Profile - Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble

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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 (John Coltrane), 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, even improbable, emotional, even spiritual, power in his voice, which seemed to have attained a rare and rarefied state of perfection with his 2003 album, Exile. But Atzmon's voice still keeps on developing and growing and has become simply mindblowing on 2009's In Loving Memory of America.

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 again with 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 since been taken over by Yaron Stavi, while owing to his multitude of other commitments Sirkis left the OHE during 2009, his role having been taken over by Eddie Hick.)

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 simultaneously often showing strong swing leanings. The bop heritage of Charlie Parker is also undeniable, particularly in Atzmon's often fierce bop improvs, while the influence of Astor Piazzolla often manifests itself in Atzmon's outstanding compositions. This jazz base is fused with Sephardi Jewish, 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/oud-player Ahmed Abdul-Malik and multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef. 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 a perfect cultural hybrid and is at once fresh and refreshing, humorous and satirical as well as compelling, beautiful, and often mysterious and haunting. It is also impossible to tie down to any particular genre, and that's only as things should be. 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.

L-R: Yaron Stavi, Gilad Atzmon, Asaf Sirkis

The Orient House Ensemble is probably one of the tightest bands, if indeed not the tightest band on the contemporary jazz scene. Their technical excellence and musicianship are of the very highest caliber. 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, and Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble have also been featured on music TV.

Their self-titled debut album, Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble, was released in 2000. In 2001, this was followed by Nostalgico. Both albums were strong, mature efforts and both critically as well as popularly successful.

For their third album, the BBC Jazz Awards Best Album-winning 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, violinist Marcel Mamaliga and accordion player Romano Viazzani, with bassist Yaron Stavi having taken over the bass post from Oli 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 Sephardi 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 was in more ways than one arguably the most exciting, exhilarating jazz recording in decades when it appeared. It was a milestone that marked a full-blown renaissance of the original spirit of jazz, pretty much unheard since the days of John Coltrane. It also firmly established 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.

For 2004's Musik, Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble continued in an extended form, with Romano Viazzani (accordion), Dumitru Ovidiu Fratila (violin) and Guillermo Rozenthuler (vocals). Eventually, however, the OHE reverted to its core quartet format of Gilad Atzmon, Frank Harrison, Yaron Stavi and Asaf Sirkis, the latter followed by Eddie Hick in 2009.

Each of these core members is a stellar performer in his own right as well as an independent leader, and each is a more than formidable improviser and soloist. In particular, drum genius Asaf Sirkis has gained a virtually legendary reputation over the years and become the most in-demand drummer of his generation, both in the UK and internationally. Pianist/keyboardist Frank Harrison, only twenty-one when he joined the OHE as a founder-member, is the most stellar pianist to have emerged on the British scene since Julian Joseph. In spite of his still young years, Harrison has long shown a remarkable maturity. He reminds of Art Tatum at the height of his career, as well as of other greats such as Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea yet has developed a voice and style all his own that are absolutely gorgeous. Harrison also leads his own trio which bears watching and with whom he has recorded two albums so far. He has also appeared on a number of recordings supporting other artists, and among others has also performed with John Etheridge, Julian Siegel and Louis Stewart. Julian Joseph acknowledged that 'His talent shines among his peers,' but that is a very select club indeed.

Bassist Yaron Stavi, likewise still young, like Harrison also exhibits an uncommon maturity and is one of the finest bass players around as well as probably the most lyrical one. Providing a rock solid anchor, often his classical training and experience shine through. Again, his style and voice are distinctly his own. In addition to the OHE, Stavi is also a member of, among others, the Asaf Sirkis Trio, Koby Israelite's band, and Jarek Smietana Trio. He has furthermore performed and recorded with numerous other leading artists in the jazz, classical, rock and world music spheres, including such luminaries as John Etheridge, Julian Siegel, Robert Wyatt, David Gilmour and Nigel Kennedy, as well as tango group Tango Siempre.

It is precisely this independence and extraordinarily high caliber of its individual members that is one of Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble's great strengths - how Hick fits in here remains to be seen, or heard, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. If Hick stood out to Atzmon at one of the latter's workshops that out to be good enough for anybody.

But the OHE's greatest strength of all has to be a leader in Gilad Atzmon who is justly considered the greatest reed player of his generation, as well as the most awesome improviser, a worthy successor to Bird (Charlie Parker) and Trane (John Coltrane) who is otherwise without peers, and who is also one of the greatest composers in his "genre", with an outstanding gift of lyricism in both his compositions and improvs. Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble deservedly keep attracting the kind of reviews that would be the envy of anybody, and their status as legendary is indisputable. It is fortunate indeed that Atzmon and his fellow band members are mature enough to take this kind of praise in their stride and have no difficulty in living up to it again and again and again and indeed surpassing it. Many a time, excessive praise has been heaped upon a young performer only to make it near impossible for him to live up to this - the indubitably gifted Courtney Pine springs to mind, with simply impossible pressures put upon him at a young age by a press that had fallen in love with him at a time when British jazz was very much in the doldrums. With Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble, as their reputation grows, so do they. With each passing year, they keep surprising by doing the seemingly impossible and getting better still! They are indeed giants and the first great jazz legend of the 21st century. Miss them in performance and you'll live (if you're lucky enough/young enough) to regret it, just as many of my generation regret never having been able to catch Bird or Trane live. Paraphrasing Paul McCartney's comment about The Beatles, Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble are " a great little band." It is fervently to be hoped that they'll stay together for a very long time yet indeed.

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/Sephardi/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 and let Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble's music into your ears and heart.
 

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