Record Reviews

REA BAR-NESS ~ REMEMBER & FORGET NOT ON LABEL (Barcode: 080000049018) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 2005 Released: 2006 There seem to be no limits to the explosion of musical talent emerging on the Israeli scene since the beginning of the 2000’s. This exceedingly wonderful debut album by drummer / composer Rea Bar-NessFind albums by this artist is so good that I (with so many years of Jazz behind my ears) could not believe I was listening to an album by young Israeli Jazz musicians when I heard it for the first time. This sounds as good as any Jazz ensemble featuring top world musicians. I know it sounds rather incredible, but it is 100 % true and very easily verifiable – just listen to it. Bar-Ness composed all the music and selected a superb team of musicians to perform it, which includes Omer AvitalFind albums by this artist / Gilad AbroFind albums by this artist – acoustic bass, Avishai CohenFind albums by this artist – trumpet, Omri MorFind albums by this artist – piano, Amos HoffmanFind albums by this artist – guitar and oud and Asaf YuriaFind albums by this artist – tenor sax. Omer Avital is an amazing bass player of the same magnitude as Avishai CohenFind albums by this artist, who is now considered one of the top bass players in the world. Amos Hoffman is an extremely gifted guitar player, but also a virtuoso oud player and he recently released a superb solo album featuring the oud (Middle-Eastern string instrument), where he plays some divine World music. Hoffman oud contributes some Middle-Eastern colorings to the album, but these are very subtle and tasty, which means that this is music is still very firmly based on the Jazz idiom and not moving towards Jazz-World Fusion, as many other Israeli albums do lately. If this is Rea’s debut album I can hardly wait for his next album. I have not heard anything that good in ages. If you are a Jazz lover – this is an absolute must!

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AMIT GOLAN ~ I DECIDED! NOT ON LABEL ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 2007 Released: 2007 1st album by Israeli pianist / composer / teacher Amit GolanFind albums by this artist. Although active on the local scene for some time, this is Golan’s debut release. He leads a quintet with fellow Israeli players (Asaf YuriaFind albums by this artist – tenor sax, Gilad AbroFind albums by this artist – bass and Doron TiroshFind albums by this artist / Yonatan RosenFind albums by this artist – drums) and the guest US trumpeter Joe MagnarelliFind albums by this artist. Golan composed all the wonderful music (except one standard), which sounds remarkably like something taken directly from the 1960s at the peak of the Hard Bop era. The entire album could be easily mistaken for a “lost” Blue NoteFind albums on this label album by Horace SilverFind albums by this artist, and I bet a lot of people would have never guessed this is a contemporary recording by a bunch of Israeli players. And I mean absolutely no criticism by that, on the contrary, being able to reproduce that sound and feel is quite remarkable. Considering that Jazz in Israel was almost nonexistent in the 1960s, this is a most beautiful way to pay the dues. I can’t imagine any Jazz fan around the world not liking this stuff – it is absolutely perfect in what it stands for – solid mainstream jazz at its best with a nostalgic wink. I feel really proud that our tiny Jazz scene is capable of producing such mature and technically perfect piece of music. The recording quality is also remarkable, considering that most of the music was recorded live. Mr. Rudy Van GelderFind albums by this artist would be undoubtedly smiling if he ever got to listen to this one. How about you?

Updated: 12/06/2018Posted:

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend