Record Reviews

ALON OLEARTCHIK ~ OLEARTCHIK JAZZ NMC (ISRAEL) 20431 (Barcode: 7290005217425) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 1999 Released: 1999 This is a beautiful album by Israeli (born in Poland) singer / multi-instrumentalist / songwriter Alon OleartchikFind albums by this artist, best known as the bassist of the legendary KaveretFind albums by this artist, Israel´s most dominant Rock group in the 1970s. After Kaveret folded, Oleartchik studied music in the US and returned to Israel in the mid 1980 and has maintained a solo career since. Over the years he recorded a series of truly excellent albums, which deserve to be considered as some of the finest pieces of music created in Israel. This one, in particular, deserves a lot of praise as it is bold and unusual and shows his one true musical love: Jazz. This album includes mostly Jazz standards, with lyrics translated into Hebrew by Oleartchik, and finds him for the first time in his recording career in the role of purely a vocalist, heading an ensemble comprising of some of the best Israeli Jazz players at the time of the recording: trumpeter Avishai CohenFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Eli DegibriFind albums by this artist, pianist Yonathan AvishaiFind albums by this artist, bassist Ofer ShneiderFind albums by this artist and drummer Shai ZelmanFind albums by this artist. One of the original songs by Oleartchik is also included as is one song by Degibri, which he also sings. The opening track is all scat / vocalese and has no lyrics. The music was recorded live at the Tel-Aviv Camelot club during a series of concerts that lasted for three nights. The best takes were selected for the album, and several alternate takes are included on the second (bonus) CD. The familiar standards have been transformed, no only due to the Hebrew lyrics, but also thanks to Oleartchik´s brilliant arrangements, phrasing and adaptation. This album is not just a singer and a Jazz band performing vocal standards; there are countless albums like that of varying quality. This one is truly different, as much as Oleartchik´s musical identity, which has no parallels. This is a wonderful amalgam of classic Jazz, which mostly originates in the US, with his Polish roots (probably subconscious) and his Israeli musical upbringing, which is also pretty unique, as most other aspects of Israeli culture. This is obviously a labor of love from start to finish and should be first and foremost accepted as such, revealing its true nature. There is so much beautiful music on this album, that I can´t imagine any music connoisseur to remain untouched by it. In some respects this album is conceptually similar to Gidi GovFind albums by this artist´s (ex-Kaveret lead singer) album "Moon DanceFind albums with this title", recorded three years later, which also presents Jazz (or Jazzy) standards with Hebrew lyrics and beautiful Jazz arrangements. Both these albums are among my favorite Israeli recordings and deserve to be discovered by audiences outside of Israel. The fact that both Oleartchik and Gov rejected the attempt to sing the standards in English is extremely important, as most non-English speaking vocalist repeatedly attempt to do so and more often than not fail miserably. Most warmly recommended!

Updated: 15/09/2024Posted:

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ALON OLEARTCHIK ~ OLEARTCHIK STYLE TAV 8 (Barcode: 7290105160362) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 2011 Released: 2011 When a person reaches certain age (and I´m saying this from personal experience) the urge to summarize one´s life achievements becomes imperative, for one reason or another. Israeli singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Alon OleartchikFind albums by this artist (who is more or less my age) must have had similar thoughts when he decided to record this album, which is above all a life´s retrospective as far as his musical career is concerned. The album includes twelve songs, ten of which are his own compositions and nine have his lyrics. One of the songs he did not write comes from KaveretFind albums by this artist´s repertoire and the other is an Israeli classic. Historically the songs span a forty years period, starting with the Kaveret days in the early 1970s and ending now, with one new song, which was recently written. But the album also amalgamates Oleartchik´s love of all things Jazzy, as the songs are performed in a superb new arrangement, which involves him singing the songs accompanied by a classic Jazz piano trio. He also plays occasional guitar and a few guest musicians participate on selected songs. The trio comprises of pianist Elad AdarFind albums by this artist, bassist Max OleartchikFind albums by this artist (Alon´s son and a classic example of a second generation bassist) and drummer Shay VetzerFind albums by this artist. Oleartchik manages to perform these songs simply fabulously, with a clear and steady voice and intelligent phrasing, which when supported by the piano trio comes out as one of the best Jazz vocal recordings recorded in Israel. His original songs are remarkably adaptable and emerge marvelously delicious under these new arrangements. Oleartchik has a gift of making his music sound eternally young and fresh, relevant and kicking, as if untouched by time; a great gift indeed. Strangely (or perhaps not) this might easily be the best album Oleartchik ever recorded, but regardless it firmly places him in the Pantheon of contemporary Israeli music, a place he truly deserves to be in. His consistency, modesty and musical excellence are simply beyond reproach. This album is an ideal entry point for people not familiar with Oleartchik´s music and of course also a kind of "best of" (with a twist) for his faithful fans; Oleartchik style indeed. Absolutely not to be missed!

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