Chris Searle on Gilad Atzmon and The Orient House Ensemble

I am very proud thanks to this piece of writing by Chris Searle

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/97593

Arts Depot, London, Finchley N12

Sunday 14 November 2010

by Chris Searle

It is a full decade since the Israeli alto saxophonist Gilad Atzmon established his quartet the Orient House Ensemble.

It's a doubly ironic name for a jazz group, because it not only alludes to the building in Jerusalem originally designated as the official home of the Palestinian Authority which was subsequently seized and occupied by the Israeli army. It also referes to Atzmon himself who, as as a young man, was drafted into the Israeli Defence Force.

Yet his growth as a major talent as an ex-member of Ian Dury's Blockheads, a satirical novelist of works such as Guide To The Perplexed (2001) and My One And Only Love (2005) along with his ardent support for a free, democratic, inclusive and ecumenical Palestine makes his jazz story both unique and full of controversy.

His close musical confrere Robert Wyatt has called him "a seriously funny writer and the wittiest musician since Ronnie Scott" and, alongside a Swiftian edge to his writing, Atzmon maintains a deep empathy and uncompromising support for the Palestinian people, to whom he dedicates his performances and for whom he constantly campaigns and fundraises.

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This Thursday, the OHE Marathon

In Loving Memory of America

 Thursday 18 November 2010

7:30pm  @ the Artsdepot, London

London Jazz Festival 2010

Ten years of the  Orient House Ensemble, with a special three set performance.  featuring special guests Asaf Sirkis, Guillermo Rozenthuler,  Tali Atzmon, Romanno Viazaani  and the Sigamos Quartet. Materials from our early albums,  will be followed by  our acclaimed In Loving Memory of America  tribute to Charlie Parker.  We will also play some materials from our new collaboration album with Robert Wyatt and Ros Stephen For The Ghost Within. We  will conclude with new music from the band’s new release The Tide Has Changed.

To read a Guardian 4 stars review of The Tide Has Changed,click  here 

To read a Guardian 5 stars review of For The Ghosts Within, click here

To book online

Thursday 18 November 2010

7:30pm

Artsdepot
5 Nether St
London
N12 0GA
020 8369 5454

          Tickets

£16 (£14 conc.) + bkg



An Apartheid State

The Banality of Evil - IOF soldiers celebrating the destruction of houses (English Subtitles)

Paul Larudee: A Kind of Schizophrenia

"Although there are a lot of parallels between the cases of the Armenians and the Jews, there is one major difference.  The Armenians never dispossessed an entire population in order to create a state, and today they live pretty much in harmony with the rest of the population wherever they are," says Paul Larudee

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Radio Interview With Carlos Pérez Cruz

A few days ago  I was talking to Carlos Pérez Cruz on El Club De Jazz.

We discussed music, politics, Palestine, For The Ghost Within, The Tide Has Changed and more...

The Spanish program is here  http://www.elclubdejazz.com/envivo/    (10/11/2010)

The English interview is here:

Club de Jazz 10 11 2010 www.elclubdejazz.com with Gilad Atzmon by Gilad Atzmon

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk

Gilad Atzmon: There Is No Business like Shoa Business

The FBI was courageous enough to look into holocaust greed. I wonder how long will it take for our historians to be brave enough to treat WWII as a historical chapter.  How long will it take to European countries to remove Holocaust denial laws and reinstate freedom of speech?  How long will it take before we manage to look at Jewish history as a continuum instead of isolated patches of victimhood loaded with false legitimacy to rob Palestinians.

I guess not too long.



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Islamic Human Rights Commission (UK): Letter challenging the promotion of hate in The Independent

http://yahyaottawa.blogspot.com/2010/11/islamic-human-rights-commission-uk.html

PRESS RELEASE --- 09 November 2010

On 27 October 2010, The Independent newspaper published an Islamophobic article entitled “Poor Lauren Booth – she would do anything to get in with the tough kids”. The online link to the article was entitled “What sort of woman freely converts to Islam?”

The article uses the conversion story of Lauren Booth as an excuse to attack Islam as well as demonise and incite hatred towards Muslims.

The article suggests that Islam is by its very nature, violent, misogynistic and that no rational, western woman would consider it an option. It also states that Islam, and by extension Muslims, are anti-Semitic.

To read more click here

Gilad Atzmon: Watch some Isolated Voices of Jewish Reason

It is hard for me to decide what is it that delegitimizes the Jewish State.

Is it the ‘loyal oath’,  ‘the occupation’, ‘the settlements’  or the execution of peace activists on the Mavi Marmara?

The Jewish protestors in the following clips think that:

The Settlements Delegitimize Israel

The Occupation Delegitimizes Israel

The Siege of Gaza Delegitimizes Israel

The Loyalty Oath Delegitimizes Israel

Silencing Dissent Delegitimizes Israel

I would suggest that the idea of a 'Jewish state' is hardly legitimate to start with, for it is categorically and spiritually racist and inherently ethno-centric.

I do not find anything legitimate in the Jewish state



Young Jews Disrupt Netanyahu at Jewish General Assembly from stefanie fox on Vimeo.

Joe Rennison: Gilad Atzmon More Than Just a Musician

Gilad Atzmon: Ahead of our London Jazz Festival Concert (Arts Depot, November 18),  I was interviewed for the London Student Paper by Joe Rennison.

Joe Rennison: Gilad Atzmon More Than Just a Musician

Few students currently at University of London will remember Gilad Atzmon’s gig at SOAS in 2006. His performance was exemplary, as all of his live performances are. Four years later, Atmon is still gigging, still writing and still pushing the boundaries of thought and expression.

I met Atzmon in Soho opposite Ronnie Scotts. As I wait for him to

arrive I spot his name on the October listings for Ronnie’s, a testament to Atzmon’s status within the Jazz community. We meet and go around the corner for breakfast.

On 18 November, The London Jazz Festival will play host to Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble (OHE) as they celebrate their 10th anniversary. The group is Atzmon’s mainstay and has seen him develop as a musician.

London Jazz Festival in association with BBC Radio 3 presents: Gilad Atzmon and The Orient House Ensemble Tenth Anniversary Celebration.

Arts Depot Thursday 18th November 2010 7.30PM

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