Atzmon's CD proves he's one of the best-FRED SHAWCROSS
Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 1:18PM 9:00am Thursday 19th November 2009
THERE is no doubt that the London-based Israeli musician Gilad Atzmon is one of the best alto saxophonists on the planet.
I know that is a serious claim to make, but genuinely believe it, having heard him live and listened to his recordings, particularly his most recent offering.
Atzmon fell in love with the sound of Charlie Parker as a 17-year-old in Jerusalem, awaiting conscription into the Israeli Army. He heard Bird playing April In Paris on a radio programme and was so moved that the following day he skipped school, rushed to the only music store in Jerusalem and bought every jazz album they had on the shelves. He is far from being the only fledgling musician to be motivated into copying the great Charlie Parker, but few, if any, have managed to recreate the Bird’s incomparable bebop virtuosity as successfully as Atzmon.
The American’s memorable album Charlie Parker With Strings is one of the biggest-selling jazz records of all time and, given his respect and admiration for the legendary alto saxophonist, it was only a matter of time before Atzmon travelled the same route.
His CD In Loving Memory of America, which features Atzmon, his superb Orient House Ensemble and the Sigamos String Quartet, is as close as possible to Parker’s offering. It even includes similar adaptations of tunes from The Great American Songbook, such as Everything Happens To Me, April in Paris, I Didn’t Know What Time It was and If I Should Lose You.
The Orient House Ensemble, which includes Frank Harrison (piano), Yaron Stavi (bass) and the brilliant Asaf Sirkis (drums), is as good as any I have heard, and Atzmon, besides being an outstandingly talented saxophonist, is an amusing and self-deprecating front man. He has been a regular visitor to the North West in recent years and I can thoroughly recommend you try to catch him live if you can. Failing that, buy his album, In Loving Memory of America, comes from the heart, and it shows in some inspirational playing. The biggest compliment I can pay Atzmon and his CD is to say that were Charlie Parker still around to hear it, he would surely approve.
