David “Knife” Fabris
guitarist educator
Ran Blake (piano) and Dave Fabris (guitar)
Dave credits his longtime teacher, mentor, friend, and collaborator Ran Blake for helping to develop his unique genre-bending style. While studying Blake’s Third Stream ear training method as a student at the New England Conservatory of Music, Dave found validation in his pursuit of blending the many disparate styles that spoke to him.
Ran Blake. Above the Sadness. Trailer
Ran Blake and David Fabris. Rehearsal
Pianist Ran Blake and guitarist David "Knife" Fabris rehearse in December 2001. Filmed by Michael Hanish.
In 1999 and 2000, the “Knife” (Blake’s nickname for Fabris) was a guest on Blake’s “Something to Live For” and “Silver Noir” on the hatology label. In 2005, they released a duo CD entitled “Indian Winter” on Soul Note records. Fabris contributed a forward to Blake’s book, “Primacy of the Ear” in 2010 and produced (and shot the cover photos) for Blake’s solo CD “Grey December” (Tompkins Square). In early 2012, the duo will release a live LP on the NoBusiness label titled “Vilnius Noir” recorded during their latest European tour.
Reviews
Indian Winter reviews:
Downbeat, Feb. 2006 (four stars) by Bill Shoemaker
“Indian Winter is a solid link in a long chain of albums by third stream pianist Ran Blake that mix solo performances with duo and/or trio tracks. This structure marginalizes all but the most tenacious improvisers, who also have the daunting task of not obscuring Blake’s nuanced approach. Guitarist David Fabris knows how to pick his spots. He’s adept in the gray areas between soloing and comping, as is the case on the bluesy, Blake-penned title piece. On several tracks, Fabris has a keen sense of when to play it broad and elicit a relatively extroverted response from Blake…”
Silver Noir reviews:
Jazztimes, May 2001 by Duck Baker
“…Fabris is particularly adept at reinterpreting the bluesy (Horace) Silver feeling. The guitarist works so well with Blake that one wonders if he could ever play with a ‘normal’ pianist again. Here’s hoping he’ll never have to: the dangerous piano-guitar combination has rarely worked as well as it does with these two…”