PETER XIFARAS, Adagio Grooves

Truly one of the most innovative and thematically, sonically and rhythmically eclectic musicians and composers of his generation, Peter Xifaras, following his ever-evolving and creatively freewheeling muse, artfully pinballs from project to project while drawing from his deep well of classical, cinematic, grooving jazz and film score influences to create an aesthetic uniquely his own.

True to genre-transcendent form, he follows his perfectly titled, guitar-driven 2023 opus FUSION – which I enthusiastically called “another inventive career crescendo” – with Adagio Grooves, a sublime, ever-intoxicating jazz symphony blending his virtuosity as a contemporary classical composer with those trademark Xifaras pulsating jazz sensibilities.

While the previous album showcased his guitar chops, he’s only featured sparingly on piano on this masterful work, serving as composer, musical architect and overall visionary as saxophonist Justin Chart, the funky, skin-tight rhythm section of Max Gerl (bass) and Scott Jackson (drums) and the alternately elegant/lyrical and sweeping/powerful Budapest Symphony Orchestra take the often quickly shifting melodic, harmonic and rhythmic reins.

From the opening track “Adagio Blue,” which evolves from smoky, sultry mood piece into a fiery sax-strings jam, through the haunting, smoky, tender and sometimes tension tinged dreamscape of “Adagio Nights,” Adagio Grooves is conceived as a compact six-movement, half hour symphonic journey, with each piece reflecting a different aspect of the adagio (i.e. slow tempo) experience.  One of the pieces that best exemplifies the sudden shifts from lyrical cinematic grace to throbbing, sometimes exotic late night jazz is “Adagio Dream,” which finds the lilting orchestra gently sweeping us into an intimate club setting featuring throbbing bass, steamy sax and exotic percussion.

Taking the aesthetic of that piece to more powerful, sonically intricate levels is the cleverly titled “Adagietto,” whose expansive arrangement and soul-jazz vibe features Xifaras’ intriguing old school keyboard vibing behind dense percussion, throbbing bass and one of Chart’s most explosive improvisations. Xifaras’ brief but colorful flurry of high end piano notes at the start of “Adagio Days” makes for a delightful entry point into one of the album’s most film score like tunes.

What’s that I wrote last time about “career crescendo”? I think Xifaras just reached another one…an the adventure continues!       

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