DANIEL GARBIN, Rising

By boldly launching his perfectly titled debut album Rising switching out his trademark electric guitar for a barn-burning title track jam driven by his exotic, intricate sitar, Daniel Garbin confidently shares the reality that besides being a self-taught, multi-talented world class jazz musician, the NYC based artist is also a true musical citizen of the world.

Taking a deep dive into his colorful bio, we learn that he’s from the Transylvania region of Romania, played rock, blues, flamenco, fusion and jazz as a teenager and later performed with the Big Band Gaio. Upon moving to the U.S. he played Latin rock, co-founded the jazz fusion band INOAN, jammed in Greenwich Village and took a shine to Indian classical music, becoming a student of Mita Nag, a 6th generation sitar master.

To top that off, Garbin artfully reflects the connections between mathematics and music, balancing his day job as associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Queensborough Community College with club gigs at night. As compelling as his playing is on the opening track and throughout this stylistically eclectic, world music flavored collection, Garbin is also an effective bandleader, allowing each member of his quintet to grab some intensity in the spotlight.

On “Rising,” his cool sitar musings are complemented by the explosive passion of alto saxman Scott Litroff, followed by dynamic solos by pianist Camila Cortina Bello and bassist Eddy Khaimovich. It’s inspiring to see where the ensemble journeys from there, as, led by Garbin’s equally exciting and super-melodic guitar flights of fancy, they venture from the steamy, seductive Brazilian-tinged breezes of “Simi’s Bossa” to the highly arpeggiated, rhythmically intoxicating, sax fired Latin-African-straight ahead jazz romp “Rolling Hills.”

Those gems lay a powerful foundation for the global-minded ventures to come, including the sassy Afro-Cuban stylings of “Anomisericordo” (try Googling, it’s a fascinating made up word!), the steamy, laid back Middle Eastern music spiced romance “DSD” and a fiery tribute to Joe Satriani (“Almost Forgotten – Like Satch”) that taps into Garbin’s extensive background as a fusion rocker. Garbin and friends chill out at the end, following those flames with the lush and lovely, Metheny-esque “Into the Sunset.” Seriously one of the best quintet dates of 2025, Rising is an auspicious debut for the math-musical genius!