Gilad Atzmon - Songs of the Metropolis

Songs Of The Metropolis – Album Launch Tour

Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble

Maverick, award-winning saxophonist Gilad Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble are back on the road with their latest album Songs Of The Metropolis. For the last 12 years the quartet have been touring all over the world, stunning audiences with their firebrand performances packed with drama, pathos, luscious harmonies and wit. Atzmon's latest compositions are a sweeping homage to our great cities, from Moscow to Buenos Aires and beyond. Each tune is at once reminiscent and hopeful; in a time of great uncertainty and turbulence Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble deliver melodies that provide an anchor to wherever it is that we call home.

2013 Best Album - Jazz Journal Critics' Poll

‘A formidable improvisational array...a jazz giant steadily drawing himself up to his full height...’ The Guardian.

‘The best musician living in the world today’ Robert Wyatt

"The Band has created perhaps their most enduring ensemble work yet" Andy Robson Jazzwise ****

"Whether he’s blowing up a storm of notes or gently caressing a ballad, there’s a luminous vitality at the heart of Atzmon’s playing that’s irresistible to the ear" Record Collector ****

"vibrant and beautiful" Bruce Lindsay All About Jazz

A hard-hitting but wide-ranging set from an admirably tight and robust band led by one of the most charismatic and focused reedsmen on the planet. Chris Parker LondonJazz

'Atzmon has produced his most mature, and in many ways his most diverse, work to date' Ian Mann Jazzmann *****

'Tensions, surprises, shocks and ambiguities' John Fordham, The Guardian

Atzmon and the excellent pianist Frank Harrison do to the old parsley-sage tune what John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner did to My Favourite Things Irish Time ****

While it is raining (Leonard) Bernstein is waving to a taxi. Mignus who sits on the back seat opens the door for him, he invites Bernstein to come in – This is the musical image of this group. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Conjuring an atmosphere of evocative cinematic suggestion BBC Music Review

Peon to a recent past, when urban spaces belonged to the people who lived in them, and cities had distinct emotional characters Financial Times ****

Atzmon drafts a panorama of multi-layered sound collages and sound particles... he is glamorous. His tone, whether on clarinet or alto and soprano saxophone, dominates the action. It is always penetrating, expressive, and full with passion Badische Zeitung

'Fearless bebop player steeped in the work of Coltrane and Parker' Tony Benjamin This Is Bristol

"Brilliant cosmopolitan tunesmithing from Gilad Atzmon" Lucid Culture

'Conceptualist, composer and soloist' Jazz Journal

'A souvenir-collecting world traveller' Jack Massarik, The Evening Standard ****

"If you love jazz you will love this release of a superlative quality. If you love the music of the world in its individual uniqueness and diversity, and not the pasteurized kitsch of “multiculturalism,” you will love this even more and you will resonate to Atzmon’s worldview as a philosopher of culture" Ariadna Theokopoulos http://www.boldfacenews.com

"rhythmically-sophisticated 'Tel Aviv' demonstrates that Anmon's soprano sound is also one of the most satisfying since Bechet." `BBC Music Magazine April 2013 ****

"Atzmon opts for an altogether more impressionistic approach" R2 Magazine ****

"virtuoso, lyrical and straightahead all at once" Mike Butler, Dyverse music

Gilad Atzmon - clarinet, sax, Yaron Stavi - bass, Eddie Hick - drums, Frank Harrison - piano.

Songs of the Metropolis

Paris

Tel Aviv

Buenos Aires

Vienna

Manhattan

Scarborough

Moscow

Somewhere in Italy

Berlin

Once upon a time and actually not that long ago, our cities conveyed some meanings, they were a unique reflection of ourselves: they were home to our thoughts, ideas and yearnings.

When we were young, our cities belonged to us: their colours were our shades, their smells our scents; but more than anything else, their sounds were our songs. Each city had a melody, a resonance, a bell, an instrument, a voice.

This album is a pursuit of the sound of the city. It is an attempt to find that magic instant where melodic texture evokes familiar feelings, when a harmonic shift brings you home, when a crescendo conjures memories of a kiss, when a glissando flies the American to Paris.

Now, our planet weeps. Beauty is perhaps the last true form of spiritual resistance. The song is there to counter detachment and alienation. Let us start with the song of the metropolis, the songs of our cities.

Enjoy your listening

Gilad Atzmon

Paris, in the name of love

Tel Aviv, the birth of the tragedy

Buenos Aires, for the pathos

Vienna, for the charm of sweetness

Manhattan, in loving memory of America

Scarborough, as opposed to London

Moscow, in honour of greatness

Berlin, as a farewell to productivity

Somewhere in Italy but not too far from home

Monday

Dec172012

The Songs Of The Metropolis tour dates..

Monday, December 17, 2012 at 11:51AM

TOUR DATES

16. Gilad Atzmon Trio @ The Green Dragon , Croydon (lunch time)

21 The OHE's Xmas Office Party, come and jam with us @ Ajani Grill, London

29. The Blockheads 35th Anniversary Tour, Harrogate

January

8 With Christian Brewer's Organ Trio @ the Lower Ground, London NW6

9 With Frank Harrison @ Jazz At The Field, Rossendale, Lancashire http://www.dunrhythm.co.uk/

---

Gilad Atzmon and the OHE - Album Launch Tour

Songs Of The Metropolis – Album Launch Tour

‘A subtle blend of East and West, that’s brutal and beautiful’ BBC.

‘A formidable improvisational array...a jazz giant steadily drawing himself up to his full height...’ The Guardian.

‘The best musician living in the world today’ Robert Wyatt

Gilad Atzmon - clarinet, sax, Yaron Stavi - bass, Eddie Hick - drums, Frank Harrison - piano.

January

12 Plough Arts, Great Torrington, Devon / www.theploughartscentre.org.uk / 01805 624624

16 Grimsby Jazz, Grimsby / www.grimsbyjazz.com / 01472 873730

17 Seven Arts, Leeds / www.sevenleeds.co.uk / 0113 26 26 777

18 Sheffield Jazz, Sheffield / www.sheffieldjazz.org.uk / 01142496000

19 Hideaway, London / www.hideawaylive.co.uk / 020 8835 7070

20 With Roger Odell @ The Cherry Tree, Knowl Green, Belchamp St Paul, Suffolk / www.jazz-nights.com *

24 With Pete Oxley's 4tet @ The Spin Oxford / www.spinjazz.com *

25 The Victory Club, Cheltenham / www.cheltenhamjazz.co.uk / 01242 234488

27 Hen and Chicken, Bristol / http://jazzata.com/Venues.html / 07766 741 417

31 with Graham York's trio @ The Blue Vanguard, Exeter *

February

1 Fleece Jazz, Suffolk / www.dovbear.co.uk/fleece / 01787 211865

2 The 606 Club, London / www.606club.co.uk / 020 7352 5953

5 Brook Theatre, Chatham / www.tickets.medway.gov.uk / 01634 338338

8 St Mary's Church, Wivenhoe / www.wivenhoeevents.blogspot.co.uk / 07957 958724

9 Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth / www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk / 01970 623232

10 The Swan Hotel, Abergavenny (lunch time) / http://bmjazz.tumblr.com/

10 Chapel Arts, Bath (evening) / www.chapelarts.org / 01225 461700

14 The Boat House, Broxbourne / www.broxbournerowingclub.org/jazz / 01992 442263

15 The Verdict, Brighton / www.verdictjazz.co.uk / 01273 674847

20 Old Brown Jug, Newcastle Under Lyme / www.oldbrownjug.com / 01782 711393

21–23 Album Launch Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London / www.pizzaexpresslive.com / 020 7437 9595

24 Jagz, Ascot / www.jagz.co.uk / 01344 878100

26 With Terry Collie's trio Retro Bistrot Restaurant. Teddington, London, TW11

27 Y Theatre, Leicester / www.leicesterjazzhouse.co.uk / 0116 255 7066

28 With The Power Cats South Holland Arts Centre, Spalding / www.southhollandcentre.co.uk *

March

1. With Jon Thorne's Trio, Isle of White / www.jonthorne.co.uk *

2 Posk Jazz Cafe, London / www.jazzcafeposk.co.uk / 0208 7411940

5 The Stables, Milton Keynes / www.stables.org / 01908 280800

7 Bonington Theatre, Arnold, Nottingham / www.jazzsteps.co.uk / 0115 8770284

8 Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle on Tyne www.starandshadow.org.uk

10–12 Town Hall, Shetland Island (+master classes)

13 Jazz Bar, Edinburgh / www.thejazzbar.co.uk / 0131 220 4298

14 Art Club, Glasgow / www.glasgowartclub.co.uk /

15 The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria / www.breweryarts.co.uk / 01539 725 133

16 Band on the Wall, Manchester / www.bandonthewall.org / 0161 830 3884

17 Herts Jazz, Welwyn Garden City / www.hertsjazz.co.uk / 01707 357117

* not an OHE's concert

Pre-Show Talk - The Road To Bop

**Ahead of this concert, Gilad will give a talk about his first encounter with Jazz music and its impact on his ethical and philosophical stand. The talk will explore different aspects of music and their direct link with Gilad’s views on morality. A rare chance to engage with a star musician who is an equally popular writer and political commentator.

4 Comments |

143 References |