Reviews & Articles

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
August 21, 2010
The concept of fusing Indian classical music and jazz is not new. Saxophonist George Brooks, a longtime votary of the form, has honed his skills through several conglomerations: Bombay Jazz, with guitarist Larry Coryell, and flautist Ronu Majumdar; the Kirwani Quartet, with Dutch harpist Gwyneth Wentink and Indian flute maestro Hari Prasad Charurasia; and Summit with guitarist Fareed Hague, bassist Kai Eckhardt and drummer Steve Smith. His compositions reflect the soul and character of Indian classical music, but open themselves to improvisation. -Jerry D’Souza
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Notes on Jazz
On Spirit And Spice, Brooks has written and performed an interesting, sonically rich and rhythmically alive collection of music that successfully integrates two distinct musical forms, creating an alluring hybrid having its own distinct appeal…a ragified funk, undoubtedly unlike anything you’ve heard before. Ralph A. Miriello
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All About Jazz
Spirit And Spice / George Brooks
Fusing Indian classical music and jazz has met with mixed results over the years. For a long time, it seemed that a combination of these disparate styles could only result in overly aggressive fusion music; hints of India or standard jazz fare, with tabla drumming thrown into the mix. Over time, a more organic musical merge has taken place thanks to artists like saxophonist George Brooks. Brooks has worked tirelessly—with his Summit band, Bombay Jazz group and Kirwani Quartet—to show that East and West can successfully meet in the middle. While the instrumentation on Spirit And Spice—a saxophone-led jazz group combined with instruments endemic to India—clearly makes the case for Indo-jazz fusing, Brooks takes it further and imbues the rhythmic, metric, harmonic and melodic DNA of Indian classical music in his work. Dan Bilawsky
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World Stream Radio
Interview June 23rd 2010

Modern Jazz Radio
“You’ll hear Northern California-based saxophonist George Brooks with help from guitarist Fareed Haque, bassist Kai Eckhardt, drummer Steve Smith and tabla master Zakir Hussain on the great new work titled Spirit And Spice, which may be the best blending of jazz and Indian music since McLaughlin & Shakti.”

Midwest Record
GEORGE BROOKS SUMMIT/Spirit and Spice: The thing you’re going to like most about this set is that it’s completely nuts. A solid jazzbo with free jazz leanings and world beat interests that isn’t afraid to share the spotlight with a bunch of game raising players, Brooks brings the 60s into the 10s with a smoking world/groove date that would find Paul Horn and Paul Winter running for cover if you blasted it at them. Genre twisting and groovealicious, this is visceral jazz for the over educated who won’t be able to stop themselves from bobbing their heads and jimmying their legs. Flat out wonderful throughout. Chris Spector

San Jose Mercury News
George Brooks Summit: “Spirit and Spice”
This brilliant CD shows why the Bay Area saxophonist is considered the leading American voice in Indian jazz fusion. The saxophonist’s cross cultural musical mastery is clearly evident on “Spirit and Spice,” an exotic eight tune collection that is entertaining, sophisticated and awfully tasty. Paul Libertore