THE HANDSTAND

THE HANDSTAND

JULY 2004

Gilad Atzmon & Orient House Ensemble

7pm, 02/07/2004, Music Meeting, Nijmegen, Holland.

Gilad Atzmon: Clarinet, Alto & Soprano Saxophone

Dimitru Fratila: Violin

Roman Viazzani: Accordian

Frank Harrison: Piano

Yron Stavi: Bass

Asaf Sirkis: Drums

Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel, but later moved to London, where he met the Israeli drummer Asaf Sirkis and founded the Orient House Ensemble. It is through the medium of music that Atzmon is most vocal in expressing his criticism of the politics of Israel, a country which he now avoids. In the recent CD Exile, which won the “BBC Jazz CD of the year” award 2003, Atzmon and his group explore the similarities between the musical expression of Israel and Palestine. The Music Meeting festival in Holland, a world music event, was actually a good setting for this jazz gig, as the Orient House Ensemble manages to achieve a vibrant and aurally interesting synthesis of Jewish and Arab music, which is not confined to the jazz mainstream. Despite being the first up on stage in the early evening and the bad weather, Gilad Atzmon & Orient House Ensemble launched the 20^th Nijmegen Music Meeting with a very successful performance.

The musicologist Gustave Reese points out in his book Music in the Middle Ages that before Christ, both Hebrew and Greek music were both greatly influenced by ancient Egyptian culture. This surely illustrates the importance of the Middle East and Asiatic culture as the root of musical culture, and to a degree this has been established through archaeological finds. Reese comments that “the old vocal melodies of the Jews were not those of most present-day synagogue-song in Europe and America, which is all of modern origin.” It is probable that the ancient Hebrew music developed into the Christian Chant of the medieval period. What happened in the Jewish culture, according to Reese, is that the Jews have assimilated much of the culture of “host countries.” Jewish music is a synthesis of East European cultures and oriental influences, and it shares a great deal with Arabic music.

In this context, the inherent political message of Gilad Atzmon’s music is interesting because it brings together cultures in a way that cannot be part of any so-called political, ethnic or social divide. The music of Gilad Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble is a discourse between traditions that would normally be considered as divergent, but in fact are not, because ultimately everything comes from the same source. Jewish klezmer music from East Europe is mixed freely with influences from Arab, Turkish and Balkan music. Atzmon makes these traditions completely at ease with one another by skilfully incorporating them into the Coltrane inspired spontaneity of black jazz music. The music of the oppressed black minorities becomes a means to unite and assimilate different cultural strands. This is achieved in a relatively tight manner, and the assimilation of musical structures is given just enough freedom for us not to loose track of the fact that it is still contained within the structure of a jazz arrangement. The syncopated rhythms and figures of Jewish music, mixed with middle-eastern music, invigorate the Jazz idiom. The range of the music is phenomenal, because Atzmon plays both slow beautifully haunting melodies and builds up faster speeds, as his fingers create denser more invigorated textures that carry us forward in a musical whirlwind. This is completely enhanced by the excellent drumming of Asaf Sirkis, which is both tight and charged with energy. Likewise, the pianist Frank Harrison provided a firm jazz-harmonic and rhythmic foundation. The level of musical communication is at a peak when the ensemble works as one organic unit.

The musicians, who mostly come from different countries, each bring something individual and distinct to the music. The drone of the accordion, played by Romano Viazzani, often provides a rich sonorous backdrop for the slower more melodic tunes, and likewise, the violin player Dimitru Fratila and the bowed-bass of Yron Stavi often provide a chamber-music-like quality. These features not only introduce new sonorities, which are not often heard in the context of jazz, but they inject the music with Balkan like vitality. This is something that I have not heard since I listened to John Zorn’s CD “Masada,” which focuses more on the klezmer aspect. Over and above everything else, what is incredible is the ability to bring the music in and out of different idioms. Atzmon is quick to exploit this during improvisation and interplay between musicians. This can add a humorous almost narrative quality to the music which also contributes to the political message of the music.

The political motivation of Gilad Atzmon’s music is to connect the common heritage of Jewish and Arab music together and provide a music forum for the abandonment of separation, exploitation, and oppression. I think that it is clear in the music without Atzmon having to explain it in words, but it is however enhanced by his witty and apt political remarks. One of the pieces they played, Atzmon dedicated to the three worst men in the world, Bush Blair and Sharon (BBS). The Piece was entitled “the twenty-first century” and had some humorous changes and perhaps theatrical shifts of musical idiom. Atzmon defeats the notion that the artist should avoid using art as a vehicle of musical expression, and his art places the political discussion at the very core of what he does. On the CD Exile Atzmon takes well known nationalistic Israeli melodies and fuses them with Arabic music, creating a form of expression that allows everything to live comfortably together. This musical inversion is apparent in the tune “Jenin,” the final encore of the concert, which was dedicated to Palestinians of the Jenin refugee camp and the people in Iraq, “who should be liberated by those who suppose to liberate them.” I did not know this when I heard it, but this piece is actually a Jewish folk song about a town burnt in a pogrom. The irony and subversion of this is very fitting, taking into account the recent suppression of Jenin by Sharon and his army.

Atzmon not only plays the alto and soprano sax, but he also plays the clarinet, which is an excellent instrument for Jewish and Balkan music, due to the fact it can be played very rapidly and has a warm tone. On the sax he plays in a way very reminiscent of Coltrane, and I think that he is surely one of the most outstanding jazz musicians around. Also, with the addition of the different members of the Orient House Ensemble, Atzmon’s musical creations are really crafted into something that is very attractive to listen to.