As Art Blakey once said, “All jazz music is dance music.” Bassist/composer Omer Avital takes that proverb to task as he brings dance music from his native Israel and mixes it perfectly with jazz on this latest album with Avishai Cohen/tp, Joel Frahm/ts, Yonathan Avishai/p and Daniel Freedman/dr. You’ve got some gentle gallops that mix Eastern European Shtetl dance tunes with Klezmer rhythmed Nigunim on irresistible swingers like “Hafla” and the joyful “New Song.” You can’t help but want to form a circle and ant to dance o pieces such as “New Middle East” and the sweetly sauntering “Bedouin Roots” that make you want to yelp between steps. And, while the themes and melodies are from the Mid East, the feel is deep in the heart of the jazz tradition, albeit with a Israeli folk feel. For instance tunes like “Hafla” and “New Song” have lovingly lyrical piano works laid out by Avishai, but eventually, the incessant and tenacious rhythm pattern laid out by Freedman relentlessly works on you until you’re caught up in the same ferver and joy that has captured fans to the dance circle for centuries. The final climax on “Avishkes” is one that is nothing less than an estatic utternance. Some vocals add to the atmosphere on “Avishkes” and drum clappings make you feel like the trumpet player is davening on “Yemen Suite.” Frahm’s tenor is cantoral and clarion calling on the preaching “Sabeh El-Kheir” and Avital’s bass is relentlessly throbbing out a buoyant beat throughout. This is one to get you on the floor! Forget Broadway-this band swings on Dizengoff Street!
Motema Music