Percussioni ITALY, 2006
A lot of musicians (and not only them) believe in a link between drums and our deeper ego. But only few are able to live this relation so deeply to make their performances, such as experiences, going beyond every musical classification. That’s the case of Bobbie Rae, one of the most representative drummers of New York’s musical scene, also arranger and composer…
Time Out New York
10 STARS
Keyboard Magazine
Drummer Bobbie Rae’s deft mixology of straight-ahead jazz, funk, and hip-hop is always just perfect… If you’re a jazz aficionado, this CD will give you newfound respect for rock songwriting. If you’re not, it may well turn you into one. Essential listening.
Downbeat
Moments of either inspired vision or extremely well-rehearsed note choices fill the album…The piano solos, ensemble sections and arrangements are form-fitting and weighty. The album is certainly accessible… The drumming of Bobbie Rae fills the music with percussive effects and r&b fired grooves.
Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange
From start to finish, Good and Evil is a piano lover’s delight, brimming with endless variations, permutations, chases, and obliquities enticingly laid in a trio format, Bobbie Rae setting the percussives underneath her in a DeJohnette fashion cut with ever-so-subtle hints of Ronald Shannon Jackson pay attention to the persistence of lightly inflected muscularity…
Amid the current interest in returning to old school virtues-impeccably intelligent creativity and such – Department of Good and Evil goes over like gangbusters… Each cut constitutes an individual wonderland of complexity, nuance,
and soaring lyricality. Taken as a whole, the surfeit is overwhelming. It’s impossible that things could go wrong from here, it simply doesn’t happen, not when one has attained to such a station of expertise.
All About Jazz
We could feel they were really having fun pushing each other. Yet they maintained the groove even as they stretched it.
This is the real test of a drummer, and a testament to Bobbie Rae. Price said that “calling Bobbie Rae just a drummer is
like calling Ben Franklin just a scientist.” I can’t say it any better: Price is right on. And Rae is as soulful, as hip and as
beautiful a person as you would want to meet.
Blogcritics
A significant discussion among seasoned, witty, insightful musicians who take various interesting topics and share opinions and possibilities. It’s a dialog that inspires attention.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
The recording is filled with wonderfully orchestrated and eclectic arrangements.
Philadelphia Inquirer
Lays down an ice-cold vibe that draws from orthodox and even smooth jazz to make a potent and unusual amalgam.
Pittsburgh City Paper
A bold set, yet it doesn’t come off as novelty…Nor does it sanitize either the jazziness or the melodic quality of the originals.
All About Jazz
Proof that modern pop/rock can provide plenty of grist for the improvising musician, Dept of Good and Evil is…even more successful than Everlasting in its meshing of contemporary song with equally contemporary swing.
Bobbie Rae (drums and percussion) and Chris J. Luard (bass)…easily the highpoint of the album. Their performance of U2’s One is definitely a track to build on. Eschewing the anthemic reach of the original, the band offers an introverted performance with Rae’s rolling, muffled drums sounding particularly evocative.
In a November 2003 Keyboard interview, speaking of Wayne Shorter, Danilo Pérez said: “From Wayne I learned how to follow a beautiful melody with harmonies and rhythms that bring out its intention.
Such effective dialoguing, with the bulk of the popular source material of this recording, is what one finds in Everlasting…
Music Connection
An album that seamlessly blends post-bop cool with a clever grasp of indie Goth and modern pop.
Savoy Jazz
The outstanding version of Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge,” a wry 5/4-based “Soul Meets Body,” the lovely waltz time “Milky Way,” and the 7/8 Chick Corea-like bounce that infuses the Miles Davis evergreen “E.S.P.” A lengthy “Saint of New Orleans” is varied in dimension and stance but not as fully developed as it probably is in live performance…cameo appearances by electric bass guitar master Tony Levin spark the tracks he is on.
Oakland Tribune
ONE OF THE MOST interesting jazz releases to cross my desk in a long time is the Dept. of Good and Evil’s new eponymous CD. On this disc, the group…tackles three original compositions, two standards and – here is where things get really intriguing – seven goth and pop covers.
The Guardian
Rae’s spare and subtle percussion effects open the abstractly soulful original Protect This Child. Rae’s softly rolling tom-toms and spacey rimshots open U2’s One, which Rachel Z explores as an instrumental, full of skipping ascending lines, flying Hancockish double-time, and fitful retreats into minimalist meditation.
Jazziz
On Everlasting…bassist Tony Levin, and drummer Bobbie Rae keep the proceedings light, lyrical, and straightahead.…true jazz artists.
San Diego Times
Superb jazz trio doing striking, all-instrumental versions of songs by Joni Mitchell…melodies are recognizable to anyone familiar with the originals…ingenious new harmonic and rhythmic structures.
Jazztimes
The musicians’ performances soar, and the CD is far from being a mellow affair. “Big Yellow Taxi” encompasses dramatic flair and immediately gets your attention, while “Free Man in Paris” and “Help Me” are fun jams with Z and Rae cutting loose.
San Francisco Chronicle
Neither “Moon at the Window” nor “Everlasting” offers simple instrumental re-creations. Both collections get full-on jazz interpretations…
Percussioni
Time Out New York
Keyboard Magazine
Downbeat
Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange
All About Jazz
Blogcritics
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Philadelphia Inquirer
Pittsburgh City Paper
All About Jazz
Music Connection
Savoy Jazz
Oakland Tribune
The Guardian
Jazziz
San Diego Times
Jazztimes
San Francisco Chronicle