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| Tal Gamlieli, Yaron Gottfried and Yonatan Oleiski |
Featuring:
Yaron
Gottfried, piano/conductor
Yonatan
Oleiski, drums
Tal
Gamlieli, bass
Manila
Symphony Orchestra
Programme:
Yaron
Gottfried Capriol Jazz Suite for
Jazz Trio and Orchestra
Modest
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
The
Embassy of Israel told me about this concert way back during the invitation
only screening of the Israel Film Festival. I was just told by the Deputy Chief
of Mission
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| Israel Ambassador Menashe Bar-On, FilFest's Vicky Zubiri, Deputy Chief of Mission Yaniv Revach and RAd |
Time passed and finally, the date of the concert came. Dressed
in my best set of threads, I arrived with plenty of time to spare at the BDO
Corporate Center
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| Composer, conductor, pianist Yaron Gottfried |
The concert
soon started at the Francisco Santiago hall with the Capriol Suite for Jazz Trio
and Orchestra with Yaron Gottfried himself conducting the orchestra and
playing the piano along with bassist Tal Gamlieli and drummer Yonatan Oleiski.
This suite, based on the Peter Warlocks Capriol Suite for Strings (which was
based on tunes from Arbeaus Orchesographie published in 1588) featured four
movements based on baroque dances. But interspersed in between the orchestral
passages were extended sections wherein the jazz trio did major improvisation based upon the themes of the original tunes. It was very
interesting to hear the clear melodies of the tunes and then Gottfried adding layers to it complex chords with the piano resulting in a very textured sound. I have always wanted to hear a contemporary piece played by an orchestra
in here and it was indeed such a treat not only to hear such a work but to have
the composer conducting it. But at some point, listening to the jazz musicians got me frustrated since I've focused more on classical technique and have learned to accept that I'll never be able to excel with jazz improvisation no matter how much I try. It just isn't in my system, so there's no point in forcing myself to learn how to play it and instead, I just need to enjoy listening to it.
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| Bassist Tal Gamlieli |
For
an encore, the trio performed a special arrangement of Jingles by Wes
Montgomery. During this time, the venue felt like a jazz lounge than a concert
hall and some of the orchestra members found themselves swaying while the trio
played the piece. I also let go of my inhibitions and found myself nodding
my head and tapping my feet to the beat as well.
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| Drummer Yonatan Oleiski |
The
second half of the programme had the MSO playing a very familiar and popular
piece: Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition that was orchestrated by
Maurice Ravel. While some purists might scoff at the classical and jazz mash up
of the previous piece, I think that they would’ve been silenced by the second
piece which is not only a staple in the orchestral repertoire but also poses a
challenge to the musicians as well. The Old Castle section
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| The Jazz Trio during the PI Jazzfest 2012 |
One
thing that I found odd was that I couldn’t find any thematic link between the
Jazz Suite and Pictures at an Exhibition during the concert. But I was able to find out the link a few days
later when I watched Gottfried, Gamlieli and Oleiski once again during their
performance at the Cultural Night of the PI Jazzfest 2012 held at Greenbelt 3. This time, the trio performed portions of Pictures at an Exhibition (Old
Castle
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| The Jazz Trio with a couple of members from MSO |
I am
very grateful to the Israeli Embassy for bringing the musicians here and also for fulfilling my
wish to hear a contemporary piece. I’ve been very fortunate to
have been a part of the Embassy’s events and celebrations for about a couple of
years now and it was music that made things possible in the first place. I value the friendship and I wish that it remains strong as the years go by. And this also applies between the two countries and not just between myself and the Embassy alone.
