DEKEL BOR

Opening night sold-out!

2012-03-02T00:38:00.003-08:00

Opening night of the "Bach Electrified Tour" was sold-out!!!

Thank you all who came - it meant the world to us you coming out in the midst of a storm..

Hope to see you at the 2nd stop of the tour at Tarbuta Yokne'am :)

Solo acoustic radio concert

2012-02-28T23:40:00.000-08:00

Dekel will be playing an hour-long acoustic solo concert of Bach sonatas with Leah Lior on KOL-ISRAEL Radio, Wednesday 29.2.12

"The Bach tour started just like that - with an acoustic guitar in my bedroom...
I am excited to present it in such a bare and intimate setting."

Please check your local channel to listen:)

Bor plays Bach opening night!

2012-02-27T05:09:00.002-08:00

The Dekel Bor plays Bach tour's opening night is THURSDAY 1.3.12 at Enav Cultural Center
and tickets are running out, so please make sure you order yours beforehand - we WANT to have you there with us :)

https://www.tkts.co.il/loader.asp?target=show_events_list.asp%3FshCode%3D3805

Bor Plays Bach interview - Jerusalem Post

2012-02-23T05:20:00.000-08:00

Noted music critic Maxim Reider sits with Dekel for the story behind the Bach Tour:

http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Music/Article.aspx?id=259075&R=R77

Bor Plays Bach press release show SOLD OUT!

2012-02-18T05:10:00.000-08:00

Despite the storm, despite the secretive nature of the PR of this concert you all came through...
THANK YOU!
Was a privilege playing for you:)

See you on tour!

Dekel Bor plays Bach tour dates announced!

2012-01-15T03:47:00.000-08:00

Hope to see you there!!!

Sneak peak!

2012-01-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

2011-2012!

2012-01-01T04:31:00.000-08:00

2011 has been an incredible year for Dekel - from a packed-houses trio tour featuring Maor Cohen,
to the paris jazz festival, from an intimate duet with palestinian vocalist Mira Awad to playing for thousands of people at the August people's rights rallies.
Deke performed throughout November with Rea Mochiach,
and ended the year with a sold-out festival concert in Petach-Tikva on the last week of 2011.

Dekel will begin the new year with an 8 concert-hall tour throughout Israel which will focus on Bach's iconic repertoire,
featuring Dekel's new trio with legendary israeli drummer/producer Rea Mochiach.

In april Dekel will premiere a new orchestral project with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring it's key soloists and a very special rock star..

In May Dekel will celebrate his birthday with a series of concerts with special guests from the jazz and ethnic worlds.

The trio will be back in Europe both in July and in October.

Dekel's signature TWE Overdrve pedal will be released just in time for the summer,
and we hope the prototype of his signature guitar will be ready for the Bach Tour.

We thank you for the support, and we can't wait to meet you after the concert!

Dekel's management team

Solo acoustic performance celebrating legendary poet Raquel Chalfi

2011-11-30T04:44:00.001-08:00

Dekel will give a rare solo acoustic performance celebrating Raquel Chalfi:

"Tomorrow night I'll have the honor of opening up the gala event celebrating the life's work of Raquel Chalfi - one of the pillars on which hebrew poetry stands upon.

Being one of my mentors, I am touched by her request, and will perform an extended, improvised solo acoustic performance to honor her classic poem "The Tree".

I hope to not only follow the rhythm of the text, but to touch on the song's gentle emotional landscape."

The perforance will take place at:Beit BialikThursday dec. 1st, 20:00Tickets are 35nis http://beithair.org/about/bialikh/

Pics update at Dekel's Facebook page

2011-11-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

Please join Dekel's Facebook page for show, video and pics update-
Here are a couple picture albums from recent concerts and tours:

http://www.facebook.com/dekelbortrio

Dekel Bor Feat. Maor Cohen acoustic video

2011-10-25T10:14:00.001-07:00

Dekel Bor invited his friend and rock star Maor Cohen to guest with the trio...
Here's an acoustic duet covering the country standard "Lonesome Town" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NJKzy6LQ2o

Dekel Bor concert - new music premiere

2011-10-24T05:15:00.000-07:00

"Once the summer touring season ended I found myself composing, writing, discovering...
I'll be presenting all this and a couple surprises Saturday 29/10 at Shablul Jazz - Israel's premier jazz club.
Hope to have you with us".

Reservations at:

http://www.shabluljazz.com/

Dekel Bor covering his favorite band - RADIOHEAD

2011-10-23T01:33:00.000-07:00

Lately Dekel has been playing a couple of Radiohead songs - some know, some obscure..
Here's the trio playing "Climbing Up The Walls" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hFr-E__7nI&feature=channel_video_title

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2012 "Distorted Bach" tour preview..

2011-10-06T04:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a video preview of the 2012 tour which will have Dekel and the trio perform the iconic 6 Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/hd6TNenwfFk

.

Last trio concert for 2011

2011-09-10T02:12:00.000-07:00

Fresh off a summer european tour Dekel will play his last trio concert for 2011
at his home venue Shablul on 17.9.11

The concert will feature very special guests and new compositions, as well as glimpses into the 2012 Bach Sonatas tour...

Reservations at:

http://www.shabluljazz.com/

all-star group performance at the israeli revolution camp

2011-08-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

Dekel performed with an all-star cast made up of afro-music and funk guru Yossi Fine, and rockn'roll phenom Rea Mochiach
at the main stage of the israeli revolution camp in Tel-Aviv.

The group performed with such prowess it literally stopped all traffic.

This special trio will perform again later this week..

Dekel Bor Trio open-air concert at the revolution stage

2011-08-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

Dekel and his trio feat. a very special NYC guest will play an open-air free concert at the Tel-Aviv revolution's main stage sometime next week, details will appear on Dekel's Facebook page on the day of the show:

http://www.facebook.com/dekelbortrio

Dekel Bor Trio w. special guest Mira Awad

2011-08-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

Dekel will be playing on Aug. 10th at Ozen Bar - Tel-Aviv's hottest club with a very special guest from NYC,
as well as with Sony Records artist Mira Awad.

for tickets please visit:

http://tickets.eventgo.co.il/TemplatesPage/showcat.aspx?id2=1391

Notes from a master

2011-07-27T00:18:00.000-07:00

Dekel is taking notes from maestro Zubin Mehta in preparation for a special orchestral project in 2012...

Final concet of a sold-out Israeli tour

2011-07-10T04:34:00.000-07:00

Dekel and the trio ended a six-concert sold-out tour of Israel this weekend to a packed amphitheater with
israeli rocknroll star Maor Cohen as special guest.

Looking forward to seeing y'all on an extended festival tour in sept.!

Interview with the Jerusalem Post

2011-07-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

Dekel is being interviewd by the Jerusalem Post about the Trio, Bach, Coltrane and what's next.

http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Music/Article.aspx?id=227354

Join us on Facebook!

2011-06-27T00:21:00.000-07:00

keep in touch on latest pics, vids and secret gigs...

http://www.facebook.com/dekelbortrio

Special guest at the Paris Jazz Festival

2011-06-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

Dekel will be performing as special guest at the paris jazz festival tonight at sunset-sunrise w. his childhood hero Peter Bernstein.
June 19th

http://www.sunset-sunside.com/

Paris Jazz Festival master class

2011-06-18T01:06:00.000-07:00

Dekel will be guesting at the Paris festival and will present a masterclass on June 22nd,
touching on composition and improvisation.

Details are being set and will appear shortly.

Festivals in 2012

2011-06-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

Dekel is preparing the epic 6 Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo for a trio tour of 2012.
If you are anywhere near do not miss this special concert:

Sept. - Air-Hung Festival, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Oct. - Ballou Festival , Barcelona, Spain
Jan. - Red Sea Jazz Festival, Eilat, Israel
March - Stone New-Music Festival, NYC, USA
March - Jazz-Tone Festival, Moscow, Russia
May - MusikFest, Berlin, Germany

More festivals are being confirmed this summer -
Please check back soon...

Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo

2011-05-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Dekel and the band have been in the studio this week recording Dekel's rather bold interpretation of J.S. Bach's epic Sonatas For Violin Solo.

Dekel and the trio will be touring seuropean festivals in winter and spring of 2012 performing the sonatas.
Please check the tour schedule for details

Dekel Bor w. special guest Maor Cohen at Enav

2011-05-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

Dekel will present new compositions in a series of concerts at "Enav Cultural Center" in Tel-Aviv,

each concert will climax with a guest appearance of a major Israeli artist.

First concert in the series will feature Maor Cohen - known as lead vocalist for "Zikney-Tsfat", albums under his own name and various prime-time TV roles.

The concert will take place Wed. 6/7/11 at 8:30pm,

Tickets are 60/75 nis and can be ordered at:

03-604-5000

Looking forward to seeing you!

Artist in Residence ensemble concert

2011-05-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

Dekel has been artist in residence at the acclaimed "Thelma-Yelin High-School For The Arts" in Tel-Aviv.

"Returning to the school that shaped my musical background 10 years later is an honor and a joy" says Dekel.

Dekel has been working with a select group of students, which will present a concert on 15/5/11 at 7pm.

It's open to the public so come support Jazz's next generation!

Dekel Bor Trio w. special guests at Levontin 7, Tel-Aviv

2011-04-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Dekel and the trio will be performing at Levontin 7 - Tel-Aviv's hottest club saturday April 16th, 9pm.

Dekel will be premiering a lot of new music he been composing for his next album.

Special guests Ronnie Peterson and Oz Noy will be sitting in.

Tickets are 60nis and can be reserved at:

www.levontin7.com

03. 560. 5084

Looking forward to seeing you!

Dekel Bor Trio at the Carlton in Haifa

2011-03-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

Dekel and the trio will be performing a rare Haifa concert on Tues. 12/4/11 at the Carlton Hotel's stage, with it's great acoustic and panoramic view to the bay.

Tickets are 30nis and can be reserved at:

04. 642. 8888

Dekel Bor and Taiseer Elias

2011-03-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

Dekel met Taiseer Elias - widely considered as one of the greatest living Oud virtuosos on a project with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the two struck an immediate rapport.

After getting together for a couple informal rehearsals Dekel has traveled to the Israeli desert for 10 days, composing new music for the collaboration, using traditional arabic musical motifs.

Dekel is endorsing Eventide

2011-02-07T01:53:00.000-08:00

Dekel is honored to be selected as an endorser for Eventide's new line of stomp guitar effects.
Eventide has long been considered the music world's most prestigious brand of studio effects,
and is breaking new ground with it's new line of guitar processors.

Introduction to "The Lost Art Of Innovation"

2010-04-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

in·no·va·tion
Pronunciation: \ˌi-nə-ˈvā-shən\
Function: noun
Date: 15th century
1 : the introduction of something new 2 : a new idea, method, or device : novelty
— in·no·va·tion·al \-shnəl, -shə-nəl\ adjective

In 1936 in Kansas City , Missouri legendary jazz drummer Joe Jones participated in a local jam session during which, at the heat of the battle he threw a drum cymbal at a young saxophone player who created at jones' words "musical mayhem".
That was the introduction of Charlie Parker.
Parker is known today as the leading light of the bebop movement - the cutting-edge jazz style of the 1940's which established jazz as new and artistic vocal-less musical style from the swing bands of the 20's and 30's.
We can only imagine the initiate reaction of Joe Jones - a pivotal figure of swing drumming to the new groundbreaking sound of bebop, but we know he was shocked to the extent of interrupting Parker's playing in a less-than-subtle manner.
Parker was 16 years old at the time.
Parker spent a few more years of practice and touring and after moving to New-York in 1939 he finally released his now-legedary 1st album in 1945 which introduced his by-now fully mature musical breakthrough to the world, and thus changing the world of jazz forever.
In the following 15 years musicians all across the globe - saxophonists and instrumentals alike spent days and nights deciphering Parker's musical language.

In 1959 a 33-year old saxophone player was getting ready to leave his full-time job as a member of the Miles Davis Sextet and landed his 1st multi-record deal.
His first album of that year named "Giant Steps" changed jazz history and the artist and composer is named John Coltrane.
Critical reaction to Coltrare's musical achievements was ominous - he was heralded on global press as a "musical nihilist" and was booed in his european concert tours, audiences and critics describing his music as harsh, angry and un-musical.
With this one album Coltrane became earned god-like stature in the musical world inspiring musicians until today to follow his musical footsteps
In the years that followed Coltrane and his band kept changing and growing musically creating a body of work some say remain the pinacle of musical achievement in jazz.
By the time of his death in 1967 Coltrane became a mythical figure within the american afro-american community inpiring countless people from every generation and every field.

Only one year after Coltrane's groundbreaking Giant Step a virtually-unknown L.A. based saxophonist by the name of Ornette Coleman moved his quartet to legendary, lengthy and controversial engagement at the famed New-York club "The Five Spot" creating a stir of criticism within the jazz world.
Coleman signed a multi-record deal with Atlantic Records home for such varied artist roster as Ray Charles, Charles Mingus and Led Zepellin.
Ornette and his group presented a new and completely unique musical universe which omitted traditional harmonic movement completely.
Reaction to the band's sound was imidiete - world-reknowned drummer Max Roach punched Ornette in the mouth following his performance and Miles Davis was qouted as :"Hell, just listen to what he writes and how he plays. If you're talking psychologically, the man's all screwed up inside."
With 6 albums released on atlantic Ornette Coleman single-handedly changed the jazz world influencing his peers to change thier existing musical style alltogether - Charles Mingus fired his band and re-grouped not using piano, John Coltrane recorded an album of Ornette's music with Ornette's own band and where in the late 50's Coltrane set new heights to the complexity of harmonic movement in jazz his post 1960' output found him abandoning harmonic movement altogther.
Even Miles Davis employd many of Ornette's musical breakthroughs in a new quintet he formed in 1964 and changed his style accordingly.

The introduction of electric instruments brought on a massive new sound starting in 1969 with Tony Williams' new trio which featured british guitar sensation John McLaughlin.
Miles Davis started a new band which featured Chick Corea on electric keyboards and Dave Holland on electric bass.
Adding various guests in studio sessions Davis released two albums which started a domino effect in every corner of the music world-these two albums are "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew".
These two albums prominently featured John McLaughlin who formed his own band - "The Mahavishnu Orchestra" who released a series of highly popular albums and following the band's demise McLaughlin changed gears from the band's loud electric music and formed an acoustic band with classical indian musicians.
The band was named "Shakti" and is regarded as the 1st musical collaboration between western and eastern musicians and the original group of world music.
Chick Corea - another Davis alumni started his own electric and highly influential group called "Return To Forever" - the band (along with the Mahavishnu Orchestra) created a new and unique balance between improvisation and through-composed music, borrowing extended musical forms from european classical music to create a new landscape in jazz-one that did not rely on the improvised solos for it's appeal.
Perhaps the most influential of jazz electric bands was "Weather Report" - a group formed by Davis cognoscenti Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, and included other Davis associates as Miroslav Vitous and Airto Moreira as well as introduced electric bassist Jaco Pastorius who created a new universe and stylistic and technical breakthroughs for every future electric bass player.

Every new jazz movement resonated with the social climate of it's time, creating a new musical syntax which extended it's former generation's technical musical vocabulary.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Innovation

2010-03-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

in·no·va·tion
Pronunciation: \ˌi-nə-ˈvā-shən\
Function: noun
Date: 15th century
1 : the introduction of something new 2 : a new idea, method, or device : novelty
— in·no·va·tion·al \-shnəl, -shə-nəl\ adjective

For an upcoming publication I been writing on the topic of innovative breakthroughs in music I'm revisiting a few highlights of recent years:

John Adams - "on the transmigration of souls" -
If im to choose a representative for any new light in classical music it has to be this work.
I could talk on and on about the voice movement within the mixed choir, the trumpet line's homage to Charles Ives, or the tapes of mourning family members in the time of 9/11, but i urge you to just go ahead and get it.
It also won a pulitzer..

Pat Metheny - "The Way Up"
Just when you thought he locked himself in a gold musical cage of his own design metheny delivers the album of his career.

Keith Jarrett - "Testament"
This 3 disc masterpiece is jarrett's testament to the reward of reinventing your self-made musical forms and breakthroughs.
He reinvented his musical language, his musical form, and most importantly- musical context.

Wayne Shorter - "Beyond the sound barrier "
Wayne and the quartet stand at the forefront of modern jazz reinventing the term group interplay and form.
This masterpiece lost him his major-label contract...

Alfred Shnitke - "Psalms of repentance" -
The choir ensemble is one of great heritage and cornerstones, ones that havent been touched in decades-some say centuries.
Until now.

E.s.t - "leucocyte"
Esbjorn Svensson's swan song delivers the next and new chapter of this groundbreaking ensemble's journey.
A month after completing the mixing and artwork of the album Svensson tragically died in a diving accident.

John Potter - "Being Duffay"
Known as the leader being the now-legendary Hilliard Ensemble Hillier revisits Duffay in a groundbreaking electronical landscape. WOW.

Ornette Coleman - "Sound Grammar"
Much have been said about Ornette's pulitzer-winning album, yet anyone i talk to about it hasnt heard it...

Michael Brecker - "Pilgrimage"
Brecker completed this album just a few months before his untimely death and after 2 years of musical sabaticcal and medical treatments.
This is the triumph of spirit in the face od adversity as set to music.
Rumors within brecker's circle say the real breakthrough remain unrecorded - a project of new music with balkan origins he was constantly working on while on the road with his various bands.

"Shomer Masoret"

2009-11-12T02:43:00.000-08:00

Once again its 5:30 am, back from a concert in jerusalem-a city so full of history and heritage.
We, too, drove up there to re-examine out history, heritage and most importantly-the depth of our faith.

The club was packed (rare for this particular one) with various fans-some who drove up from every and any corner of the country to hear the band. (THANK YOU!)

Tonight was the first night of a 2 week tour which features Nir Na'aman. Nir is visiting from NYC. He also is one of the most gentle , beautiful and generous souls one will come across. He's been one of my closest friends and musical partners for the past, mm, 13 years...
and least i mention, Nir is one of the most amazing and simply unbelievable saxophone players you will ever have the chance of hearing.

This tour is dedicated to the passing of 40 years since the passing of Jazz god John Coltrane.
Coltrane for the jazz musicians is what quantom physics are to the mathematician, and what Bach is to the classical musician-Coltrane's music represents the roots and heritage of jazz, it's history and grandeur, yet at the same time it presents some of the most daunting challenges a jazz musician will ever face - theoretical and technical challenges-and perhaps the harder ones-personal, emotional and philosophical challenges.

My group of bandits and myself have been known to be dedicated to "new" music, "original" music and other terms coined to convey one's attempt o find one's personal path.
Yet we were all brought up within a certain tradition, a certain language, a certain world which is most often referred to as "jazz standards".
The standards are songs and jazz compositions made famous by the jazz giants of the 20th century.
These standards, like any, represent the common ground a musician has to cover in his journey to become a jazz musician. These standards contain endless melodic, harmonic and rhythmic possibilities we will spend our life exploring.
And against these standards we measure our growth, our goals, ourselves.

Within these jazz standards John Coltrane's music stands out-some of his compositions have gained mythical stature among jazz musicians, some even considered as "holy" and not to be touched.
Many of these songs started musical and social revolutions, both small and large.

Nir Na'aman and myself have performed some of Trane's music growing up, and a little less than a year ago have recorded this music following an american tour.

As the years passed our musical ability grew, and as we mature we are able to bring more to the table-more experience, better understanding of jazz history and hopefully -more SOUL.
But the important things remained the same-Coltrane's amazing music which echoes his spirit every time played, my band's dedication to exploring music's in's and out's e-v-e-r-y night out, and last but not least-Nir's loving friendship, his real and deep belief in music and jazz as a way of life, his amazing mastery of the jazz language and his willingness to test it once again in a leap of faith as to discover not only what it is-but what it could be if....

Once again im being reminded by my partners, is that the only standards worth sharing are the highest ones.

See you out there:)

"Isnt Classical music dead?!"

2008-03-19T02:02:00.000-07:00

"Go live a full, interesting and varied life. It will come out in your art"

The above sentence is one often heard by artists in every field and culture - masters pass it on to their students as a mantra in one's quest to grow as a person as well as an artist.

I hear the saying above is true, but cannot actually attest to it...
I always felt the desire to get lost in my own world and imagination, choosing to not only focus on one genre of music (which is in itself only one form of art within many ways of human expression) but focus on even more specific extremes within the genre.
I pick and choose, mix and match certain moods, grooves, chords, and keys only to discover how much can be said with how little.
I often choose a small group of peers and mentors and work pretty much only with them, working towards long lasting musical and personal collaborations and relationships.

Some say "but why limit yourself"?
I say "why the hell not?!"

I feel that the deeper I dive into my own personal waters the more intimate i become with them, making every shade of blue really count.
And this way of working really works for me.
I say no to projects I would enjoy in other fields only to feel like making real progress in my tiny chosen field.
It might be a needle in a hey-sack, but hey-its my needle, and its a damn fine one :)

Every year or two I take on a project from outside my field-a drum and bass band, a classical chamber ensemble, or god forbid-a rock n' roll band- only to feel emotionally detached from the music real quick and swear to never stray from my beloved jazz till death do us part.
The only musical world I keep returning to only to never find a real format to grow with is the classical world.
I performed with different ensembles-from world-famous orchestras to small obscure chamber groups and always felt like a fish out of water...
Somewhere between the conductor throwing his hands or sticks in all directions as if to land a highjacked plane to the fact every note is already written therefore after the 2nd concert i feel like im 50 years old reading the same book over and over again.
And the audience drinks no wine, dresses funny and misses bingo night to hear the music.
Besides, none of my friends listen to classical music thinking it died with their grand-grandparents...
In short-I'm LOVING IT.

Last time I was invited to perform as a soloist with an orchestra I immediately asked If I could bring the trio with me. I figured that even if we can't make the 2 ends meet at least I'll see my buddies and we'll rock out on our own time later that night at some jazz club.
To my surprise , the orchestra people said yes...
But (there's always a but with non-jazz musicians) we'll have to meet midway-you can improvise on some of the music, and will have to play some of the orchestral music too. You can rock out on some of your jazz as long as you'll play our music elegantly enough...or so they said....

I must add that the marriage of such bastard children as improvised and written orchestral music almost never works. really. usually it sounds like cheap broadway BS at best or real sonic disaster at worst...

So why am I telling you this?
Because this week I been a part of a very special project.
The Israeli Stage Orchestra invited 3 soloists to perform music of their choice with them, and after 2 concerts this week, we all can't wait for the rest of the season.
The entire "band" is made up of classical musicians from all nationalities and all ages,

We turned the entire program inside out-they play bach and I improvise guitar solos over it, the drums play jazz brushes behind me playing Ravel, we play jazz samba behind Saint-Saëns, as well as each soloist performing an original composition of his choice.

After 2 somewhat-rocky rehearsals we were all amazed that the last 2 concerts at The Jerusalem Theater were fantastic, and to packed houses too...
This music is absolutely gorgeous and I find myself listen with great anticipation to what everyone is playing as it comes out so dreamy and pretty in the face...

We have 8 more concerts with this project (which I was just informed will continue next year) the next 2 will take place this coming saturday at the Tel-Aviv museum (rest of the dates are on the band's website) and I hope you can make it :)

Modern jazz in modern times

2007-10-10T05:09:00.000-07:00

"Excuse me-what kind of music was that? "
" You tell me" i answer.
"it sounds like some new kinda jazz to me-but i dont know about ALL music"
"neither do I" i answer.

Modern Jazz in modern times.
its 5 am.
i just got back from playing a concert in jerusalem.
Playing in jerusalem means i drop off my motorcycle at the local rent-a-van, head back to telaviv, pick up the band, and then drive to jerusalem, play the concert, go eat, drop off the band in telaviv only to return the car at 4:30am.....loooooooonnnnggg night.
by the time we get to jerusalem and we are just about to fall asleep, after sitting in the car for 3 hrs, and we actually did consider disappearing from the jazz club for the favor of a great local pizza place, followed by a movie.
we been working hard this past month traveling all across israel, and rehearsing on days off. we all wanted a night off.
but, we are here, we might as well play. we been working too hard at it to not see what tonight might bring.

there were maybe 30 people in the audience - most of them regulars who come see the band every couple weeks.
we know some of them by name, some of them have our phone no's or emails and inquire about next week's show, CD's etc.
we know they all paid a ticket, yet we get ripped off by the new clubowner (we perform there every week when in israel) and we get payed a sum too low to print....i will reveal we lost money after gas and food expenses. and we didnt eat all posh...

so we all agree that maybe we should just cancel our weekly shows there for Oct. and nov. and just rehearse in telaviv, or play one of our Telaviv venues instead ( "even for free!" ,suggested by a band member who prefers to remain anonymous. he plays drums.)

and i agree. its way too much work, for very little money. we might as well.
now ill take the risk of being the helpless romantic ill never admit i am, and say tonight was one of the most exciting concerts I been part of in some time.
from the first note the music danced, roared, cried, touched, and really kicked ass.
nights like these are rare, and most musicians will tell you-the really good nights really do feel like a million dollars. and i will attest to the same mantra:)

What are the odds? that in a country where people fear the next war, stressed about next month's rent, embarrassed about our president, and feel lost waiting for the next political and social change-what are the odds that 3 people will band together and work towards a unique and personal group statement?
young men leaving their girlfriends behind, their financial worries behind, their egos behind and travel a too long a way in all hours of the night just for the chance of being part of something special. of something that might matter to someone. anyone.

We play real loud, so you'd know that jazz kicks ass.
We play super slow, so you'd feel that time stands still.
We play as fast as fast gets, and sounds flash right before your eyes and ears.
We give it all we got. so you'd know we are as serious as cancer-this music is our statement about who we are, as young men in a society that doesn't care for expression, for individuality, for courage, for music.
We would prefer to just chill out, take the night off, get some food.
But we are already here, we might as well play.
Modern Jazz in modern times.

Musics and musings

2007-04-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

This week's diet consists of new and old discoveries:

1. Ornette Coleman - Sound Grammar
For an album covered this much by global press it went pretty much un-noticed in NYC. This is an amazing album. Its a time in history where the major statements are made by the veterns of this artform-and with that please check out the amazing last 2 keith jarrett solo releases.

2. Ralph Towner - Solstice
Its been a habit of mine to seek out old, out-of-print ECM albums no one kinda talks about, and this one is a real find. Garbarek, Garbarek, Garbarek.
and it makes me wanna get me a 12 string guitar and disappear with it to some exotic island and dream myself away.

3. Branford Marsalis - The Beautyful ones are not yet born
I been listening to this trio for 8 years now, but only got this one lately, even though i knew the toons from the live album of the same period the studio album is unreal.

Please keep in mind there's a new album just released by Adam Rogers.
We just played with Adam at Smalls couple months back, and it was one of the highlights of our tenure there. The chemistry was special, the audience was right wong with it-it was a night to remember
Luckily it was recorded. one day...
Adam is the sweetest person. A real thinker and a heartfelf lyricist, and I have a real obsession for his last 3 albums. He also happens to be nothing short of an amazing bandleader and compser. And everyone knows his guitar playing is on the superhuman realm. go get the album.

Benny lackner trio , with DBT honorary member Derek Neivergelt on bass-is having thier new CD release bash tomorrow. do not miss. i hear the new album is their best yet, and that says ALOT.

Banding,bending and bonding (the trio)

2007-04-12T05:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

For the festive debut of my blogaroo I shall open with the million dollar question we been answering most frequently this past month-

"where's the band?!"

Truth is that after performing 150-250 concerts annually during the last 4-5 years we have been a band, and after an insane winter of performing all over and recording new material I needed a break. Its me. blame it on my youth...

We played a tour of israel a month ago to packed houses-which was amazing to me-i figured bet. my mom and Nadav's mom we'd have 20 people...

Now ill be spending the next couple of month performing as sideman, Nadav will do the same, Francois is recording a new album with his brother, and come June we'll hit Europe for June and July. Then a long tour of Israel and Greece in Aug. and a long US tour in Sept., during which we'll finish the new album with my mentor, the amazing producer Robert Sadin.

In the next month we'll re-do the entire website, and start blogging away both here and on the band's website.

Please keep in mind that any opinion expressed here is not more than an opinion-feel free to agree, disagree, write back, send flowers (red works best) etc.

See you at the gig

Dekel and the Band