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In New York City since 2005, by way of Kiev and Moscow, bassist/composer/arranger Ark Ovrutski connects generations, continents and unique musical voices through his groups and projects. Integrating here the great Brazilian musicians, pianist Helio Alves and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca, with southern American transplants, trombonist Michael Dease and saxophonist Michael Thomas, the band, with an age range of over thirty years, provides an exciting example of how the progressive jazz tradition sounds today. From Ovrutski's arrangements of modern jazz standards - Bill Evans's "Waltz for Debby," Wayne Shorter's "Tom Thumb," and Kenny Dorham's "La Mesha," to tart originals from Da Fonseca, Dease and Ovrutski, he means to make music with all the nuance and technical finesse of Western classical tradition, with which he began, and all the spirited soulfulness of jazz, at which he's arrived.