by her “Onyx” album in 2022.

Her music has evolved. She continues to bring a modern jazz touch to both the vibraphone and her original compositions. Clearly, her current album titled “Fantôme” (that translates to ‘phantom’) is freer than former album releases. A phantom can be a ghost or a figment of the imagination. Berliner hopes her album’s title will encourage the listener to throw away preconceived stereotypes and category boxes to place her music inside. She offers instead examples of blending genres and jazz styles in a unique and compelling way.

“It’s about not arguing what should or shouldn’t be but just accepting what is. Taking an artistic voice for exactly how it is without attempting to categorize it or figure it out every step of the way,” Sasha Berliner suggests how the listener should behave.

The way she blends the trumpet and saxophone lines to enhance her creative arrangements grabs this listener’s attention like a magnet. Especially on “Zenith,” where the energy is palpable and the horns punch with the power of Muhammad Ali.

The ballad she calls “Worst Person in the World” should have been named’most beautiful person in the world’ because of its awesome and lovely melody. Sasha Berliner uses her trusty mallets to caress the music from the vibraphone. During this arrangement, her sound is very sensuous and tender. When Harish Raghavan steps forward to sing his solo on the double bass, he demands my attention. This is an absolutely stunning original composition.

“Fantôme” is meant to reflect a resounding musical landscape, stretching like a rainbow across the universe. Sasha Berliner is splatter-painting her colors in iridescent hues across the canvas of our minds. You may try to categorize her music, but that box is effectively “phantom.” She demands that we take a closer look and put on our listening ears.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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