Omer Leshem PLAY SPACE
OMER LESHEM
PLAY SPACE
Ubuntu Music
Omer Lesham, tenor saxophone; Moshe Elmakias, piano; Nadav Remez, guitar; Elam Friedlander, bass; Ben Silashi, drums.
On piano, Moshe Elmakias opens Omer Leshem’s album with a line that sets the tone and tempo for this production. It’s called “Twilight Hymn” and feels a little Latin at first until Omer Leshem enters on his tenor saxophone. Now the music is definitely Middle Eastern. When I peruse his press info, I discover that he is originally from Herzliya, Israel. That explains the cultural influences I heard on track #1. Leshem brings European harmonies, his classical training, Mediterranean grooves and lyricism to this project. He also combines shared ethnic roots with his bandmembers. They are all handpicked from the New York area, and they are gifted jazz musicians and Israeli. All nine songs are composed by Omer Leshem.
This album didn’t happen overnight. After these musicians performed regularly together for several years, Leshem finally decided to record. In summer of 2023, these musicians entered a remote church nestled in a forest outside of Woodstock, New York where Dreamland Studios is situated. What a wonderful environment to be creative!
An up-tempo tune called “Take an Advil” inspires the band to step into Straight-ahead jazz and take off flying. This immediately becomes one of my favorite tunes with solos by his pianist, (Elmakias) exchanging bars with Lesham’s energized saxophone. They both lay-back and give the stage to Ben Silashi to stun us with his incredible drum talents. Friedlander is walking, or should I say running his bass line beneath this impressive, exciting tune.
“David’s Devastating Journey” is a composition that’s somber and beautiful. Elam Friedlander is given several bars to express himself on double bass in an emotional and tender way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODMEiI29DxE
On “Cape Town Swag” they incorporate South African music into their presentation. This is another favorite of mine. It moves with purpose, like a posse of wild horses racing across desert sands towards water. Silashi’s drums dominate and inspire. Elmakias uses the 88 keys of his piano to thunder into my listening room with purpose and drive. Then comes Nadav Remez, with his blues guitar and the band cuts time to embrace his awesome solo. On a composition called “Go You Maniac,” Leshem has written this piece, inspired by McCoy Tyner’s modal style. It has a totally unique feel from the other songs on this album and gives his pianist space to soar. Omer Leshem follows suit, improvising wildly. When this music ended, this listener felt completely satisfied and inspired.
Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil
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