Classical and jazz…
Posted in Jazz on Jul 4th, 2008
I went on a trip to the Veneto, in Italy, and stayed in Vicenza and Venice. In Vicenza, my teacher, Jean Claude Jones, and I played at the Vicenza Jazz Festival. It went really well. We played a mixed program that included my tunes, a few standards, and four Gregorian chants that we arranged for [...]
Posted in Jazz on Jun 20th, 2008
Earlier this year I saw John Zorn and his band Massada in Tel-Aviv. I found it very interesting because the tunes are so varied. Some tunes sound like Ornette Coleman, some like straight jazz with a Jewish flavor, and some of them are almost Jewish music played like jazz. I think this is very original [...]
Posted in Jazz on Jun 2nd, 2008
There is a great Israeli jazz pianist named Avi Adrian. He owns a very funny bird, named ARIK, that sings the blues. This bird REALLY sings the blues. In the linked video, ARIK joins Avi during a lesson he’s giving to a kid. In my opinion ARIK sings very well.
Here is the video:
ARIK is picking [...]
Matan Porat is a young Israeli composer/pianist. He writes really modern music. One of his pieces is based on a tune by Antonio Carlos Jobim (he sent me the notes of this piece and I find it very difficult to play).
I saw him some time ago at the Jerusalem Theater. He was great. He played [...]
Posted in Jazz on Mar 8th, 2008
Eldar Djangirov is a young pianist originally from Kyrgystan. He lives in the United States. He is incredible. I love him so much because he is so expressive and at the same time such a virtuoso. What I like about him especially is that he knows every style so well. He knows how to make [...]
Posted in Jazz on Feb 12th, 2008
Taylor Eigsti is a 26-year old jazz pianist. I like him a lot not only because he is such a virtuoso, which he is, but also because of his really fancy chords and because of his very artistic solos. He usually has long solos, and I love his long lines. The tunes I like best [...]
Posted in Jazz on Feb 1st, 2008
I saw Stefano Bollani in Tel-Aviv last year. He is an Italian jazz pianist from Milan. Although he is young, he already has a pretty big following. His quintet is called “I visionari.” I definitely recommend checking him out.
Here is one of his funniest pictures, showing him singing into the piano. (Do you know why [...]
Posted in Jazz on Jan 29th, 2008
Slava Ganelin is a veteran Russian pianist. Although he’s been around for a long time, his stuff is really far out.
He uses little percussion instruments and a keyboard. I like him a lot. His stuff is interesting and sophisticated, and he does a lot of virtuoso tricks that I think are very clever. Check out [...]
Posted in Jazz on Jan 27th, 2008
I heard Igor Brill, the Russian jazz pianist, in Jerusalem recently. He is considered to be one of the best jazz pianists in Russia. He plays straight jazz, and has been doing it for some time.
In Jerusalem he played with his twin sons, Dimitry and Alexander. They played lots of Mingus (but not my favorite, [...]
