Mike Butler - A Great Concert Review

 http://www.dyversemusic.com/2013/03/giilad-atzmon-orient-house-ensemble.html



Band on the Wall, Manchester, March 15, 2013 
Good music is not enough: Gilad Atzmon has always favoured high concepts to help convey his message. This gets him into trouble when the high concepts are overtly political. Atzmon must be the only jazzman whose merchandise contains the last half dozen CDs and a book of polemic entitled The Wandering Who? "Stick to the music," has been the refrain of conservatives since the radical anti-Zionist arrived from Israel in 1994. Except that his world view is evident in every note of the music: variously etched with white-hot passion or withering scorn and brimming with controlled anger or raucous glee. 
His latest CD, Songs of the Metropolis, contains pieces inspired by cities and locales. What could be more harmless? 
The focus here is on his composing as much as his playing. 'Moscow' is an iron romance held together by rolling Borodin chords, shifting between severity and prettiness, and 'Berlin' invokes the shade of Kurt Weil with a spot of Weimar-style decadence. 'Tel Aviv' begins with an urgent clamour before the soprano digs into some deep blues, coloured by Arab modes, and rapidly gains in intensity. The power and bite of Atzmon full-on is breathtaking. A mighty handful, indeed. 
If the records are powerful, they only hint at the unfettered force of Atzmon in the flesh.
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The Curse of Chutzpa

By Nahida Izzat

nahidaexiledpalestinian.wordpress.com

 

chutzpah-1

Gilad Atzmon argues that in order to best support Palestine we must cease to view the Palestinian struggle as “just another apartheid” or “just another colonial project”

What makes the occupation of Palestine “unique” is not the “specialness” of the suffering of Palestinians, nor is it the “uniqueness” of their tragedy or the “importance” of their cause.

What makes it “unique”is the fact that: those Jewish Zionists who occupy Palestine, those Jewish Zionists who support them, and even many of those Jewish anti-Zionists who oppose them view themselves as “unique”.

Many Jewish anti-Zionists view themselves as unique in the sense that they frantically hold on the notion of the “uniqueness” of the “Jewish suffering” and the inevitability of future “multi-holocausts” due to historic, intrinsic and incurable human-condition called “anti-semitism” which is in their view a “special” case of racism of inexplicable “hatred” for Jews.

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Atzmon: Give Jazz a Chance

By Ariadna Theokopoulos

http://www.boldfacenews.com

Stick with Atzmon: He’ll Take You Places!

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Atzmon’s newest release, Songs of the Metropolis, is a must in any jazz lover’s collection. “Multireedsman” but primarily a superb saxophone player, Atzmon has produced a bouquet of homages to some of the greatest cities of the world, their music and their culture.
Stick with Atzmon, he’ll take you places! Places like Paris, Tell Aviv, Buenos Aires, Vienna, Manhattan, Moscow, “Somewhere in Italy,” Berlin and yes, Scarborough too.

Atzmon’s “Paris” is sweet and flavorful as a madeleine, without being maudlin. It is the love story between a tender yet confident sax and a lovingly attentive and crystalline piano (Frank Harrison). It is a madeleine that makes the search for “lost time” a worthwhile endeavor. The sax finale has the long finish of the best, properly aged French wine.
“Tel Aviv”’s staccato with brief, subtle allusions to oriental tones pulls off the remarkable evocation of declarative purpose and oneiric longing, to which the percussion accompaniment (Eddie Hicks) adds a sabra robustness.


“Buenos Aires” is a haunting piece, like a somber milonga danced late at night somewhere in La Boca while the waiters are already putting he chairs up on the tables. The sad, tuneful refrain makes you want to add lyrics to it. “Porqué me haces eso? Porqué a mi?” would fit.

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BBC Music Magazine's Album Review (4 Srars)

http://www.classical-music.com/

With this collection of lithe, witty compositions, Atzmon pays tribute to some great world cities, including 'Berlin', 'New York', his birthplace 'Tel Aviv' and, er, 'Scarborough',
which provides the pre text for an epic, mood-shif(ing re-tread of 'Scarborough Fair', Although the Orient House Ensemble is on superb form, some of Atzmon's  fans may
feel initial disappointment at the restrained surface of some tracks. Several albums and numerous gigs have accustomed us to fiery, edgy, often confrontational work, but he has indicated that this angry turbulence had in fact become a comfort zone, so he felt the need to move into new territory. 'Paris' provides a slightly schmaltzy opening, but Atzmon's sumptuous chalumeau clarinet tone is a delight. A nod to Sidney Bechet via Acker Bilk, perhaps, and the funky, rhythmically-sophisticated 'Tel Aviv' demonstrates that Anmon's soprano sound is also one of the most satisfying since Bechet.
Barry Witherden BBC Music Magazine April 2013
PERFORMANCE 4 STARS
RECORDING 4 STARS

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

R2 Magazine Album Review (4 Stars)

http://www.rock-n-reel.co.uk/

“An interesting collection of locations inspires this album of musical evocations. Gilad Atzmon is in a reflective mood as he melodically recreates not only Paris and other cities, like Buenos Aires, Moscow, Tel Aviv and Berlin, but also such towns as Scarborough and, possibly, a more rural 'Somewhere In Italy'; certainly the work seems more pastoral than the others and even has Eric Dolphy-like bird song from the sax.

For this recording, Alzmon plays alto and soprano saxophones and, sometimes, clarinet and accordion. Frank Harrison offers extremely sympathetic support on piano and a variety of keyboards, Yaron Stavi the robust double bass and Eddie Hick percussively drums his way around each urban landscape. Rather than trying to instrumentally re-create actual street sounds, as Charles Mingus did in his famous New York Sketchbook, Atzmon opts for an altogether more impressionistic approach. There is a Christopher Isherwood, Cabaret-like feel to 'Berlin' complete with vocal chorus by Atzmon, Stavi and Hicks, while 'Buenos Aires' is a powerful, slow and atmospheric piece containing some of the album's finest playing.”

John Crosby R2 magazine 4 STARS

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

British Labor leader Miliband pledges to oppose Israel boycott

The Global News Service of the Jewish People reported:

http://www.jta.org

(JTA) -- Ed Miliband, the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, pledged to oppose boycotts of Israel and to protect Jewish customs, including circumcision and ritual slaughter. 

Speaking Thursday before a crowd of 300 at an event organized by Britain's main Jewish umbrella group, the leader of the British opposition, who is Jewish, warned of the need to be “ever-vigilant” against anti-Semitism, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Asked whether he would work to ensure religious slaughter and circumcision practices could continue in Britain, Miliband said: “Yes, these are important traditions. The kosher issue has recently been brought to my attention. Ways of life must be preserved.”

The Chronicle also quoted Miliband as saying that he takes anti-Semitism "very seriously" and that delegitimizing Israel is "something we should call out for what it is and not tolerate it.”

“I think the boycotts of Israel are totally wrong," he said. "We should have no tolerance for boycotts. I would say that to any trade union leaders.”

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Foul sewage flooding raises Palestinian ire

BY Mohammed Omer
Gaza Strip - Gazans are crying foul after Egypt stepped up its campaign to wipe out an underground network of transportation tunnels by blasting raw sewage down them, sometimes with deadly results for Palestinian workers.

Some 2,000 men and boys work in the tunnel trade in the Gaza Strip. But over the past three months, more than 80 percent have lost the only work and benefits available in besieged Gaza, which remains stuck in an Israeli blockade.

That occurred after the government of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi ordered the destruction of the underground transportation network. As part of that effort, the military began dumping raw sewage into the passageways.

It's the most serious - and arguably the most dangerous - attempt by Egypt to close down the tunnels since 2006, when Palestinians began digging the warrens after Israel sealed off its borders with Gaza following Hamas' election victory.

An estimated 30 percent of goods that reach Gaza's 1.7 million Palestinians come through the tunnels.

Heralded by Israel as a necessary step to prevent weapons sales into Gaza and to keep attackers out, the blockade has resulted in Palestinians being cut off from many essential items such as food, fuel and building materials.

Egypt frequently seals its border in Rafah citing security concerns, as attackers have launched assaults on security forces on the Sinai peninsula by using the underground network. 

Hundreds of tunnels have been burrowed over the 14-kilometre stretch of land linking Egypt to Gaza. 

The transportation lines have come at a cost. Israel's Air Force frequently bombs them, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 Palestinians by direct missile hits, according to statistics from the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.

One tunnel owner who identified himself as Abu Suliman said only 50 tunnels are functioning, as opposed to about 550 working at full capacity following Israel's last military operation on Gaza in November 2012.

Egypt's Interior Ministry spokesman, Islam Shawan, estimates about 900 tunnels had been operational between Gaza and Egypt until the recent campaign to flood them with sewage water.

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Songs of the Metropolis - The Last Leg of our OHE UK tour

Today in Shetland Island:

18:00 Improvisation Master Class.

20:00 The Primacy of the Ear -The Wandering Who, a book launch  Islesburgh Community Centre, Shetland Island (+master classes) 

13 Jazz Bar, Edinburgh / www.thejazzbar.co.uk

14 Band on the Wall, Manchester / www.bandonthewall.org

15 The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria / www.breweryarts.co.uk  

17 Herts Jazz, Welwyn Garden City / www.hertsjazz.co.uk

30 The 606 Club, London / www.606club.co.uk

 

Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble

Gilad's music facebook page

Amazon.co.uk

   

 

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Lauren Booth - Jerusalem MPs demand Justice


'When the Israeli security agencies began their aggressive campaign against the PLC candidates, the men refused to be intimidated. Declaring the start of their electoral campaign from inside Al-Aqsa Mosque. As a result, they earned the trust of Jerusalemites, leading to the their election to the PLC.

As soon as the MP’s were successfully elected, the Israeli occupation authority began seeking measures with which to imprison or remove the MP’s permanently from their home city, Jerusalem.

This was not legally possible. The ‘Entry into Israel Law 1952’, does not provide occupation authorities with the justification to deport MP›s, or any other Palestinians, from Jerusalem.

However, the Israeli Interior Minister, Ronnie Bar, sought to enforce the MP’s deportation, under a new initiative. An illegal action, whereby the occupier expels Palestinians from Jerusalem, for «disloyalty» to the Israeli authority.

According to the rhetoric of Bar, the MP›s resided in ‘Israel’ (not Palestine). Therefore, they must pledge their loyalty to the Israeli occupation authority, in order to remain. Furthermore, Bar put forward that the MP’s membership of the Palestinian Legislative Council (a foreign parliament) proved their loyalty lay elsewhere, thus making them guilty of treachery to the Israeli authority, deserving permanent expulsion from Jerusalem.

But there is a problem with all of Bar’s aggressive rhetoric;. A small thing known as; international law.

Under International law (Security Council resolution 242 and 338 and other resolutions), Jerusalem is an Occupied Palestinian city - not an Israeli city. Therefore, International laws and statues must apply and Israeli political legislation (or wishful thinking), does not.

Furthermore, it is clear that, as stated in Article 45 of the Hague Regulations, 1907:

‘An occupying power, is prohibited from compelling residents, of the territory occupied from pledging loyalty, to them’.

United Against Freedom

GA: The Rabid Zionist BBCWatch is upset once again. The BBC gave me a platform, oy vey indeed.  Seemingly, the BBC fails to (fully) submit to Zionist  pressure.  The usual spin aplied - once again I am equated with  'neo nazis' and 'KKK',  I am labled  an 'anti Semite' in spite of the fact that I actullay hate everyone equally (a joke).  The message is clear. Zionist organisations are determined  to dominate UK culture. But today's  story is even more peculiar. Adam Holland, the Hasbara troll  behind the following piece is  actually a Californian operating from America.  In short, this time it is an  American Zionist Jew who atempts to vet British radio as if we don't have enough Zionists on this side of the pond. 

 

BBC World Service promotes Gilad Atzmon – again


http://bbcwatch.org/2013/03/09/bbc-world-service-promotes-gilad-atzmon-again/

h/t Adam Holland

The BBC World Service has an arts programme called ‘The Strand‘ which, according to the blurb:

“..is a daily 18 minute programme highlighting the best of what’s going in the arts.

Wide-ranging and with eclectic interests, The Strand reflects the artistic response to the BBC’s news agenda.

Presented by Harriett Gilbert and friends, it features discussions, reviews, big-name interviews and location reports as well as live studio performances and Hollywood, Bollywood gossip.”

 

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Is Palestinian Solidarity an Occupied Zone?

in , , , , , , ,
By GILAD ATZMON

 

http://www.counterpunch.org/

Once involved with Palestinian Solidarity you have to accept that Jews are special and so is their suffering; Jews are like no other people, their Holocaust is like no other genocide and anti Semitism, is the most vile form of racism the world has ever known and so on and so forth.

But when it comes to the Palestinians, the exact opposite is the case. For some reason we are expected to believe that the Palestinians are not special at all -  they are just like everyone else. Palestinians have not been subject to a unique, racist, nationalist and expansionist Jewish nationalist movement, instead, we must all agree that, just like the Indians and the Africans, the Palestinian ordeal results from run-of-the-mill 19th century colonialism – just more of the same old boring Apartheid.

So, Jews, Zionists and Israelis are exceptional, like no one else, while Palestinians are always somehow, ordinary, always part of some greater political narrative, always just like everyone else. Their suffering is never due to the particularity of Jewish nationalism, or Jewish racism, or even AIPAC dominating USA foreign policy no, the Palestinian is always a victim of a dull, banal dynamic – general, abstract and totally lacking in particularity.

This raises some serious questions.

Can you think of any other liberation or solidarity movement that prides itself in being boring, ordinary and dull? Can you think of any other solidarity movement that downgrades its subject into just one more meaningless exhibit in a museum of materialist historical happenings? I don’t think so! Did the black South Africans see themselves as being like everyone else? Did Martin Luther King believe his brothers and sisters to be inherently undistinguishable?

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Nick Cooper: Gilad Atzmon Makes His First Error Ever?

 

GA: I promised Nick Cooper (BDS activist and  Klezmer muscian)  to publish his piece about my 'first error'. In fact I am happy to do so.  Cooper provides us here with a glimpse into the Jewish progressive mind.  For the obvious reasons he  fails to realsie that Jewish identity is far more complex than mere 'ethnicity'. We are dealing with ideology (Jewishness) and racially oriented exclusivist culture driven by choseness. This applies to Zionism and anti Zionism alike. I think that this exchange is interesting enough.   

end

Gilad Atzmon Makes His First Error Ever?

by Nick Cooper

https://docs.google.com

   I heard famous Israel critic and sax player Gilad Atzmon interviewed on the BBC, and he said two things that caught my attention on the air. The first was something I knew he had wrong, "If you are a Gentile, you can not really join a Jewish anti-Zionist cell, because you are not racially qualified."  
   The second was pure egotism, "No one until now said that I got my facts wrong, that I misquoted anyone, nobody until now. There is not a single critical voice who said Gilad is wrong about something."


   Since Jewish Voices for Peace and the Jewish Antizionist Network welcome non-Jewish participants and members, I thought I might have a chance to qualify as the first person to say that Gilad Atzmon had got a fact wrong.  Gilad and I had worked together on the Klezmer Musicians Against the Wall compilation CD, so I hoped, as an ally, I could influence him to change this erroneous talking point.  I contacted him about it.


 

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Marxist, Atheist, Jewish, Zionist and Prime Minister (wannabe)

in , , , ,

Haaretz reported today that  “Britain's next Jewish prime minister says he is a Zionist” how surprising. His brother David, was listed by an Israeli official website as an ‘Israeli propaganda (Hasbarah) Author’.  Reading Haaretz today confirms that 'Red Ed' changed his mind, he is now  'Blue & White'. a genuine Zionist Jew. I guess that  the British Labour is,  once again, an Israeli occupied territory. 

Read for yourself:
http://www.haaretz.com

Labor Party leader Ed Miliband establishes his pro-Israel credentials like never before by stating that while he doesn't always agree with its government, he is 'intolerant of those who question Israel's right to exist.'

The leader of the British Labor Party and the man who may well become the United Kingdom's first Jewish prime minister put a lot of minds at rest on Thursday when he said that he is a Zionist.

Ed Miliband may be the son of Jewish Holocaust refugees but he has never been considered a son of the local Jewish community. His Marxist parents gave him a resolutely atheist upbringing, and he never went through any of the typical rites of passage of British Jews; he didn't even have a Bar-Mitzvah. His leftist credential and a couple of critical remarks on Israel's operations in Gaza have rendered him suspect until recently. In recent months, however, he has been signaling a greater willingness to engage with the Jewish community – this included a personal essay on his Jewishness in the New Statesman weekly, mentions of his religious roots in his main policy speech at Labor's annual conference, closed meetings with community leaders and on Thursday night, the first open dialogue between the leader of the opposition and a Jewish audience.

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GILAD’S CITIES by Bryan Thomas

G: This poem by Bryan Thomas made me very proud. Beauty is the weapon and we fight for truth, peace and justic.

 

GILAD’S  CITIES

 

PARIS.  Accordion,

essentially Parisian,

echoed by the clarinet.

Here love is true,

is soulful and the depth of it is fearful

not because of things unknown to come

but because its felt so deep.

 

TELAVIV, never been, but Africa, the North

blew loud and clear, those

phrases, musical, ring true.

This is a ‘foreign’ land,

where people love and hate,

are passionate; their boundaries,

in all senses of the word, are marked,

unlike our favoured compromise.

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Is the Anti-Occupation Movement Driven by Defenders of Genocide?

by Dr. PAUL LARUDEE

http://www.counterpunch.org/

 

If there is one message that unifies critics of Israel and advocates for Palestinian rights, it is “End the Occupation.”  As with many unifying messages, however, it is successful partly because of its ambiguity.  What land and which people are occupied?  And what are the terms under which the “occupation” will be ended.

The ambiguity allows groups as disparate as Hamas and J Street to chant the phrase with very different images in mind. Hamas and other anti-Zionists argue that all of the land defined by the British Mandate of Palestine is occupied territory, while J Streeters and other “soft” Zionists commonly refer only to Israel’s 1967 territorial conquests as “occupied.”

The dividing line between these two views has been articulated By Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi of JBIG (Jews Boycotting Israeli Goods):

…there are many people within the movement who share the opinion – which is general throughout the West – that Israel needs to exist as a Jewish state, should exist as a Jewish state.  And there are many Jews and others in the movement who don’t want to criticize that fundamental fact.[i]

 

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Hear My Country-Gilad Atzmon on BBC World Services

Hear My Country-Gilad Atzmon on BBC World Services from Gilad Atzmon on Vimeo.

I was asked by BBC World Service to choose  three Israeli songs that had an impact on my life and intellectual/emotional  development. Israel is clearly not my state anymore. But it was great to return and listen to the music of my childhood. I also spoke briefly about academic and cultural boycott.  Unfortunately, I still see a categorical difference between an academic and an avocado and also between an artist and a carrot.

 

There Is No Business Like Shoa Business

By Gilad Atzmon

Yesterday, the Independent reported  “Astonishing new research shows Nazi camp network targeting Jews was twice as big as previously thought.” But The Independent was quick and kind enough to give us an insight into the  implications of this new Shoa affair. “The team behind the research, based at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, told The Independent that they believe the evidence could also be crucial to survivors trying to bring cases for compensation against Germany and other countries for time spent in camps whose existence was hitherto obscure or undocumented.”

Legendary (and very perceptive) Israeli diplomat Abba Eban had already sussed it out in the 1950s when he told us that: “There’s no business like Shoa business” 

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Twin Towers for Purim

http://www.shalomlife.com

Purim has begun, and just like with Halloween, children around the world are proudly parading around in their inventive costumes. This is one of the best times of year for our youngin’s- dressing up, going to parties, playing with friends, and playing make-believe… but what about the poor kids that are used as models for their parents distasteful creative endeavors?

Enter Ilay and Nehaoray, seven-year-old twins from Israel whose parents “playfully” decided to dress their children up in famous twin costumes: the Twin Towers. Not only are the kids dressed as the famous New York City buildings, they are fashioning the structures while on fire… with the planes sticking out of the side right near the children’s eye holes.

Popular news website Ynet originally posted the image, with the headline “Twin Towers and other costumes this Purim.” After several commenters remarked about how the title was almost as distasteful as the costume itself, the publication chose to remove it.

Purim and Genocidal Phantasies By Ran HaCohen

Why Purim?

Like any legacy stretching from the Ancient World through the Middle Ages to Modern Times, Judaism is a multifaceted culture: it can be universal as well as nationalist; egalitarian as well as racist; liberal, even revolutionary as well as ultra-conservative – all these messages can be found in it. Among other things, Purim, however, has always reflected deep genocidal phantasies of revenge. The Book of Esther, the textual basis for this holiday, tells the story of the miraculous saving of the Jews of Persia from their enemies, most notably the evil Haman. It ends with the hanging of Haman by the Persian King. Consequently, the Jews take revenge and kill Haman’s ten sons, murder several hundreds of non-Jews in the capital Susa, and then massacre seventy-five thousand non-Jews all over Persia. That’s how the Book of Esther ends. The (probably non-existent) historical foundations of these events are irrelevant: it’s the myth and the memory that matter.

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