Embracing Clarity is the debut CD by twenty-one year old Juan Dhas, who only graduated from Berklee last December. He plays with a maturity that belies his youth, his tone warm and pure, and his lines as clean and lyrical as the album’s title suggests. He also demonstrates considerable compositional skill on the seven tunes presented here, all of which are originals.
Dhas was born in Dubai to a Columbia mother and an Indian father, and was immersed in music from a young age, initially studying classical piano, and switching to guitar after hearing Jimi Hendrix. He cites fusion guitarists such as Allan Holdsworth and Brett Garsed as being amongst his earliest jazz influences, particularly admiring their legato sound. Berklee opened him to new influences, of course, and he started listening more closely to horn players, such as Joshua Redman and Michael Brecker, and transcribing pianists that he admired, including Aaron Parks. This clear fed into his writing, which has an impressive narrative flow, but also a restraint, making good use of space.
He was helped in this regard by his quartet – Benjamin Furman on piano and keyboards, Alex Gorchesky on bass and Aaron Lawson on drums – who seem to be perfectly in tune with his musical vision, and also contributed to the arrangements.
The opening tune, Free, is one of my favourites, and sets the tone for what follows, the pianist and drummer both demonstrating a lightness of touch that sit well with Dhas’s delightful sound. Andean Sky, the final track, and longest on the album, is also the most ambitious, at times burning with real intensity.
Wired is the funkiest tune on offer, and brought to mind some of John Scofield’s more groove-driven work, whilst Let Go, which follows, is the sole ballad on the album, and marked by some delightful playing by both Dhas and pianist Furman.
Embracing Clarity is relatively brief at just 53 minutes, but in this era of over-long CDs, where artists feel obliged to fill every space with sound, this is a welcome relief – never outstaying its welcome, and leaving us wanting more. And if his debut is anything to go by, you will undoubtedly be hearing more of Juan Dhas.
Embracing Clarity can be found on iTunes and Spotify, or can be purchased through Bandcamp.
