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	Chevan and Byrd Duo »» Let Us Break Bread Together • Dialogue for Four Hands

"Music from two different cultural experiences, one enhancing the other." -Rabbi Herbert Brockman, Congregation Mishkan Israel, Hamden CT

"A brilliant piano-bass duo reading of tunes from the Jewish and African-American sacred traditions and easily the best record I've reviewed this year. Warm, intelligent and swinging..." Jewish Week

"Avadim Hayinu" was a moving, inspiring program that brought together the Jewish and African-American communities at UNH in both planning and enjoying a community wide event." Raina Goldberg, Director of Regional Student Services, Hillel Council of New England

"I would like to indicate my appreciation for the educational quality-not to mention the musical quality -of the selections that David and Warren performed for our event, which was a celebration of the renaming of our institute for Jewish-Christian Studies here at Siena. [The] comments before each selection were learned and engagingly presented and provided a striking example of how music can reach the mind as well as the soul." Dr. Peter S. Zaas, Professor of Religious Studies, Siena College

It is a sad commentary on contemporary American culture that during the past twenty years relations between African-Americans and Jewish-Americans have--in the wake of the dismantling of the Civil Rights movement--disintegrated. In response, two Connecticut jazz artists, Warren Byrd and David Chevan, have created a unique musical program that merges their distinct cultures and heritages. In this musical offering, African-American jazz pianist Warren Byrd, and Jewish-American jazz bassist David Chevan combine their talents to fuse two centuries-old traditions that have served as time honored sources of comfort and strength. David and Warren have selected pieces from their traditions that speak to the soul and that emphasize and reveal the strong similarities that are at the heart of the passions, suffering and joys of these two worlds. Their music simultaneously projects a sense of deep contemplation and joyous exuberance. While there have been jazz artists who have delved into their spiritual lives for musical inspiration, this collaboration marks the first time that Jewish and African-American music have been so merged. The very act of performing these distinctive works together reveals how important it is to renew and strengthen bonds between the Jewish-American and African-American people and how extraordinary the results can be when such a collaboration takes place.

Warren and David have recorded and released a CD of their program also entitled, AVADIM HAYINU. They are currently seeking appropriate venues for their presentation. Their original presentation was at Congregation Mishkan Israel's annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial service in Hamden, Connecticut. In spite of an ice storm the service was attended by more than 300 hundred people, both members of the congregation and the greater New Haven community. Since then they have performed at colleges, synagogues, churches and other venues throughout the Northeast United States.

AVADIM HAYINU is an appropriate and relevant program for audiences of all ages. It can be presented as a concert, part of a service, part of a freedom Seder, or as a component in a forum for engendering dialogue between communities. The length of the program is flexible. An appropriate length could be anywhere between 30 and 85 minutes depending whether it is part of a service or presented as a separate event. In addition, David and Warren have prepared prefatory remarks that frame each piece. More about Dr. David Chevan

Warren Byrd is an accompanist for the School of Hartford Ballet, the Hartford Camerata and the Greater Hartford Academy for the Performing Arts.  He has extensive experience accompanying and directing gospel choirs in the Hartford area.  Mr. Byrd has worked with many important jazz artists including Archie Schepp, Steve Davis, Eddie Henderson and Mixashawm.  He is also a member of BASSOLOGY, a jazz group led by David Chevan.

George Robinson is one of those rare music critics with a profound understanding of sacred music as well as jazz. He recently wrote an insightful piece about Warren and David for The Jewish Week.
Click here to view Robinson's piece, "Dialogue for Four Hands."

In November 2001, Warren Byrd and David Chevan released their second CD, "Let Us Break Bread Together". This follow-up to "Avadim Hayinu" was their first studio album together since Bassology's 1998 release, "The Feeling that I Get." On this CD Chevan and Byrd had more opportunity delve into an area of improvised communication that was first hinted at on "The Feeling That I Get" by the two duets that they played to begin and end Chevan's composition, "Introitus" (the Latin word for "processional"). The title for this CD comes from an African-American spiritual. What is most appealing to the artists is that the idea of breaking bread as a symbol of fellowship and community appears in both the Jewish and African-American sacred traditions. And it appears in many ways. It is also said that this was one of the songs that was used by slaves hoping to escape to freedom. "Let Us Break Bread Together" served as a code song into which information about the community and its condition could be inserted without the notice of slave owners. This new album has already been reviewed by over 15 on-line and printed magazines and all have celebrated the arrival of Chevan and Byrd.
View what the critics are saying about "Let Us Break Bread Together".

AVADIM HAYINU- Repertoire List
Adon Olam	Nobody Knows the trouble I've Seen
Al Shloshah D'Varim	Oseh Shalom
Ani Ma'amin	Take My Hand Precious Lord
Avadim Hayinu	Shalom Aleichem
David Play Your Harp	Soon and Very Soon
Eliyahu HaNavi	This is the Day
Etz Chayim He	We Shall Overcome
He's Got the Whole World In His Hands	We'll Understand It Better By and By
If I Can Help Somebody	With Goodness and Gladness in My Heart
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho	U'vau HaOvdim
The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow	Victory is Mine