Omer Avital
ARRIVAL
Omer Avital “One of the Leading Composers of His Generation” (Downbeat) Marks His ‘Arrival’ (Fresh Sound / Sept 23)
And Brings The Middle Eastern/North African/Latin/Funk
“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
Omer Avital, hailed by the LA Times as “a pioneer in combining jazz with myriad world music elements,” is best known as a fearless, inspired composer of everything from small jazz groups to world and orchestral music, a virtuosic bassist and an active force on the world music scene for well over a decade. September 23rd marks Fresh Sounds’ release of Arrival, Avital’s new collection of alluring, highly melodic compositions steeped in the music of North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
Arrival was conceived in New York, 2001 and recorded in 2006 with longtime bandmates Jason Lindner (piano), Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Joel Frahm (sax) Avi Lebovich (trombone) and Jonathan Blake (drums). “I’ve been meaning to record a more “produced” and concise album for years. It’s important for me to touch people who are not necessarily jazz listeners.” The compositions range from the minor-key baroque, North African “Song for Amos” to “Third World Love Story,” which The New York Times describes as “a ballad…chord progressions from late-romantic classical music and a backbeat with tension, and suddenly we were in the sleek territory of bands like the Bad Plus or some of Reid Anderson’s groups.”
"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.,” writes Ben Ratliff for The New York Times. “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."
Omer Avital will be touring the world throughout the summer and fall as a bandleader and with Third World Love, the acclaimed worldbeat ensemble.
Omer Avital on Arrival:
The compositions on this record represent an interesting period in my creative life. They were written mostly between 1998-2001. In the mid-to-late 90s I was preoccupied with composing for my sextet (The Omer Avital Group). That group had a very specific and unique orchestration of 4 saxophones, bass and drums. Back then I was drawing most of my inspiration from the vast tradition of jazz ensemble writing and improvisation, as well as from the classical European tradition, while trying to fit my ideas for this group. It was like a “jazz chamber group” where I could write very specific details and get to an intimate vibe.
Towards the end of that period I became interested and musically involved in different styles of music: Afro- Cuban, South American styles, West and North African, Middle Eastern, Israeli - and also got back to my early rock and R&B influences. Some of it found its way into the last period of that group (Think With Your Heart, Fresh Sound, 2000), but I felt I needed a different kind of band to play this newer music.
My approach didn’t change completely,but I began to be much more interested in the element of “song” in music. A beautiful, long and profound melodic motion was always my main interest when I composed, but now the forms were a little more compressed, and sometimes resembled folklore formats or popular music.
The general atmosphere and feeling of the music became important to the overall plan. I tried to strike a balance between the virtuosity and elasticity of the contemporary jazz ensemble and directness of some of my new themes.
Arrival represents a bridge of sorts - a point of transition between my earlier experiments with The Omer Avital Group and the music I compose today. I like to think of my music as another branch of the infinite tree of “song.” I’m more interested in communicating my ideas, thoughts and emotions in a more universal way. I started my professional musical life as a jazz composer/ performer, but my goal is to transcend the limits of style. That is the reason why I constantly study other forms of music like European classical, Middle Eastern, North African and Israeli folk. My jazz education is extremely important for my musical identity, but at the same time I don’t want it to limit what I have to communicate to the world. Arrival is another little step in clarifying to myself what I want to say.
THE ANCIENT ART OF GIVING
For Immediate Release August 17, 2006
OMER AVITAL:
“STRIKINGLY TALENTED” (Entertainment Weekly)
COMPOSER / BASSIST COMES OUT SWINGING THIS FALL WITH TWO SHOCKINGLY DIVERSE RECORDINGS
‘THE ANCIENT ART OF GIVING’ (SMALLS)
SEPTEMBER 26, 2006
‘ARRIVAL’ (FRESH SOUND)
“(Avital’s) idea of jazz includes old and new definitions of swing and temperament, as if the stylistic and generational divisions never existed. Ornette Coleman's country hymns get in there, as do Woody Herman's close-harmony writing for saxophones, Charles Mingus' tetchiness and ensemble friction, Lennie Tristano's rambling counterpoint and the mesmerizing wail of Pharoah Sanders."”
– The New York Times
This fall, internationally acclaimed musician Omer Avital will release two widely varied, imaginative recordings of original compositions, The Ancient Art of Giving (Smalls, September 2006), one of the most personal jazz records he’s ever recorded, and Arrival (Fresh Sound), an explosion of African, Middle Eastern, Latin and funk.
Avital has spent most of 2006 in the studio recording upcoming albums and touring the world in support of Asking No Permission (Smalls), a 10-year old document of “one of the strongest ensembles of the decade” (Jazz Times).
In the spirit of Asking No Permission, The Ancient Art of Giving is an organic, live recording compiled from one night in January 2006 at Fat Cat in New York City, featuring Mark Turner (sax), Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Aaron Goldberg (piano) and drummer Ali Jackson. Goldberg and Jackson have been performing with Avital since 1995.
“I returned to New York in 2005 after three years of living in Israel and studying composition. As soon as I came here I wanted to record an album with my old friends to document our musical history together,” says Avital. “Fat Cat offered me a residency and luckily, all of the musicians I wanted to play with were available. I’ve always wanted to make a classic quintet album and this was a great opportunity. We had a chance to perform the music, get the audience into it and create a vibe.”
Ancient Art highlights some of Avital’s music from 1993 – 2005, including “Yes!,” the first composition he’d ever written and “Homeland,” the opening track composed in Jerusalem in 2005, “right before I moved to New York. It was written in one breath.”
“Avital, in his mid-20's, wrote stronger tunes than those of many bandleaders with twice his experience,” wrote Ben Ratliff for The New York Times.
Arrival (Fresh Sound) is a project heavily steeped in Middle Eastern, African, Latin and funk / pop, all of which have influenced the sound of Avital’s bands. The album was conceived in New York, 2001 and finally recorded in 2006 with Jason Lindner (piano), Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Joel Frahm (sax) Avi Lebovich (trombone) and Jonathan Blake (drums). “I’ve been meaning to record a more “produced” and concise album for years. It’s important for me to touch people who are not necessarily jazz listeners.”
“These albums are an homage to all of these musicians, who I’ve been friends with for over ten years,” says Avital. “We’ve played all over the world together and I’m so glad I’ve finally gotten the chance to record with them.”
In addition to Ancient Art and Arrival, Avital will appear on four additional recordings this fall. In October, Third World Love - four “musicians without boundaries” who created a new musical scene in Israel - will release their first-ever US album, Sketch of Tel Aviv (Smalls). The band is co-led by Avital, Daniel Freedman on drums, Avishai Cohen and Yonatan Avishai on piano. Despite the war, Third World Love had continued its tour of Israel in August 2006.
Omer Avital / Marlon Browden (Fresh Sound) is a groove / dance project with Avishai Cohen on electric trumpet, and OAM Trio plus Mark Turner (Nuba/Sunnyside) is an ongoing experimental jazz project with Marc Miralta on percussion and pianist Aaron Goldberg. Jason Lindner’s Ab Aeterno (Fresh Sound) combines Lindner, Avital and percussionist Luisito Quintero.
Omer has also co-produced and composed string arrangements for clarinetist Anat Cohen’s upcoming fall release on Anzic Records. He’s performing on Amen, the new release by saxophonist Daniel Zamir, which he describes as “ecstatic, Jewish-influenced jazz.” Avital is also developing a new band featuring the young, great Israeli pianist Omer Klein.
Omer Avital will be touring the world in August and performing in New York City between September and December.
www.omeravital.com
# # #
Contact: Carla Parisi :: Tijuana Gift Shop ::
Carla@tijuanagiftshop.net :: 973 846 0041
THE OMER AVITAL GROUP:
“ROARINGLY INVENTIVE” (Jazziz) BASSIST / COMPOSER TO RELEASE FIRST OF 4-VOLUME SET,
‘ASKING NO PERMISSION’, FEBRUARY 14, 2006
ON SMALLS RECORDS
RARE LIVE RECORDINGS FROM 1996-1997
DOCUMENT ONE OF THE MOST ACCLAIMED
JAZZ GROUPS IN DECADES
“(Avital’s) idea of jazz includes old and new definitions of swing and temperament, as if the stylistic and generational divisions never existed. Ornette Coleman's country hymns get in there, as do Woody Herman's close-harmony writing for saxophones, Charles Mingus' tetchiness and ensemble friction, Lennie Tristano's rambling counterpoint and the mesmerizing wail of Pharoah Sanders."”
– The New York Times
“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.” – The Village Voice
On February 14, 2006, acclaimed bassist / composer Omer Avital will release Asking No Permission, the first of four live albums by The Omer Avital Group on the New York-based Smalls Records. Recorded at the now-legendary Smalls jazz club, these unedited performances remain the only live documents in existence from the group’s critically lauded early years, nearly a decade ago. (See attached New York Times article, ‘No Labels, No Marketers, Just Room to Grow’)
The Omer Avital Group has made its home at Smalls, performing there regularly from 1995 until 2000, gaining the admiration and respect of jazz fans, musicians and critics alike. The release of Asking No Permission marks Avital’s long-awaited homecoming to the club and New York City.
“(Avital and) drummer Ali Jackson have led the jam-session band, which plays form 2 to 8 in the morning, every Friday for nearly two years, and the communication they’ve developed is extraordinary, “wrote The New York Times in 1996. “They draw on three main rhythm sections: the team of Charles Mingus and Danny Richmond, that of Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins, and the Max Roach groups of the early 1960’s.”
Avital’s group features a unique ensemble with the unorthodox orchestration of four reeds (three tenor sax, one alto), bass, and drums, allowing the soloists great harmonic and melodic freedom without losing the rich, full compositional possibilities. All the sidemen in this group are internationally acclaimed artists who were first emerging on the world stage during this fertile period.
Drummer Ali Jackson, born into a long line of jazz musicians, is the driving pulse of the famed Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and a member of the Wynton Marsalis Quartet, as well as his own Ali Jackson Quartet. Mark Turner, who records for Warner Bros., is one of the most respected and influential saxophonists of our time. Saxophonist Gregory Tardy has recorded for Impulse! and Palmetto, and is a favored sideman among Andrew Hill, Dave Douglas, Tom Harrell, Bill Frisell, and Nicholas Payton. Alto sax Myron Walden, a long-time member of the Jason Lindner big band, leads his own bands and often performs with Dave Douglas, Charlie Haden, and Freddie Hubbard. Charles Owens has been the noted Friday night feature at Smalls for nine years running, always fronting a powerhouse group of contemporary stars playing his original compositions.
“These weren’t just gigs,” says Avital. “The tension of creating something new was in the air and it can be heard on these recordings. Mitchell Borden, the owner and visionary of Smalls, created a liberating atmosphere, allowing the young musicians to pursue their own voices as if they were detached from the outside world.”
Luke Kaven, the founder of Smalls Records, sensed the magic of The Omer Avital Group and spent the last of his money on recording equipment to capture over a dozen live performances of the group in its day. “Without these recordings,” says Kaven “there would exist almost no trace of this exceptional group.”
The surprisingly fresh and vital energy the group projected caused the jazz press to single out Avital and hail him as one of the most important figures of his generation, as well as a promising contributor to the future of jazz.
This acclaim was soon followed by a major recording deal with Impulse! “The gorgeous” (Down Beat) Devil Head was recorded for the label, but following its consolidation with Verve, Avital’s debut as a composer remains locked in Verve’s vault. In 2001, The Omer Avital Group resurfaced on the much-respected Barcelona label, Fresh Sound with the acclaimed release Think With Your Heart.
In recent years Omer Avital's growing interest in both European classical music and the music of the middle east has led him to a period of intense study, both formal and informal. He has been living in Ein-Karem, a beautiful village near Jerusalem, alternately touring, teaching in the Jerusalem Rubin Academy and constantly composing new music. With Avital’s return to the jazz scene in the States and the release of Asking No Permission, The Omer Avital Group has come full-circle.
“For me, this is a celebration of the true spirit of jazz,” says Avital, “creating a platform for individual expression within a tight group concept, enabling the musicians to reach their absolute max.”
Asking No Permission by The Omer Avital Group will be available nationally on February 14, 2006 on Smalls Records, followed by three more live recordings in the near future.
www.omeravital.com
www.smallsrecords.com
Carla Parisi / Wrecking Ball Media / 973-846-0041 / wreckingball@nj.rr.com
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