General Music Chat

I can't control myself any longer. I'm going to brag! But it's on my friends...

Because they all either live in Poland or Israel, I don't get to tour with these guys very often. A month in 2013 (east coast), two months in 2014 (14 countries of Europe), and only one gig last year (Israel) but for the first time we are all going to be together at the same time in Pennsylvania next month. Yes, I'm kinda excited so go read another thread if this bores you....


One of the most amazing musicians I've had the pleasure of recording and touring with since 2013 is Jadwiga Klapa (pronounced Yahd vee'ga Kwoppa) from Warsaw, Poland.

I really can't decide which song I love the most from her so here are a few examples of her greatness.

Jook, this is what I think of when I hear the words "Avant Garde"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDzqKNmBqcs

I recently showed you guys an off-the-top-of-his-head example of her husband, Pawel Zarecki, on piano in Den Hague? I didn't know it but he plays percussion too and here they are at their home studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-Vzicl5BaE



Pawel isn't in this one...but in this video, the two girls and the drummer played on 2 of my last 3 CDs. Szymon Madej is a freaky amazing rock drummer, and no slouch on jazz .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8djgtgdAiKE


But no really....you need to hear this one all the way through to the end
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YpVX98 ... freload=10


Do you see why I can't decide what I like most? (get your minds out of the gutter!? )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-Vzicl5BaE


And since helping me on my last 3 projects, Jadzia has become the star of a Polish Reality TV

This is a promo for the show where she sing "Lady Marmalade" in Polish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEmwp0qlCZs

And this is the guitar play who played and co-produced on 2 of my last 3, Jamie Hilsden.


While searching for the best example...I instead found this. Haha

He toured America several times fronting a punk rock band from Tel Aviv, Israel called "Man Alive". Here they are in 2006.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtCh-T0 ... freload=10

Wow...never saw this solo folk one from him in '07 until tonight?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6GPdhG ... freload=10


But this is a more recent example from 2012 with Jamie and several more female singers, & the tar player, Yaron Cherniak, that played with the Polish on my last 3 projects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdRthZe ... HfEmrn3Ejm


This guy is a very talented Producer. Got it from his mom and it's in his blood.

I know you're going to love this....

Yaron Cherniak is an arab playing in mostly Jewish bands of Jerusalem on a little Persian guitar...actually it's so small they just call it a "tar" haha

This guy is fabulous at improvising beautiful music and here's an example :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhc9_AMV_8U


Oh...here is another one I'd never seen before today...he is jamming with another young lady that I sometimes play with...the amazing & lovely Miss Elihana Elias. I'm SURE you'd like this one even with the sound down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3En1gVOEgsM



And I've already posted a VR video with Yaron jamming with more of my friends/bandmates Shai Sol & Jeremiah Kaufman that we produced "live" in a mall of Jerusalem last March, but here it is again. (It's really cool in VR, if you're capable yet)
https://littlstar.com/videos/367a10e2

All of these guys are stars in their own right, including Jeremiah Kaufman, who is one of my favorite percussionists to play with. We'll be touring a month or two together this summer, after the band goes home.


This one is kinda funny...it's his Zombie video. Won an Award in Atlanta for something recently?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnir5dz ... freload=10

here he is with Yaron doing one of his songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7xyROxYolc


Oh, here he is with another very talented young lady that will be joining us onstage in July, Miss Shai Sol of Tel Aviv. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9uhj5Y ... freload=10


And he played drums for Misty Edwards before making aliyah to Israel in 2009.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7xyROxYolc

The bass player, Woitek Gasior (pronounced "voy check gawn-sheeor") is a giant of man who broke me from offering to buy the beer ever again! He plays in a hugely popular gospel band of Poland, fronted by his wife.

In this video, Jeremiah performs with them during the time we were working on the first CD together in Warsaw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwpRL45o3m4

Here he is doing some Patitucci
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpMGxuYZJbs

And since we were recently discussing Jaco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zMNGqVS-mk

If you're digging on this Polish jazz motif, here is the drummer again; Szymon Madej in his other band, Fours Collective.

I don't really know these other guys but it's a way cool groove they have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI9QZPZRMFg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBCztaSAGgc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jTHfTcEhDY

This is the world-famous Atomic String Quartet. They won't be coming over in July but they did play on a couple of the Cultural Xchange CDs. Seriously, I would have mortgaged my house to get them to play on my songs, but didn't have to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0h2WAUf5Ds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2iQ2OG ... freload=10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfoTfRas3H8


Hmmm....here they are with Bobby McFerrin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqhrlcm ... freload=10

This is a new friend, only met her earlier this year, but excited that she's going to join us in July.

Shai Sol was a top 5 finalist in Israel's version of "Israel's Got Talent" and was a national sensation last year. She is so very talented as a songwriter, singer, and guitarist. This is in hebrew with english translation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg-LPRL ... freload=10

Here she is with Jamie helping her on guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9IJ2wS9ymQ

This is one is so beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2K6IHO ... freload=10

OR this one from a few months ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXuTPR9 ... freload=10

Maybe you remember her from the VR videos we produced in Jerusalem with Yaron and Jeremiah? This one was her song...(remember to spin the picture around)
https://littlstar.com/videos/cbcf8fc5

OK, I don't know this band...but I could be persuaded!

Don't know...just thought this was a cool example of the Tel Aviv scene.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFBIemRM-EE

And this is my friend, Pawel Zarecki, who makes it all work. It's one of the greatest pleasures of my life to jam with him. A truly humble man that I seriously rate in the top 10 pianists alive today. As long as he's there we can sound nothing but fabulous.

Don't know anyone in this particular video besides Pawel. I post it because its in his home studio where we work most in Poland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0QrapCUNUo


This is from the Pat Metheny album Pawel produced in 2010 with Polish superstar, Maria Jopek. He's the one on the far right (in more ways than one) in the white shirt looking down on the band and he not only played but produced the music AND the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS0aDg6 ... freload=10



This is who he's touring with at the moment until arriving in America next month. Met Mate.O at Pawel's house in 2013. Cool guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVV9opS ... n781gdjq3U




So anyway...thanks if you got this far into the thread. That's the band. It's worth waiting a year to play with them but oh how I wish I lived in Israel or Poland sometimes.

Jook, this is what I think of when I hear the words "Avant Garde"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDzqKNmBqcs

Ted-
I enjoyed that a good bit!! I wouldn't call it Avant-Garde. It sounds like Euro R&B to me. The repeating note (delay) gives it that experimental Krautrock vibe but the structure of the song and the inflection is American R&B.

I'm quite fortunate to be working w/ a VG+ female singer who sings w/ the same inflection!! In fact, the material we are doing is quite similar to this # except a little more jazz but I'm splitting hairs here.

Hey thanks for the reply, was starting to think I had only pissed everyone off by bragging on my friends. Can't help it...very excited about next week.

But back to the topic, to me anything that doesn't fit neatly into a genre description AND doesn't seem to follow any normal arrangement gets thrown in the avant garde bin, which describes so many Polish musicians I've met.