Between Heaven and Earth: Music of the Jewish Mystics

Statman, Andy

album cover

Dance with the Mystics

Full of swollen storm-cloud chords and somber instrumental echoes of ancient incantations, Between Heaven and Earth is Jewish music for people who are feeling burned out on the zippy gaiety of klezmer. On these nine gently engrossing and sometimes New Agey excursions, clarinetist Andy Statman and an attentive jazz-schooled backing group tackle a series of prayer melodies used by Hasidic mystics to induce heightened awareness. These are simple themes, many brushed with a mournful undercurrent, and Statman takes advantage of their openness: He frequently goes off on squiggly rubato tangents that uncover beauty in a kind of exploratory slow motion. Central to the vibe of discovery is pianist Kenny Werner, who frames Statman's pitch-bending elegies with perfectly placed chordal clusters. He and the others operate in an atmosphere of communal seeking; rather than providing the expected firm rhythm, the musicians appear more interested in davening, or praying. Statman and his accomplices have deep backgrounds in jazz, and on several of these selections, the improvisations flow in the direction of the avant-garde at its transcendence-seeking zenith.

Two guests seize and amplify that spirit: Mandolinist David Grisman links Statman's mystic airs to the everyday sounds of the Appalachian hills, while banjo master Bela Fleck lures Statman into an agitated dance, "Purim," that contrasts with the reverential, sometimes even awed tone that pervades everything else here.

Genre: World
Released: 1997, Shanachie
Key Tracks: "You Were Revealed," "Adir," "Yonah"
Catalog Choice: Nashville Mornings, New York Nights.
Next Stop: Don Byron: Tuskegee Experiments
After That: Alvin Batiste: Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste.
Book Page: 737