Concert Review: Gene Pritsker's Sound Liberation

Concert Review:
Gene Pritsker's Sound Liberation

Sound Liberation:
Adriana Valdés - soprano voice, David Banks - r&b voice, Charles Coleman - bari voice,
Gene Pritsker - guitar/rap, Franz Hackl - trumpet, Paul Carlon - sax, Greg Baker - guitar,
Jose Moura - bass, Joe Abba - drums

Special Guests: Carla Auld - flute, Erik T. Johnson & Robert C. Ford - poets

February 11th, 2022
Chelsea Table + Stage 

     Admittedly, reaching a fine wine age can make the concert-going experience a big old dose of same old, same old, where the best you can muster is, “That was pretty good – sounded like early Montrose,” or “They really got going at the end.”
     Then you have Gene Pritsker’s Sound Liberation. The collective led by Pritsker have been stalwarts of the NYC-and-beyond music scene for nearly 20 years, and while the names and faces sometimes have changed over the course of the band’s life, one is still left with this upon exiting:
     “What the hell did I just see? It’s like 10 musical worlds collide and make something new the universe  has never heard!”
      Indeed, in his long and storied career, Pritsker has been as much at home composing orchestral chamber pieces as hard-hitting hip hop, from taking a fresh swing at, well, swing, or incorporating the spoken word to jazz that would make one Jack Kerouac proud.
     All the while, Pritsker holds down the fort with his ear-popping Mahavishnu-meets-Zappa in a dark alley guitar style, which despite of the artists he loves and cites as influences, he makes entirely his own.
      The whole of all this musical love came together at Sound Liberation’s performance at the lovely Chelsea Stage + Table in New York City Feb. 11. The evening was titled “Let’s Save The World Suite,” and while Pritsker means something bigger with that ambitious tag, let’s just say he’s saving the world from boring music!
       Backed by a stellar band that included Franz Hackl on trumpet, Paul Carlon on sax, Greg Baker on second guitar, Jose Moura on bass, and the incredible Joe Abba on drums, Prtisker led his band of merry music-makers on a musical journey that had the crowd enthralled – and Table + Stages 360-degree performance set up let all of the audience be up close and personal with the musical magic.
     The gorgeous musical prelude led immediately into the first of many highlights, with noted NYC poet Erik Johnson taking the stage to offer his “There’s Not Enough Pain In The World” with the Liberation’s sublime backing.  Johnson gave the audience a smoldering sink of desperation in his words as Pritsker offered a stinging guitar solo which matched the poet created with his foreboding words.
       Just like the stage, the evening took a musical 360 when the amazing David Banks took the stage. Banks is an R&B singer of the first order, and led the Liberation through a sweet slab of ‘70’s style soul with “Outside.” Banks is the kind of singer that would do the likes of Curtis Mayfield proud, with a warm rich voice that kick starts a wealth of emotions, but that Banks makes seem effortless (as if!).
       Banks remained on stage to perform a rap duet with Pritsker titled “Better Now,” which allowed Pritsker to drop the guitar and hoodie up to flex his considerable rap skills. Pritsker has described the song as a continuation of “Outside,” which makes total sense in context. While “Outside” is Liberation’s next single, but “Better Now” could just has easily been part two of a song suite the two compositions flowed together so seamlessly.
       Now, a critic’s admission: When you’re at an above described “same old same old” concert, it’s easy to take notes – it gives you something to do! But when you’re getting lost in a magical musical moment, the pen goes down, the ear perk up and at that time, you lose track of it.
      So here’s a hodge podge of other musical highlights from “Let’s Save The World Suite.”  On “No Illness,” part of a recorded song cycle featuring the words of Johnson,  Adriana Valdés put forth her stunning soprano voice to warm the audience with a what sounded like a jazz classic torch song.
      Another of Pritsker’s poet partners, the acclaimed “Wall Street Poet”  Robert C. Ford took the stage for his “The Biggest Lie (Trickle Down)” set to a stark jazz groove. Ford’s words cut a serrated edge of detailing corporate greed grinding its shoe upon the common man.  And the exquisitely titled “Sorrow Like Pleasure Creates Its Own Atmosphere” saw the absurdly talented Carla Auld indeed create her own atmosphere with her ethereal flute work. Long Liberator Charles Coleman is most noted as a master baritone opera singer, but he took on Pritsker’s “Fake Body and Soul” with a delightful swing in which I can only describe as Dixieland on Acid.
       Banks and Valdés took the stage again to duet on “Time Does Not Bring Relief,” and if you don’t believe you can effectively fuse an R&B voice with a classical soprano voice, you don’t know this pair – or Pritsker and company’s compositional skills. It may be Pritsker’s and Sound Liberation’s strongest song to date – it’s not only a new song, but a new musical genre! But that’s par for the course with Sound Liberation.
      I will cease my fawning to saying the show ending “There  I’ll Give You My Hand,” which takes a Mozart aria and turns it into heavy metal, followed by a hair-raising funk take on Brahm’s 4th symphony just sealed the deal. Sound Liberation reaches for the stars with its music – what is most amazing is it strikes gold at nearly each and every turn.
      I am sure, as things continue to open up around NYC and venues added to their booking, I’m a-gonna see many concerts in the coming months.  But if I only could see one, I would be happy to end my concert-going year with this.  In barely an hour, Sound Liberation laid out the whole world of great American music – rap, jazz, hard rock, opera and classical, no genre is safe from Sound Liberation’s exploration.
      And that sticks to this writer’s ribs in the most wonderful, meaningful way.

-     Roger Hitts, Highlight Hollywood