Home » Jazz Articles » Asaf Sirkis
Jazz Articles about Asaf Sirkis
Mark Wingfield: The Gathering
by Glenn Astarita
Mark Wingfield's The Gathering is not for the faint of heart or those who prefer their music neatly categorized. This is not background music--it is a sonic assault course demanding your full attention. Wingfield, a British guitar hero who clearly enjoys pushing boundaries, has assembled a supergroup of instrumentalists who seem to be having as much fun defying expectations as creating them. Gary Husband, a musical chameleon who switches from delicate piano to thunderous drums in the blink of an ...
Continue ReadingTim Garland: Moment Of Departure
by Neil Duggan
For Tim Garland, the title, Moment of Departure, describes the “dive into the fresh unknown as improvisors, leaving the solid ground of what has been composed." Many of the tracks were inspired by the free-flowing artwork of Turkish painter Esra Kizir Gokcen. Her own migrant narrative provides the alternative meaning for the title. This combination of musical control and liberty has been at the heart of the Lighthouse Trio, who will mark their 20th anniversary in 2024. The ...
Continue ReadingEmma Rawicz: Chroma
by Tom Spargo
There are only so many times that one can use phrases such as “emerging talent" or “upcoming star" before one must concede that the artist in question has in fact made it into the major league of jazz. With the August 2023 release of her second full-length album Chroma on the label ACT, this is precisely the point that tenor saxophonist Emma Rawicz has reached in her career. Building upon her successes from 2022, which involved featuring as a finalist ...
Continue ReadingDwiki Dharmawan: Pasar Klewer
by John Kelman
Indonesian keyboard star Dwiki Dharmawan returns following his 2015 MoonJune Records debut, the more fusion-heavy So Far, So Close, with the even more ambitious Pasar Klewer. This vibrant, acoustic piano-driven two-CD set features the cream of Britain's younger expat crop, blending with Indonesian musicians to create a passionate, seamless cultural cross-pollination. Bassist Yaron Stavi and drummer/percussionist Asaf Sirkis form the core trio with Dharmawan, while reed multi-instrumentalist Gilad Atzmon, Gamelan musical virtuoso Aris Daryono and guitarists Nicolas Meier ...
Continue ReadingAsaf Sirkis, Spherical Agenda, Shawn Glide, Nguyen Le, Karim Ziad
by Len Davis
New music from Asaf Sirkis of his release Solar Flash featuring Gary Husband. From Ohio, Spherical Agenda with their new single “Guts" from their upcoming album Arcane Wisdom and some obscure music from Turkey and the UK. A special feature, Ethnic Embraces to highlight a series on All About Jazz written by Mike Jacobs called BackTracks. Playlist Asaf Sirkis “Kinship" fromSolar Flash Moonjune) 00:00 Asaf Sirkis “Aquila" from Solar Flash (Moonjune) 06:23 Spherical Agenda “Guts" from Arcane Wisdom ...
Continue ReadingDwiki Dharmawan: Hari Ketiga
by Dan McClenaghan
Hari Ketiga is presented as a logbook of a voyage from the Earth to the moon, and beyond, to contact with music from distant planetary systems—a sprawling outer space improv opera as dense and difficult to fathom as Frank Herbert's first three Dune novels, or Samuel Delany's Dhalgren. It began simply enough: Leonardo Pavkovic assembled a group of musicians that included Indonesian pianist Dwiki Dharmawan and three mainstays from from his Moonjune Records roster—vocalist Boris Savoldelli, Touch Guitar ...
Continue ReadingTim Garland: ReFocus
by Ian Patterson
Strings and Tim Garland have always resonated well together. A leading figure of British jazz since the early 2000s, Garland emerged from a classical background, having studied classical composition at the Guildhall School of Music. His dual idioms have converged persuasively on albums such as If The Sea Replied (Sirocco Music Limited, 2005), Libra (Global Mix, 2009), Songs To The North Sky (Edition Records, 2014) and Weather Walker (Edition Records, 2018), with anything from chamber ensembles to full-blown orchestras shaping ...
Continue Reading
