Essential Bay Area jazz albums: Peter Apfelbaum

June 17, 1:11 PMBay Area Jazz ExaminerDavid Becker

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We take multiculturalism seriously here in the Bay Area, so it should be no surprise that some of the mostly gloriously diverse music of the past few decades came straight out of Berkeley.

Saxophonist, pianist and composer Peter Apfelbaum managed to cram a whole lifetimes worth of influences (reggae, African music, Indian raga, salsa) into 1991's "Signs of Life." Then he blended them with a well-grounded jazz sensibility (developed while playing with trailblazers such as Carla Bley and Don Cherry).

Then he ran it all through a brilliant ear for orchestration and arrangement, before turning it over to the 17-piece Hieroglyphics Ensemble. Listening to tunes such as "Walk to the Mountain," you're impressed not only by the shear power of the big-group sound but the way Apfelbaum's delicate engineering of the tunes allows individual voice to shine through.

Apfelbaum has since relocated to the East Cost and formed a New York version of Hieroglyphics, but the Berkeley High School graduate will always be the sound of East Bay culture to me.

"Signs of Life" has been out of print for a while, but used copies are readily available.

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