Sunnyside Records celebrates the release of “Songs from Afar” by ELEVATION, the powerhouse quartet  from Transylvanian expat pianist & composer Lucian Ban. This is the pianist’ 3rd release for Sunnyside Records along with 2013 Mystery with Elevation and the 2010 award winning Enesco Re-Imagined third stream extravaganza and all star octet.
The quartet’s first album “Mystery” – an incendiary live set recorded in NYC - was released in 2013 and was meet with critical acclaim.  Mystery won several BEST ALBUM OF 2013 awards (Jeff Stockton @ NYC Jazz Record, Ken Micaleff @ Down Beat, Elzy Kolb @ Hot House) and spanned several tours on both sides of the Atlantic.
This time along with the core quartet of saxophonist Abraham Burton (Art Taylor, Kenny Baron, Jimmy Smith, Mingus Dynasty, Roy Haynes, etc) and one of today’s best working rhythm sections in jazz – bassist John Hebert  and master drummer Eric McPherson (Fred Hersch, Andrew Hill)  along with pianist, the new album also features special guest and Grammy nominee violist Mat Maneri on several tracks and the Transylvanian traditional singer Gavril Tarmure singing with the band two ancient  songs from Transylvania. Six other original compositions by the pianist and a solo piano tribute to South African master pianist Abdullah Ibrahim round up a stunning body of music for the new Elevation CD.  An incendiary group that combines the European      influences of the leader with the great tradition of American jazz.