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:)
