Players - Downbeat

While Felder stood in the center of the cramped
stage, he played a supporting role in an ensemble
where the musicians shared the spotlight
equally.
“Johnny Black,” introduced via a humorous
account of Jain’s wedding, began with a swirl of
guitar, piano and drums around Gary Wang’s
syncopated bass groove. A short, repetitive guitar
pattern gave way to a song-like melody taken at a
ballad tempo, and then a solo by pianist Marc
Cary, whose style suggested McCoy Tyner. The
group returned to a collective mode before the
whole beautiful mess grounded to a halt—but
only briefly. Jain’s “Two Ladies,” by contrast,
featured a simpler blues structure echoed by
Wang’s walking bass and Felder’s licks.
Bassist Alexis Cuadrado, whose group performed
on Sunday, featured his own compositions
and those of other contemporary composers
hailing from his native Spain. Leading a
quartet that included accordionist Victor Prieto
and guitarist Brad Shepik, the group often saved
Avital Ensemble
Reaches Across
Cultures for
Ambitious Suite
If music’s goal is to heighten the senses, bassist
Omer Avital’s debut of his latest full-scale
piece, “Song Of A Land … A Middle Eastern
Afro-Jewish Suite,” at New York’s Merkin
Hall on Jan. 10 was a rousing example of the
art. Alternating between a bass and small oud,
Avital’s warm presence infused his music.
Though never swinging in a traditional sense,
“Song Of A Land”’s heated rhythms and
engrossing improvisations suggested the
essence of jazz. With the suite’s section titles
“Song Of A Land,” “Haboneem,” “Yemen,”
“Eretz/Palestine” and “Africa” conveying geographic
clues, the results had the drama of an
Alex North or Elmer Bernstein film score with
a heavy spicing of Middle Eastern folk music.
Avital began composing the piece early last
summer and his large ensemble featured the
unorthodox instrumentation it requires, not least
the leader’s oud. Other standout musicians in the
13-member band included pianist Omer Klein,
trumpeter Itamar Borochov, clarinetist Ismail
Lumanovski, tenor saxophonist Matan
Chapnizka and cellist Isabel Castellvi.
Percussionists Itamar Doari and Matt Kilmer
performed on floor tom, suspended cymbal,
bells, dumbek and frame drum. Inspired and
directed by Avital’s liberal exhortations, which
took the shape of shouts of joy, ardent chants
and generous use of facial expressions, the
ensemble acted as a family as much as a troupe
of well-rehearsed musicians.
Over the percussionists’ often boisterous
rhythms, the music followed a serpentine path,
slowly building, rising and crescendoing, only to
JOHN ROGERS
the best for last during several back-loaded performances.
Shepik’s “2 Door” moved the group
outside its Spanish repertoire. Loose and disjointed,
the composition drew from Middle
Eastern and South Asian sources. By contrast,
the group’s reading of John Coltrane’s
“Equinox” was surprisingly straightforward.
Drummer Jordan Perlson integrated the house
kit with a cajon, hadjira (a hybrid tambourine
instrument), and a variety of shakers and bells.
Tenor saxophonist Dan Pratt showed
promise as a soloist in his organ quartet. He
favored streams of eighth notes, while displaying
a clear tone and strong technique. But he
struggled to tailor his affinity for extended composition
to the parameters of a small group. Alan
Ferber, a trombonist who also performed with
Pratt, had no such problem with his nonet. His
vision as a composer perfectly suited his ensemble.
“Ice Cave” featured an unstructured section—creepy
piano, scattershot guitar and drum
licks—that segued into a dirge. —Eric Fine
Omer Avital
quickly step back for a different path with tension
mounting. At times, the music suggested
Moses in a scene from The Ten Commandments,
snarling as the golden calf was hoisted above the
worshipful throng. The ensemble played as one
throughout, enthusiastically urging on individual
soloists. Lumanovski performed emotional,
complex passages that hushed the audience, his
undulating melodies and fervent interpretation of
the space within notes relaying a sympathetic
understanding of historical Eastern European
music, particularly klezmer. Ultimately, it was
hard to decipher where one influence ended and
another began, while Avital’s oud and bass
seemed to cross borders and generations.
Avital and his ensemble played only an hourand-a-half
of the piece’s three hours. He plans to
record the entire piece later this year.
—Ken Micallef