Brightening up the autumn nights, The Tel Aviv Jazz Festival will take place from November 28 – December 1, 2018. Now in its 29th edition, the festival will be held at a wonderful new venue – the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, with a great closing concert at the Abraham Hostel. Produced by the Tel Aviv Municipality in cooperation with Zappa Group, the festival artistic directors are Barak Weiss, Miki Gov, Eyal Marko, and Alon Loft. Three days of great music will showcase the diversity of jazz, with original festival productions, guest performances by international musicians, and tributes to Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone. Every night there will be outdoor performances – free and open to the public – in the courtyard, with an afternoon performance on Friday, November 2, 2018. Tickets may be ordered online from Zappa, or call *9080.
It’s going to be an amazing festival, here’s just a taste of the excitement:
INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCES
Grace Kelly’s Joy Party – GO TiME Brooklyn. The versatile singer-saxophonist Grace Kelly is quite amazing: GO TiME: Brooklyn 2 will be her 12th album as a leader, in addition to recording with jazz legends such as Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Wynton Marsalis and Dave Brubeck. Dubbed a “jazz prodigy”, she wrote her first song at age seven, and recorded her first CD at age twelve, and performed at Kennedy Center as part of President Obama’s Inauguration celebration at sixteen. Winner of numerous awards, her unique talents, inventiveness and the electro-pop energies she brings to jazz are sure to make this a very special experience. Performers: Grace Kelly – alto saxophone and vocals, Kyle Hawkins – keyboards and vocals, Philip Lam – drums.
The concert will take place on Wednesday, November 28th at 22:30 in the Asia Auditorium.
The Keyon Harrold Quintet will host Andrea Pizziconi. Grammy Award winning trumpeter and vocalist Harrold will come to Israel as part of the world tour for his album The Mugician (a hybrid of the words “Magic” and “Musician”). Harrold grew up as one of 16 children in Ferguson, Missouri, a town that is etched in minds and hearts for the brutal police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, and the protests and riots that followed. Harrold’s music reflects the social and political issues of America today, from his very personal perspective. In Voicemail, the opening track on The Mugician, the music is interwoven with a recording of Harrold’s mother leaving him a message of inspiration. He has performed with Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Eminem, Maxwell, and Anthony Hamilton, and released his first solo album in 2009. Performers: Keyon Harrold – trumpet, Nir Felder – guitar, Brett Williams – piano, Bernice Travis – bass, Charles Haynes – drums, special guest vocalist Andrea Pizziconi will join Keyon Harrold for several songs.
Concerts will take place on Wednesday, November 28th at 22:30 and Thursday, November 29th at 20:00, both concerts will take place in the Recanati Auditorium.
TRIBUTE CONCERTS
The Noam Vazana Quartet will present “Feeling Good,” a tribute to Nina Simone, in a special festival production. Singer, pianist and trombonist Noam Vazana has been living and working in Amsterdam for the past decade. The tribute concert will feature Nina Simone’s signature songs, including: Feeling Good, Four Women, Wild is the Wind, and Love Me or Leave Me. Performing with Vazana: Ofer Portugali – piano, Eran Zilberberg – bass, Chen Har-Even – drums.
The concert will take place on Wednesday, November 28th at 20:00 in the Kaufman Auditorium.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T – a tribute to Aretha Franklin. The Eyal Talmudi Quintet will host Karolina, Ester Rada and Neta Elkayam in a tribute to one of the brightest, most powerful stars in the firmament: Aretha Franklin. Saxophonist extraordinaire Eyal Talmudi (Oy Division, MALOX, Balkan Beat Box) brings together his power quintet for a tribute to the Queen of Soul with new arrangements created for this concert. Performers: Eyal Talmudi – musical direction, saxophone, clarinet; Tal Avraham – trumpet; Uzi Fienerman – guitar; Gilad Abro – bass; Aviv Cohen – drums.
The concert will take place on Thursday, November 29th at 22:30 in the Recanati Auditorium.
PREMIERES & ALBUM LAUNCHES
The Itamar Borochov Quartet will host saxophone player Myron Walden in a special festival production launching their album Blue Nights. Trumpeter and composer Itamar Borochov fuses the bluesy jazz of New York, where he lives and works, with the quarter tones of Arabic music from the Middle East, where he grew up in Yafo, and the melodies of Bukharan music, from his family heritage. Performers: Itamar Borochov – trumpet, Rob Clearfield – piano, Avri Borochov – contrabass, Jay Sawyer – drums, Special Guest Myron Walden – alto saxophone.
The concert will take place on Wednesday, November 28th at 20:00 in the Asia auditorium.
Yakir Sasson & Jaffa Jazz – album launch! Saxophonist Yakir Sasson (Quarter to Africa, The Apples) has created jazz arrangements to songs close to his heart – songs of “the beautiful land of Israel.” The premiere performance will include Sasson’s arrangements to favorite Hebrew songs, as well as originals inspired by the Hebrew songbook. Performers: Yakir Sasson – saxophone, Uzi Ramirez – guitar, Avri Borochov – contrabass, Nir Mantzur – drums.
The concert will take place on Thursday, November 29th at 20:00 in the Kaufman Auditorium
COOL CONCERTS
The Israel Jazz Orchestra will host the popular singer-songwriter Hanan Ben Ari, known for his upbeat tunes such as “Hachaim Shelanu Tutim,” (Our Lives are Strawberries) chosen as “Song of the Year” for 2016, as well as “Wikipedia,” “Bsorot Tovot” (Good News) and more. The Israel Jazz Orchestra: Avi Lebovich, Yair Slutzki, Yaron Ouzana – Trombones; Edo Gur, Arthur Krasnobaev – Trumpets; Alon Farber, Tal Varon, Yehonatan Cohen, Yuval Tabachnik – Saxophones; Nitzan Bar – Guitar; Itamar Gross – piano & keyboards; Mickey Warshai – Bass; Ron Almog – Drums; Musical Directors: Ran Almog and Yair Slutzki.
The performance will take place on Wednesday, November 28th at 20:00 in the Recanati Auditorium.
Quarter to Africa and their cool ethno-jazz-funk groove will host singer-songwriter Kobi Oz, leader of Teapacks in a performance that will include songs from both bands, in new, xtra groovy arrangements. Performers: Elyasaf Bashari – vocals and oud; Yakir Sasson – vocals, saxophone and guitar; Arthur Krasnobaev – trumpet; Yonatan Daskal – keyboards; Yaron Mitelman – bass; Tal Kochavi – drums; Roee Friedman – percussion, special guest Kobi Oz – vocals.
The concert will take place on Friday, November 30th at 13:00 in the Recanati Auditorium.
Kutiman Orchestra with special guest saxophonist and vocalist Abate Berihun will close the festival with a concert to remember on Saturday, December 1st at 22:00 at the Abraham Hostel.
Links: Tel Aviv Jazz Festival
