Rainlore's World of Music - Artists: Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble

Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble

Photo © CAROLINA BENSHEMESH Artist:   Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble
Formed:   1999
Active:   1999 onward
Group
Members: Gilad Atzmon (founder/bandleader/clarinet, saxophones), Asaf Sirkis (drums & bandir), Frank Harrison (piano, melodica), Yaron Stavi (bass)
Genre/s: 1) Jazz
          2) World|Jewish
Sub-
Genre/s: 1) Post-Bop, World Jazz
          2) Contemporary, Other
Date of
Info:     2003/05/18
Based:    London, UK
Contact: web site

Web site: http://www.gilad.co.uk/

Purchasing Info!

Photo © DAVID FORMAN

Photo © DAVID FORMAN

Renaissance Man Overview:
Israeli-born Gilad Atzmon, now based in London in self-imposed exile, is something of a phenomenon on the contemporary jazz and world music scene. A feisty and almost improbably gifted improviser, he is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. An incredibly versatile multi-reedist, Atzmon is further gifted with an outstanding and simply gorgeous voice on both clarinet and saxophones, influenced primarily by Cannonball Adderley and 'Trane, lyrical yet passionate, even fiery, reminiscent of both Paul Desmond's cool, understated voice and Gato Barbieri's ( at the height of his powers) highly strung passionate one. There is an incredible, almost improbable, emotional power in his voice, which seems to have attained a rare and rarefied state of perfection with his latest album, "Exile".
Gilad Atzmon strives to reclaim the original spirit of jazz, the spirit of which it was indeed born; that of a cultural and political force born out of oppression and a reaction to that oppression. This also sits well with and indeed reflects Atzmon's personal political convictions, which are the driving force behind his music. When he met and started working with Israeli-born drummer Asaf Sirkis, Gilad Atzmon's interest in the music of the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe was reawakened and he formed the Orient House Ensemble with Sirkis, pianist Frank Harrison and bassist Oli Hayhurst. (The latter's role has now been taken over by Yaron Stavi.)
Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble's music is solidly rooted in post-bop jazz, where Atzmon is particularly inspired by John Coltrane and Miles Davis, while simulataneously often showing strong swing leanings. This jazz base is fused with Ladino, Sephardic, Balkan, Andalusian, Arabic, Turkish and klezmer elements and influences, the result being a smooth and organic fusion in the very best traditions of world jazz or world fusion jazz, very much in the spirit of the great pioneers of this genre (which then was still to be named) such as Sudanese-born bassist/'ud-player Ahmed Abdul-Malik and multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef (and perhaps one ought to add Herbie Mann to this illustrious group). Underscored by a passion to bring Jewish and Arabic peoples closer, remove unnecessary and artificial barriers between them and bring about greater understanding between them through exploring their often common musical heritage and fusing divergent elements of both cultures, and driven by deep political convictions, the music of Gilad Atzmon and The Orient House Ensemble is at once fresh and refreshing, humorous and satirical as well as compelling, beautiful, and often mysterious and haunting. Atzmon's own melodies in particular tend to be very catchy and often hard to get out of your head and are full of great charm and wit.
The Orient House Ensemble is probably one of the tightest bands, if indeed not the tightest band, on the contemporary jazz scene that it's been my pleasure to experience. Their technical excellence and musicianship are of the very highest calibre. Critical acclaim in the UK national press as well as in the specialist UK and international music press has been and indeed continues to be bountiful. Gigs, concerts and tours continue to be popular and successful, and their recordings have been featured on national and international radio.
Their self-titled debut album, "Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble", was released in 2000. In 2001, this was followed by "Paradiso Nostalgico". Both albums were strong, mature efforts and both critically as well as popularly successful.
For their latest album, "Exile", released in February 2003 on the Enja/Tiptoe label, and its associated tour, Gilad Atzmon expanded the Orient House Ensemble with outstanding Palestinian singer Reem Kelani, renowned Tunisian singer and aud player Dhafer Youssef, and violinist Marcel Mamaliga, accordion player Romano Vizzani, and bassist Yaron Stavi taking over from Oly Hayhurst. Emphasizing the similarities, and indeed commonalities, between Jewish and Arabic cultures and peoples, who - for the most part - lived in perfect harmony for centuries and whose peaceful co-existence and collaboration resulted in such glorious achievements as Andalusian music and the outstanding compositions by Sephardic composers at the Ottoman court, has been moved even further to the forefront of his outstanding ensemble and compelling music by Gilad Atzmon. A truly monumental album that is destined to go down in jazz history, "Exile" is in more ways than one arguably the most exciting, exhilerating jazz recording in decades. It is a milestone that marks a full-blown renaissance of the original spirit of jazz, pretty much unheard since the days of John Coltrane. It also firmly establishes Jewish music in the mainstream, through its fusion of Jewish, Arabic/Palestinian music and jazz. Above all, it is outstandingly compelling music with a fire and passion rarely heard in recent decades.
Regardless of which "side" of the "genre divide" one approaches Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble from, whether jazz/world jazz or world music/Jewish/Sephardic/Middle Eastern/Balkan music, there's a great deal of delight and beauty, even fun, to be discovered. Ultimately, this is great music, and a great band, so just forget about the "genre" baggage.

© 2003 Renaissance Man/Rainlore. All rights reserved.

Gilad Atzmon & The Orient
House Ensemble

Nostalgico

Exile Discography

Albums
2000 Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble (Enja/Tiptoe)
2001 Nostalgico (Enja/Tiptoe)
2003 Exile (Enja/Tiptoe)

Singles

Appears On
2003 Dance of the Idiots/Koby Israelite (Tzadik) (clarinet, saxophones)

Other Info

PURCHASING INFO:
Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble's recordings can be purchased:
From most general CD stores and online sources such as Amazon etc.

All images used on review pages and artists pages kindly supplied by the artists and/or their record companies, unless otherwise stated. All such images are copyright their respective owners, and all such copyrights and/or other intellectual rights hereby acknowledged.

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Photo © CAROLINA BENSHEMESH	`Artist: Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble` `Formed: 1999` `Active: 1999 onward` `Group` `Members: Gilad Atzmon (founder/bandleader/clarinet, saxophones), Asaf Sirkis (drums & bandir), Frank Harrison (piano, melodica), Yaron Stavi (bass)` `Genre/s: 1) Jazz` `2) World\|Jewish` `Sub-` `Genre/s: 1) Post-Bop, World Jazz` `2) Contemporary, Other` `Date of` `Info: 2003/05/18` `Based: London, UK` `Contact: web site` `Web site:` `http://www.gilad.co.uk/` `Purchasing Info!`	Photo © DAVID FORMAN
	Photo © DAVID FORMAN `Renaissance Man Overview:` Israeli-born Gilad Atzmon, now based in London in self-imposed exile, is something of a phenomenon on the contemporary jazz and world music scene. A feisty and almost improbably gifted improviser, he is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. An incredibly versatile multi-reedist, Atzmon is further gifted with an outstanding and simply gorgeous voice on both clarinet and saxophones, influenced primarily by Cannonball Adderley and 'Trane, lyrical yet passionate, even fiery, reminiscent of both Paul Desmond's cool, understated voice and Gato Barbieri's ( at the height of his powers) highly strung passionate one. There is an incredible, almost improbable, emotional power in his voice, which seems to have attained a rare and rarefied state of perfection with his latest album, "Exile". Gilad Atzmon strives to reclaim the original spirit of jazz, the spirit of which it was indeed born; that of a cultural and political force born out of oppression and a reaction to that oppression. This also sits well with and indeed reflects Atzmon's personal political convictions, which are the driving force behind his music. When he met and started working with Israeli-born drummer Asaf Sirkis, Gilad Atzmon's interest in the music of the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe was reawakened and he formed the Orient House Ensemble with Sirkis, pianist Frank Harrison and bassist Oli Hayhurst. (The latter's role has now been taken over by Yaron Stavi.) Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble's music is solidly rooted in post-bop jazz, where Atzmon is particularly inspired by John Coltrane and Miles Davis, while simulataneously often showing strong swing leanings. This jazz base is fused with Ladino, Sephardic, Balkan, Andalusian, Arabic, Turkish and klezmer elements and influences, the result being a smooth and organic fusion in the very best traditions of world jazz or world fusion jazz, very much in the spirit of the great pioneers of this genre (which then was still to be named) such as Sudanese-born bassist/'ud-player Ahmed Abdul-Malik and multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef (and perhaps one ought to add Herbie Mann to this illustrious group). Underscored by a passion to bring Jewish and Arabic peoples closer, remove unnecessary and artificial barriers between them and bring about greater understanding between them through exploring their often common musical heritage and fusing divergent elements of both cultures, and driven by deep political convictions, the music of Gilad Atzmon and The Orient House Ensemble is at once fresh and refreshing, humorous and satirical as well as compelling, beautiful, and often mysterious and haunting. Atzmon's own melodies in particular tend to be very catchy and often hard to get out of your head and are full of great charm and wit. The Orient House Ensemble is probably one of the tightest bands, if indeed not the tightest band, on the contemporary jazz scene that it's been my pleasure to experience. Their technical excellence and musicianship are of the very highest calibre. Critical acclaim in the UK national press as well as in the specialist UK and international music press has been and indeed continues to be bountiful. Gigs, concerts and tours continue to be popular and successful, and their recordings have been featured on national and international radio. Their self-titled debut album, "Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble", was released in 2000. In 2001, this was followed by "Paradiso Nostalgico". Both albums were strong, mature efforts and both critically as well as popularly successful. For their latest album, "Exile", released in February 2003 on the Enja/Tiptoe label, and its associated tour, Gilad Atzmon expanded the Orient House Ensemble with outstanding Palestinian singer Reem Kelani, renowned Tunisian singer and aud player Dhafer Youssef, and violinist Marcel Mamaliga, accordion player Romano Vizzani, and bassist Yaron Stavi taking over from Oly Hayhurst. Emphasizing the similarities, and indeed commonalities, between Jewish and Arabic cultures and peoples, who - for the most part - lived in perfect harmony for centuries and whose peaceful co-existence and collaboration resulted in such glorious achievements as Andalusian music and the outstanding compositions by Sephardic composers at the Ottoman court, has been moved even further to the forefront of his outstanding ensemble and compelling music by Gilad Atzmon. A truly monumental album that is destined to go down in jazz history, "Exile" is in more ways than one arguably the most exciting, exhilerating jazz recording in decades. It is a milestone that marks a full-blown renaissance of the original spirit of jazz, pretty much unheard since the days of John Coltrane. It also firmly establishes Jewish music in the mainstream, through its fusion of Jewish, Arabic/Palestinian music and jazz. Above all, it is outstandingly compelling music with a fire and passion rarely heard in recent decades. Regardless of which "side" of the "genre divide" one approaches Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble from, whether jazz/world jazz or world music/Jewish/Sephardic/Middle Eastern/Balkan music, there's a great deal of delight and beauty, even fun, to be discovered. Ultimately, this is great music, and a great band, so just forget about the "genre" baggage. © 2003 Renaissance Man/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble Nostalgico Exile	Discography Albums `2000 Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble (Enja/Tiptoe)` `2001 Nostalgico (Enja/Tiptoe)` `2003 Exile (Enja/Tiptoe)` Singles Appears On `2003 Dance of the Idiots/Koby Israelite (Tzadik) (clarinet, saxophones)`
	Other Info
	PURCHASING INFO: Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble's recordings can be purchased: From most general CD stores and online sources such as Amazon etc.
	All images used on review pages and artists pages kindly supplied by the artists and/or their record companies, unless otherwise stated. All such images are copyright their respective owners, and all such copyrights and/or other intellectual rights hereby acknowledged.