Eric Clark, CR Gazette

Lubaroff jazz set goes down smooth
November 3, 2005

The Saul Lubaroff Quartet’s new album, ‘‘Blues 4 Zane & Will,’’ was recorded live last spring at the Siren in Iowa City before the club went out of business. It’s unfortunate the venue closed, since longtime Iowa City musician Lubaroff now has one less place to display his saxophone talent.

At least ‘‘Blues 4 Zane & Will’’ nicely captures the experience of a Siren gig. Performing with Andrew Parrott on guitar, Eric Krieger on bass and Paul Kresowik on drums, Lubaroff breezes through a 58-minute set of jazz standards by the likes of John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and others. The album’s title track is the sole Lubaroff original, a mildly rambunctious composition dedicated to his two sons.

The majority of ‘‘Blues 4 Zane & Will’’ is smooth and understated. Lubaroff’s approach is to gently massage the songs into the cranium as opposed to forcing them down the throat. While ‘‘Blues 4 Zane & Will’’ may not keep the listener awake on a long car drive, the album is the perfect backdrop for dinner conversation.

Deanna Truman-Cook , Iowa City Press Citizen

[Excerpted]
So what sets the second CD apart from the first? "It's different and a lot more detailed, more modern," is Lubaroff's short answer. The longer answer is that he learned a lot from making the first CD, "Jazz Under the Stars," released in November 2003. And while he's proud of it, he immediately began thinking about how he would make the second CD even better.

Instead of an outdoors live recording, he chose to record "Blues 4 Zane & Will" live indoors in April at The Siren nightclub. And he chose some songs he's been a fan of for years: "In a Mellotone," "Lonnie's Lament" and "Stella by Starlight." Track No. 6, "Maiden Voyage," has a special place in his heart because it's one of the first songs he learned to play.

So does the tune "Blues 4 Zane & Will," the second song on the album, which Lubaroff wrote for his two boys, Zane, 12, and Will, 10. "Since I have been 14 years old, I wanted to be a recording artist," Lubaroff said. With the completion of the second CD, officially released July 8, he said he feels like he is fulfilling that dream.

Read Full Article Here on the Iowa City Press-Ciziten Site

Jim Musser, Iowa CIty Press Citizen

Iowa City saxophonist Saul Lubaroff has been a mainstay on the area music scene for nearly 20 years now, performing and recording blues, funk and soul with Shade Of Blue and Blue Tunas, playing jazz with the New Venue Big Band and his own combos, and even arranging horns for rock recordings by The Bent Scepters and Shoe Money, yet until now, he’s neglected to cut a disc under his own moniker.

Recorded live outdoors at Cedar Rapids’ Noelridge Park on August 7th of this year as part of KCCK’s “Jazz Under The Stars” series, “CannonSaul” Lubaroff and bandmates Nate Basinger (keyboards), Gary Palmer (bass) and Matt
Bernemann (drums) glide through an hour-long set of familiar evergreens from the songbooks of Oliver Nelson, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Johnny
Mercer and Joe Zawinul.

Graceful, straight-ahead and unremittingly Cool, the performances by all hands are clean and soulful, the arrangements are classic, and the recording quality (engineered and co-produced by Ed Karr) is first-rate.
Too long in arriving, “Jazz Under The Stars” is a welcome addition to any jazz fan’s collection.

John Kenyon, CR Gazette

[Excerpted]
Top jazz players can record live albums just about anytime they want to, but for area performers with a handful of events each year to choose from, it isnt easy. Jazz Under The Stars is a weekly summer soncert serie that has spawned a few top-notch recordings. Add "Jazz Under the Stars" by the Saul Lubaroff Quartet to the list.

Playing in a band shell in a park during the summer doesn’t guarantee a stellar performance....
....but you'd never know the setting for Lubaroff's gig just from what you hear on the disc. This could just as easily be a club date. The interplay among the four musicians on stage tight and intimate.....

The song selection leans heavily towards standards, but even a chesnut like "All Blues" sounds fresh.
Lubaroff offers plenty to like, and you don't need a lawn chair or bug repellent.