YOTAM BEN-OR QUARTET

IMPERMANENCE

Adhyaropa Records

Yotam Ben-Or, harmonica/composer; Gabriel Chakarji, piano/composer; Alon Near, bass; Alon Benjamini, drums; SPECIAL GUESTS: Lars Danielsson, cello; Esther Quansah, voice.

This album is a milestone in Yotam Ben-Or’s journey learning how to let go and accept things the way they are.

Ben-Or explains in his liner notes, “I’m learning how to look at the bigger picture and letting the music breathe instead of controlling it anxiously.  I still have a ways to go, but I feel like this is a good start.”

I found his original music and his energetic approach to playing harmonica quite entertaining and expressive. The Israeli Belgian harmonica player is a permanent fixture on the New York jazz scene.  He has established himself as one of the leading new voices on the harmonica as a leading instrument in jazz.  I find myself very impressed with the piano player, Gabriel Chakarji.  All his piano solos are stunning.  Additionally, he’s a very sensitive accompanist, giving Yotam Ben-Or lots of room to grow and groove.

This music is inspired by the Israel culture and Argentina. It’s also infused with the rhythms of Cuba and Venezuelan music.  When they play a tune called “By the Way” you hear the Latin flavor dancing in the arrangement.  Ben-Or has composed this song and seven others out of the ten the quartet has recorded. When Chakarji takes his solo he swings the tune in the sweetest way.

Jazz harmonica is certainly a selective arena, conquered by only a few like Toots Thielemans, Howard Levy and Gregoire Maret.  Yotam Ben-Or joins this stellar group of harmonica icons, spilling over with his own talent and creativity. He has had a lifelong love affair with the harmonica, starting in a small Jerusalem village in the area called Nataf. His music is a mix of Mediterranean influences with traditional jazz and traces of South American and Central American Latin culture. “Merengue” is a beautiful ballad he has composed.  All of the musicians on this album are close friends.  I hear and feel their warm camaraderie as each tune peels off my cd player.

Yotam Ben-Or includes two special guests on this project.  One is the celebrated Swedish cellist, Lars Danielsson. He adds his talent on cello during the quartet’s arrangement of the beautiful “Ballad for Daniel” composition. The blending of cello and harmonica is quite lovely. The other guest is Esther Quansah, who adds her warm vocals to the final song track on this album titled, “Trying.”  It has a challenging melody, but the vocalist nails it.  There are synthesized voices added that warm the arrangement. I thought the composition called “Rene” was also quite beautiful. Additionally, a song called “Essi” performed solo by Ben-Or’s harmonica spoke to me in a sensuous way.

All in all, this is a wonderful, fresh, musical experience for both your ears and your soul.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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