Coolness is defined by action, not words. Joel Shapira approaches guitar playing like a veteran baseball player on a hot streak would approach the plate, brimming with an obvious yet calm swagger. When he swings for the fences, there’s no obnoxious boasting, just an easy self-confidence that is bred from years of experience and a complete understanding of the game. On Open Lines, Shapira never hogs the spotlight, doesn’t let the musicians that fill his quartet take a passenger seat. Instead, he’s a team player that isn’t afraid to share a groove even when he’s smoking all over it.
— AllAboutJazz.comTaking their set list from instrumental favorites including compositions by jazz greats Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, etc., they show that there is still something original to say.
— Don Berryman
Twin Cities-based guitarist Joel Shapira is a master performer of both classical and jazz repertoire. A Saint Paul native, Joel attended Berklee School of Music in Boston and Mannes School of Music in New York City where he lived, performed and taught for eight years, and also studied with jazz legends Joe Pass and Tal Farlow.
Open Lines is the first recording by Joel’s quartet, which includes three other formidable Twin Cities jazz talents: saxophonist Pete Whitman, bassist Tom Lewis, and drummer Dave Schmalenberger.
Open Lines
- Simone (Frank Foster)
- Turnaround (Ornette Coleman)
- Nardis (MIles Davis)
- Confirmation (Charlie Parker)
- How Insensitive (Jobim/Gimbel/Moraes)
- Have You Met Miss Jones (Rodgers & Hart)
- Time Remembered (Bill Evans)
- Invitation (Kaper/Webster)
- It Could Happen To You (Burke/Van Hausen)
Joel Shapira, guitar / Pete Whitman, saxophone / Tom Lewis, bass / Dave Schmalenberger, drums
Recorded, engineered, and mastered by Matthew Zimmerman at Wild Sound Studios, Minneapolis, MNDesign by Qua’s Eye Graphix
Produced by Joel Shapira
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