Record Reviews
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  | HAROLD RUBIN ~ BLUE BAG
NOT ON LABEL ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz
Recorded: 1996 Released: 1997
Harold RubinFind albums by this artist is one of the very few true Renaissance men I’ve had the pleasure to meet and befriend over the years. An architect, a poet, a painter and an outstanding musician, but also a wonderful human being, who hates bullshit of any form and shape. This, often bold, honesty is present in every creative process Harold is involved with, and what makes his music so wonderfully different and outstanding. Blue Bag is a musical suite, a complete work of art, rather than a collection of separate and unrelated pieces of music. It is probably Harold’s most “accessible” album. It involves a larger group of musicians (as opposed to his regular trio / quartet setting) and for the first time also features vocals. Stylistically it involves, in addition to the obvious jazz contents, some rock elements (for the first time since Harold played with ZaviotFind albums by this artist), some theatrical aura and a much clearer melody lines. The entire album brings fond memories of Brecht’s operas and works by musicians like Gunter HampelFind albums by this artist and his wife Jeanne LeeFind albums by this artist or Mike WestbrookFind albums by this artist and Kate WestbrookFind albums by this artist. It also prominently features for the first time Harold’s poetry, which constitutes the libretto for the entire suite. The musicians playing with Harold include Mark SmulianFind albums by this artist, his partner in Zaviot, who proves he can play the guitar as skillfully as he can handle the bass, Smulian’s wife the wonderful singer Gani TamirFind albums by this artist, Israel’s best drummer Asaf SirkisFind albums by this artist (who plays on many albums released on my JazzisFind albums on this label label), extremely talented trombonists Reut RegevFind albums by this artist and Rafi MalkielFind albums by this artist, and bassist Amit CarmeliFind albums by this artist. Harold contributes his unique brand of clarinet virtuosity and occasionally recites / narrates his fantastic poetry with the music playing in the background (reminiscent of the wonderful “Jazz & Poetry” movement of the 1960’s). If I could, I’d make every person on this planer to listen to this Magnum Opus, but obviously I can’t do that. Hopefully some of you will read this and subsequently discover some of the best music ever recorded on this planet.
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  | WHITEFLAG ~ EXILE
NOT ON LABEL ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz-Rock-World Fusion
Recorded: 2005 Released: 2005
This is surely a first of its kind Palestinian-Israeli rock group. The members of WhiteFlag are five Israeli musicians (Gani TamirFind albums by this artist – vocals, Mark SmulianFind albums by this artist – bass and guitar, Katya CooperFind albums by this artist – percussion, Sasha ShlainFind albums by this artist – keyboards and Shy MiaraFind albums by this artist – drums) and four Palestinians from refugee camps in Gaza Strip (Yasin HussenFind albums by this artist – vocals, Shadi AlhajFind albums by this artist – keyboards, Zaher Abed Al-JawadFind albums by this artist – oud and violin and Saleh AwadFind albums by this artist – darbuka). The group was formed in 1998 and performed all over Israel and Palestine. However, after the violent events, which started in 2000, they were no longer able to meet and perform, when the passage between Israel and the Gaza Strip was practically sealed off. The only way they could meet and play together again was outside of their countries. This happened in mid-2005, when the group was invited by the Swiss city of Lucerne for a period of three months, where they performed, rehearsed and finally recorded this – their debut album. A film by Swiss TV was also made to commemorate this event. The music of WhiteFlag is a fantastic mixture of instruments, styles, influences and languages. The vocals are in Arabic, Hebrew and English and an amalgam of Eastern and Western music is created, which works splendidly. Gani’s beautiful angelic voice and Yasin’s deep baritone harmonize wonderfully. It is really impossible to describe in words how this music sounds, but any music-loving person is sure to enjoy it immensely. Just go and listen to the music on their site! WhiteFlag is not about politics – it is all about making music and the human experiences involved in meeting of different cultures and backgrounds. Hopefully cultural bridges of that kind will eventually achieve what the politicians failed to achieve in so many years in our complex region.
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