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  | ELI HASSON ~ BADLANDS
NOT ON LABEL (Barcode: 755491364093) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz
Recorded: 2025 Released: 2026
This is the 2nd album by Israeli Jazz trumpeter / composer Eli HassonFind albums by this artist, recorded in a classic quartet setting with pianist Milton MichaeliFind albums by this artist, bassist Asaf ShchoriFind albums by this artist and drummer Haggai FershtmanFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight tracks, eight of which are original compositions, one (repeated twice) is by Japanese keyboardist / composer Ryuichi SakamotoFind albums by this artist, another one is by Paul MotianFind albums by this artist and finally one is by Neil YoungFind albums by this artist.
The music is all strictly composed modern Jazz, which offers a slightly more conventional format that Hasson’s debut album. The presence of the piano is an important shift in the music’s character and adds significantly more harmonic depth and soloing strength. Of course the music is still quite open and less restricted than mainstream Jazz, but is just somewhat more listener friendly.
All four musicians perform splendidly and manage to create a coherent atmosphere throughout the entire duration, which is not an easy task considering the fact that the music is kept most of the time at an extremely slow tempo, almost sluggish and full of tension and expectation, which of course reflects the atmosphere in Israel at the time the music was recorded, and the feeling of loss and grief.
The leader allows the much younger members of his quartet a lot of space to present their individual contributions, and overall stays most of the time somewhat in the background, pushing them ever so gently in the right direction, which of course is a great way to be a responsible “father-figure”.
Overall, this is a most rewarding piece of modern Jazz, which eschews empty gestures and presents condensed emotional content, full of excellent musicianship and classy attitude. I am happy to see that Hasson continues to write new music and record albums, as he certainly has a lot to say to all lovers of ambitious Jazz.
| | Updated: 14/01/2026Posted: 14/01/2026 | CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend |
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