Gilad Uncovered
Monday, August 23, 2010 at 9:11AM 
A Book of my solo transcriptions is out
FROM GILAD…
One can imagine how delighted I am to see a book of my solo transcriptions being published. I’d like to use this opportunity to thank Chris Gumbley, a great friend, a superb educator and an excellent musician for making the effort and looking deeply into my music and improvising skills. To a certain extent it makes my musical journey into a meaningful event. The fact that someone out there believes that my work is worthy of intellectual scrutiny is indeed reassuring and nothing less than a great compliment.
As an educator, I feel that it is necessary to mention that I do believe in the primacy of the ear. I stress rather often that music should be learned primarily through listening. Those who are interested in my music vocabulary and improvised shapes will probably benefit from trying to understand my sound through listening. I guess that once an intuitive understanding of my musical language, rhythm, scales, micro-tonality and dynamics is explored, only then should the reading exercise be put into practice.
Looking into solo transcriptions is no doubt part of a healthy jazz diet. I’ve done it myself in the past, in spite of the fact that my music reading skills are far from being advanced. In general I use every opportunity to look into other musicians’ work.
Playing a transcribed solo is not an easy task. I can only wish luck to those who take the challenge on board.
Gilad Atzmon
ABOUT GILAD…
Gilad was born in Israel in 1963 and had his musical training at the Rubin Academy of Music, Jerusalem. Hearing Charlie Parker play April in Paris on a radio programme at the age of 17 was a pivotal moment, providing inspiration and motivation, and he spent the next 14 years playing jazz, R&R and ethnic music in Europe and the USA as well as acting as producer-arranger for various Israeli Dance & Rock Projects.
In 1994 he came to the UK and his brand of exciting, turbo-charged bop, combined with an endearing on-stage wit, soon won over the hearts of British jazz audiences. Equally at home on Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxes, Clarinet and Flutes, he was described by John Lewis at the Guardian as the “hardest-gigging man in British jazz".
However, it would be wrong to regard Gilad as simply an exciting purveyor of jazz standards: his own compositions evoke wide-ranging emotions and a cornucopia of different influences, encompassing music from the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe. These can be seen in his work with The Orient House Ensemble, formed in 2000, which has since provided the perfect vehicle for his music and an increasing political awareness.
Gilad has recorded nine albums to date which include Exile - BBC Jazz Album of the Year in 2003 - and In Loving Memory of America, which nods in the direction of Bird’s 1949 album Parker With Strings.
Gilad is also a prolific writer. His two novels 'Guide to the Perplexed' and 'My One And Only Love' have been translated into 24 languages.
THE TRANSCRIPTIONS…
Transcribing is frankly solitary, laborious and time-consuming. So the music has to be very special to create such a rampant desire to explore and understand the nuts and bolts of someone’s playing. That is certainly the case with Gilad.
Out of the five albums featured in this book, these tracks were my personal favourites – memorable for their melodic invention, technical mastery and, above all, emotional intensity. All transcriptions were made at actual speed using a Sony CDP-XE330 CD player – a machine notable for its snappy rewinding abilities – and are as accurate as I could make them in terms of notes, phrasing, rhythm and nuance.
It is of course essential to study them alongside the recordings, details of which are given opposite.
CHRIS GUMBLEY September 2010
CREDITS…
Special thanks to my son Dan Nicholls for cover design, layout and advice.
For enquiries regarding this book and to order and browse other music available from Gumbles Publications, visit gumblespublications.co.uk
Content:
From the album THE TIDE HAS CHANGED: Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble (2010) (world village 450015)
In the Back Seat of a Yellow Cab Gilad Atzmon 4
The Tide Has Changed Gilad Atzmon 6
GILAD as/ss/clt, FRANK HARRISON p, YARON STAVI b, EDDIE HICK d
From the album IN LOVING MEMORY OF AMERICA: Gilad Atzmon (2009) (enja TIP-888 8502)
Everything Happens T Matt Dennis & Tom Adair 10 musiK Gilad Atzmon 12 In The Small Hours Gilad Atzmon 14
Tutu Tango Gilad Atzmon 16
I Didn’t Know What Time It Was Rodgers & Hart 18
GILAD as/ss/clt, FRANK HARRISON p, YARON STAVI b, ASAF SIRKIS d, SIGAMOS STRING QUARTET arr. ROS STEPHEN and JONATHAN TAYLOR
From the album REFUGE: Gilad Atzmon & the Orient House Ensemble (2007) (enja TIP-888 849 2)
Autumn In Baghdad Gilad Atzmon 21
Her Smile Gilad Atzmon 23
GILAD as/ss FRANK HARRISON p/rhodes, YARON STAVI b, ASAF SIRKIS d
From the album EXILE: Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble (2003) (enja TIP-888 8442)
Land of Canaan Gilad Atzmon 24
GILAD as/ss/clt, FRANK HARRISON p/rhodes,YARON STAVI b, ASAF SIRKIS d/bandir & tray, KOBY ISRAELITE acc
From the album NOSTALGICO: Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble (2001) (enja TIP-888 8412)
Petite Fleur Sidney Bechet 26
GILAD clt, FRANK HARRISON p, OLI HAYHURST b, ASAF SIRKIS d
