REVIEW

Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble

“Songs of the Metropolis”

(World Village Records)

Gilad Atzmon is no stranger to the Jazzmann web pages be it as a multi instrumentalist, composer, author or political activist. So I’ll largely spare you (and myself) the historical spiel with which I normally begin my reviews. Since he moved to London from his native Israel in the late 1990’s the indefatigable Atzmon has become a major figure on the UK jazz scene releasing a series of fine albums with his working group the Orient House Ensemble as well as being a prolific sideman (across a variety of genres from tango to the Blockheads)  and an in demand producer. He’s routinely described as the “hardest working man in jazz” (although Seb Rochford must push him pretty close) and his new OHE album “Songs of the Metropolis” is a reflection of his well travelled lifestyle.

Atzmon has played music all over the globe and the album’s nine compositions are named after some of the world’s great cities- and, er, Scarborough. As Atzmon explained to Andy Robson in the February 2013 edition of “Jazzwise” magazine the album is a step back from the politics of anger that have shaped his music for so long. It’s not that he’s changed his views, he’s merely tired of repeating them (musically at least) and with “Songs of the Metropolis” he’s looking to explore areas of greater emotional and political ambiguity. It’s partly a celebration of Atzmon’s lifestyle - “Every night I fall asleep in a different town and most towns have their own colour, their own sound, their own song”.