Album Review: Safe Travels from Jerry Kalaf

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Album:  Safe Travels
Artist:  Jerry Kalaf
Label:  Self-Released
Website: jerrykalaf.com

Safe Travels is jazz drummer Jerry Kalaf’s 2025 album.  A soothing collection of original compositions that blend the temporal voices of a piano trio with the airy textures of a string quartet. Comprised of arrangements and orchestrations by Doug Walter, the recording features the Chicago-based string quartet ATLYS, partnering classical influences with jazz sensibilities and improvised strokes. The outcome is a musical saga, laden with sonic impressions and emotive expressions.

Recorded at Studio J in Studio City, California, by Jerry Kalaf, and at RAX TRAX in Chicago, Illinois, by Andy Shoemaker, the project is meticulously finessed with structured trimmings augmented by spontaneous wanderings.  Mixed by Jerry Kalaf and Doug Walter at Studio J and mastered by Scott Fraser at Architecture in Pasadena, California, the album delivers a multi-faceted listening experience, bustling with melodic sensibilities and poignant introspections.

Tracks like "Epilogue" and "At the End of the Day" intimate emotive reflections, providing a profound lift in the listener's spirit as the flotilla of wispy strings interlock with Tom Ranier's twinkling keys alongside the soothing rhythmic swells of Kalaf's drums and Trey Henry's bass.  The bopping beats of "Perspectives" and "Shearing" create a fancy free vibe encircled in a lively atmosphere that moves into the reflective mood of the title track, catacombed in the delicate phrasing of the strings, pillared by the emotive scrolls of the keys.  

There is a nostalgic "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" feel to Kalaf's piece "Beacon" as the fluidity of the instrumentation leaves a sonic impression on listeners of traipsing across a breath-taking landscape.  The island sway of "Another Summer" is finessed by the trundling stride of Ranier's keys, glittering stoutly across the languid tremors of the rhythmic beats.

As a recipient of the “Meet The Composer/California” grant funded by the National Endowment For The Arts and the California Arts Council, Kalaf, a long-time resident of Los Angeles, explores the integration of jazz and classical expressions,  searching for sonic patterns and harmonic forms that inspire both his fellow musicians and audiences worldwide.

Musicians:
Tom Ranier - piano
Trey Henry - bass
Jerry Kalaf - drums

Featuring ATLYS:
Sabrina Tabby and Jinty McTavish - violins
Erin Rafferty - viola
Genevieve Tabby - cello
https://atlysmusic.com


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