From the Origin website: "Hagiga in Hebrew means "celebration" and in saxophonist Alon Farber's music for his 25-year-old ensemble, he celebrates the cultural divergence of his Israeli heritage through a heady melding of Swing, Moroccan, Funk and Brazilian backgrounds. For his third Origin release, Farber focused on the dream state where the process of writing new music begins for him - imagining the development of an idea, the recording of it and then listening back, before ever putting notes on paper." That's how you can read it on the label's website about the music of saxophonist Alon Färber.
We read the following about individual tracks: " Musings on Charles Mingus delivered "Mingus Dream,""Cookies" was inspired by a Thelonious Monk-esque world, and "The Bartok Blues" hails from a land Bela Bartok may or may not recognize. With pianist Katia Toobool, bassist Assaf Hakimi, and drummer Yonatan Rosen, Farber's Hagiga is free & expressive, original &energetic, all within a creative framework 25 years in the making."
"Cookies" begins with a saxophone solo, experiencing "serpentine lines of sound". Below you can hear a quartet that definitely enters the realms of the big band sound or cultivates the sound of Duke Ellington. Or is it Monk who is being "emulated"? In the course of the game, it is again Alon Färber who draws attention to himself with his distinctive saxophone playing. In this game, he can probably be heard on the alto saxophone, right? The saxophone solo is replaced by an energetic solo by the pianist, who cascades the sounds. She paints sound vortex at its finest. Here and there you can also experience a Monk-like attitude. Furthermore, the drummer can also be heard with his short interludes. And then, yes then Duke Ellington seems to be present in the further flow of the first track.
We experience a beautiful soprano saxophone in "Minor Trap". The playing of Farber and his ensemble also has a pinch of swing, doesn't it? The pianist's style in her interspersed solo is strongly reminiscent of Thelonious Monk's pling-plong. A fine rain of percussion also falls over the piano solo. And then it is Farber who defines and refines the timbres of the piece.
"20 Years" was not penned by Faber, but by Odd Meir. In terms of character, it is a very concertante piece. At the same time, one must also think of Italian bards who bring us closer to medieval music musically. The pianist presents us with a tidal current, continuing the concertante of the piece in her playing. At the same time, the pianist builds up a dramatic arc of sound. In addition, she also understands how to play around in a way that is reminiscent of whirlpools, with treble material coming to the fore.
In the course of the album we are confronted with "Mingus Dream" and the focus is also on one of the legends of jazz. A bass solo is at the beginning. The strings of the woofer buzz, it is nimble fingers that pluck the strings. Afterwards, the saxophonist's soft focus and tonal flights of fancy can be heard. There are also fur sweeps of the drummer; Lyricism is partly unfolded. The bass seems to be written off below, right? The pianist is also given space to develop in this piece. In doing so, she presents us with sparkling sound sequences, some of which are crystalline and fragile. Finally, we hear the entire ensemble again, certainly with references to Duke Ellington.
"The Bartok Blues", composed by Alon Farber, is probably dedicated to a classical composer of the modern era, Béla Bartok. And you can definitely feel the freer spirit in which the piece was arranged. Alon Farber is in charge of this, while in the background the pianist strings together the keyboard sounds like in a row of dominoes. In addition, we also experience a solo by Färber, who probably plays tenor saxophone, sometimes emphasizing the guttural. He also uses a series of dominoes of sound, but less consistently compared to the pianist. And then the bass player can once again be experienced superficially, but he was placed next to the pianist's solo. This draws a sound image that is reminiscent of bubbling springs. Restrained dim-dum-dim is what the bass contributes to the composition as a soloist. Towards the end, Monk is at least harmonically involved, isn't it?
Katia Toobool is thanks to "An Old Friend". She is also the one who opens the track, before the "golden-sounding saxophone turns the focus to itself. But the composer has also taken care of her independent sound space. And so we hear Toobool in a solo in which "jumping sounds" can be perceived. With "Minorism" the current album finds its rounded conclusion.
translated from German