Tom Soloveitzik / Korhan Erel / Kevin Davis: Three States of Freedom (2012)

Eyal Hareuveni

Contributor since 2004

Eyal Hareuveni is an Israeli journalist who lives in Jerusalem.

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Published: May 25, 2012

Tom Soloveitzik / Korhan Erel / Kevin Davis: Three States of Freedom

These three experimental musicians— Israeli saxophonist Tom Soloveitzik, Turkish electronics player Korhan Erel (founding member of the Turkey's pioneering free improvisation group, Islak Köpek), and American expat cellist Kevin Davis met in Istanbul in 2009. This album was recorded a year later, in June 2010, following a short Israeli tour, conducted during troubled political times, both between Israel and Turkey and within Israel itself.

The seven free improvisations focus on sounds at their most abstract and vulnerable. Soloveitzik plays the saxophone but for him it is simply a metallic instrument into which one can breathe. Respectfully, Erel electronic kit produces light, fragile sounds that rarely have an obvious shape, while Davis sticks to the John Cage philosophy that all sounds are beautiful ,and researches the sonic continuum of his cello with extended techniques.

Oblivious to the political storm outside the recording studio, the three musicians manage to articulate their own patient, respectful, compassionate and always thoughtful and cerebral multilayered sound worlds, letting each interplay evolve organically. The weightless sounds float and change their elastic form, kinetic volition and energy levels through delicate microtonal interactions. On "Shmoneh," "Eser" and "Arbah," silence and near-silence are of equal importance, and possess the same intensity as more audible percussive sounds.

A very interesting sonic exploration.

Track Listing: Arba Esre; Chamesh; Shmoneh; Shteim Esre; Eser; Arbah; Chamesh Esre.

Personnel: Tom Soloveitzik: tenor saxophone; soprano saxophone (7); metal objects; Korhan Erel: computer and controllers; Kevin David: cello.

Record Label: Creative Sources Recordings
Style: Free Improv/Avant-Garde