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Hoch's collaboration with Dave Liebman dates back to 1987, when Hoch was a member of the Israeli jazz quartet, Zaviot and Liebman was a featured soloist on the quartet's 1987 recording, "Unexpected" Drummer Reuben Hoch  celebrates the release of his new CD "Of Recent Time" (The Naim Label) in two NYC concerts: Thursday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m. with The Chassidic Jazz Project at Makor, 35 W. 67th Street (at Central Park West), NYC. The Chassidic Jazz Project features Hoch with Dave Liebman on saxophones, Pete McCann on guitar, Lev Ljova Zhurbin on viola, Will Martina on cello,and Ed Schuller on bass.  As Bill Donaldson says in Jazz Improv Magazine:  "Unapologetically liturgical, the music of the Chassidic Jazz Project celebrates the music of Jewish religious observances with the improvisational freedom of jazz, energized by Hoch's drumming.  Indeed, many of the racks are distinguished by the incorporation of unconventional meters, which drive the tunes with swirling and arresting movement. "  Sunday, July 23 from 7:30 - 9 p.m. Hoch performs on the 4th McMahon Jazz Medicine Concert, 545 West 45th Street, 7th Floor, NYC.  Tickets $35 in advance, $50 at the door.  Joining Hoch are long-time collaborators saxophonist Dave Liebman, pianist Don Friedman and bassist Ed Schuller. Hoch's collaboration with Dave Liebman dates back to 1987, when Hoch was a member of the Israeli jazz quartet, Zaviot and Liebman was a featured soloist on the quartet's 1987 recording, "Unexpected". Liebman was subsequently featured on Hoch's CDs, "Live in New York at the Knitting Factory" and "If I Only Knew" and have performed together at The Hollywood Jazz Festival and other venues. Hoch's  CD "Of Recent Time," an audiophile recording featuring Friedman and Schuller, showcases the trio's deeply personalized renditions of music by modern jazz greats such as Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny and other jazz pioneers, as well as originals by Hoch and Friedman. Orthodox Judaism and jazz are rarely rendered in the same breath except in the case of drummer Reuben Hoch. Reared as an Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn, NY, Hoch attended Jewish parochial schools and eventually graduated from Yeshiva University. His interest in music was sparked by Chassidic niggunim (songs) mostly liturgical in nature. As a child he prayed in the synagogue of the Munkatcher Chassidim in Boro Park, Brooklyn. By age fourteen, the jazz bug stung him via the music of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Constant devotion and exposure to the jazz vernacular throughout high school led to playing and recording engagements with Valerie Ponomaerov, Dave Liebman, Lonnie Plaxico, Jim Pepper, Ron McClure, Jeff Andrews, Leni Stern, Joey Calderazzo, Greg Osby, Zaviot jazz Quartet and others. He recorded several albums with his group The RH Factor, highlighting his original compositions. Hoch eventually created the Chassidic Jazz Project, which fuses jazz, chamber and world music. The Chassidic Jazz Project received accolades throughout the music industry. As the ensemble's CD, "Live at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts" (RH Factor Records), features Don Friedman and Bobby Thomas Jr. It is an exceptional work that truly depicts the potential of traditional Jewish music enveloped through the kaleidoscopic frameworks of Hoch's creativity. Hoch joined with the Naim Label through longtime friend, Ken Christianson. A brilliant recording engineer, Christianson has a long history of capturing jazz artists in a very organic way through a two-microphone technique recorded to the open-reel Nagra Recorder. He has recorded and produced artists such as Charlie Haden, John Taylor, Laurence Hobgood, Kurt Elling, Paul Wertico and other celebrated artists. What Hoch shares in common with these stylists is his dedication to innovation and conceptualities.  "Of Recent Time" is a True Stereo recording by Ken Christianson of Pro Musica, Chicago.  The Naim Label is a subsidiary of Naim Audio from Salisbury, England. CONTINUES ON P130