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Omer Avital
Praised by critics as, “extraordinary” (New York Times),
“roaringly inventive” (JAZZIZ), and, “one of the most
exciting musicians to come onto the jazz scene in
the last 20 years” (DownBeat), Omer Avital is a
visionary composer and virtuoso musician
whose genre-defying ensembles are
pushing the boundaries of jazz expression
and providing audiences with swing and
spiritual sustenance in equal measure.
Avital’s compositions range from
sophisticated jazz conversations to
funky, Middle-Eastern grooves to
long-form, orchestral arrangements of
traditional Sephardi music. With his
latest offering, Suite of the East, Omer
has turned his traditional jazz sensibility to
the performance of Middle Eastern and
North African music. The hard-charging,
reflective and joyful CD was chosen by TSF Jazz
as Album of the Year in France and picked for NPR
Music's Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2012.
“Trained first as a classical guitarist, he plays
chords all over the neck and uses guitar
techniques for strumming; the result is a
passing hint of flamenco or blues. He can be
fleet and jazz-melodic in the style of Oscar
Pettiford, then buzz around the tonic like a
devotional singer; he grew up in Tel Aviv, in a
Moroccan-Yemenite family, and the Arabic and
Spanish comes together with the blues in his
music. Proper technique isn't all; he punches
and twangs the strings, knocking fresh slang
out of the bass. Outside Charles Mingus and
the free-jazz bassist William Parker, such
dramatic violence on the instrument is hard to
come by.”
“The standout, strumming Spanish guitar lines
one minute, sitar-like bent wails the next, with
a Mingus-like thump... A ferocity that not only
invoked Bird but ranged through some
Hendrix-like noise and Bach's G major cello
suite as well... Instantly recognizable style.”
VILLAGE VOICE
“Years from now, when folks are remembering
the early days of the West Village jazz haunt
Smalls, bassist Omer Avital’s name will be as
synonymous with the club as Bill Evan’s is
with the Village Vanguard, and Thelonious
Monk’s is with the original Five Spot Café.”
TIME OUT NEW YORK
Ben Ratliff, NEW YORK TIMES
REPRESENTATION: SHAVIT MUSIC GROUP
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TEL: + 972.54.6818533
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EMAIL: [email protected]