Reflecting On Freedom

Alon Farber is an Israeli saxophonist who has just released, along with his Hagiga sextet, 'Reflecting on Freedom', making it the fourth in his career.

The Israeli jazz scene could not be more interesting, as can be seen with names like Avishai Cohen , Anat Cohen , Yaron Herman or Omer Avital, among others, or the presence of Alon Farber himself.

Whether for anthropological, sociological, or whatever reasons (and now is not the place or the time to decipher them), the truth is that Israeli jazzmen make a jazz that draws from many different sources; from Middle Eastern music to bossa nova, as is the case with this 'Reflecting on Freedom'.

Alon Farber Hagiga (meaning 'celebration') is a really powerful combo, made up of two saxophones, Farber himself and Yehonatan Cohen, and a trombone (Oded Meir), and a typical rhythm section; piano, double bass and drums, which on this occasion is accompanied by the beautiful and attractive voice of the young singer Sarai Zak-Levi and the percussionist Rony Iwryn.

Throughout the album's nine tracks there is room for a little bit of everything, from the most typical hard bop ('Fresh start') to bossa nova, French music ('You'll See the Way'), including the funk of 'Farbalak', or the tributes to jazz musicians such as 'Reflecting on Freedom/ Freedom Jazz Dance', inspired by saxophonist Eddie Harris.

This 'Reflecting on Freedom' by Alon Farber, recorded in 2020 and released at the end of 2021, shows itself to be a powerful, serious album, which warns us that we have to be more attentive (something almost impossible on the other hand given how it is the attention market) to the jazz that is made in Israel, that from that part of the world we are not going to get only news of rocket launches at the civilian population, terrorist attacks and governments where ultra-orthodox Jews are together with Labor.

Vale.

Translated from Spanish