“The American dream is ended,” those are the closing words of the debut album of guitarist Nir Felder, Golden Age. The album’s opening is just as unorthodox: “Thank you very much,” – and he hasn’t even started yet… It’s clear that Felder (1982) is not a guitarist who is satisfied with just running through a series of songs and then taking a break. He learned his craft at the Berklee College of Music, has worked with Esperanza Spalding, Greg Osby, José James and Jack DeJohnette, among others, and formed his own band in 2010. Last year he participated in an impressive reworking of several famous Dexter Gordon albums. On his album Golden Age (with pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Mat Penman and drummer Nate Smith) Felder uses all kinds of politically tinted texts as collages. His music, with many variations in mood, sometimes rocking and other times lyrically swinging, was one of the highlights of last year’s Winter Jazzfest in New York.
