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Dwiki Dharmawan: Pasar Klewer
by Dave Wayne
Another day, another two- disc set. Or so it seems. Fortunately, one does not have to wade through Dwiki Dharmawan's Pasar Klewer. Despite some odd choices in track sequence one may even wonder ..."is that all?" after the second disc has finished its spin. Dharmawan is an Indonesian jazz pianist who, like so many of his countrymen, has found a rich vein of inspiration in the folk and ethnic musics of his native land. It's worth noting that Dharmawan is ...
Continue ReadingAsaf Sirkis Trio: Shepherd's Stories
by John Kelman
It's getting to the point where it's almost impossible to pigeonhole an artist into any one category---and that can't be anything but a good thing. Sure, some people like to think of the artists they love as jazz, rock or classical musicians, but the truth is that, more and more, musicians simply want to be thought of as people who play music. Still, there's an intrinsic need to categorize music, if for no other reason than to help provide some ...
Continue ReadingAsaf Sirkis Trio: Shepherd's Stories
by Ian Patterson
Maybe it's the unfashionably hot weather that's hit the UK in recent summers, but there's something almost cheery about drummer Asaf Sirkis' Shepherd Stories. Sirkis' church organ/guitar based Inner Noise recordings wove a jazz-gothic tale, while The Monk (SAM Productions, 2008)--with guitarist Tassos Spiliotopoulos and bassist Yaron Stavi--balanced tantalizingly between pretty melancholy and a slightly dark aesthetic. That said, a lyrical vein has always permeated Sirkis' music Letting Go (Stonebird Productions, 2010) signaled the trio's move toward less introspective and ...
Continue ReadingTassos Spiliotopoulos: Archipelagos
by Ian Patterson
Since moving to London in 2000 to study music, Greek guitarist Tassos Spiliotopoulos has built a solid reputation as a technically gifted musician, building an impressive résumé of collaborations in a relatively short time, working with drummer/keyboardist Gary Husband, saxophonist Tim Garland, singer/multi-instrumentalist Eileen Hunter and guitarists John Parricelli, Mike Outram and John Etheridge. His debut as leader, Wait for Dusk (Konnex Records, 2006), featuring bassist Yaron Stavi, drummer Asaf Sirkis, and tenor saxophonist Robin Fincker, garnered positive reviews for ...
Continue ReadingAsaf Sirkis: Letting Go
by Ian Patterson
The quiet evolution of drummer Asaf Sirkis as a composer has been fascinating to behold and almost as beguiling as his playing. The confluence of influences that give shape to his rhythms--Middle Eastern, Indian and jazz--combined with a love of Sun Ra's music and an interest in astronomy, results in music which is difficult to pin down, yet which is undeniably hypnotic, in a slightly dark and brooding manner. Where Letting Go differs fromThe Monk (SAM, 2008) is in the ...
Continue ReadingTake Five With Asaf Sirkis
by AAJ Staff
Meet Asaf Sirkis:Born in 1969 in Petah-Tikva, Israel, Asaf later moved to the town of Rehovot, where he spent his teens and early twenties. This was an influential move for Asaf, as it was here amongst the diverse cultural influences he found in Rehovot that Asaf began to show an interest in music and rhythm. In Rehovot he lived amongst people from North Africa, east and central Europe, and the Middle East. Living in Shaarayim, the Yemenite neighbourhood ...
Continue ReadingAsaf Sirkis Trio: The Monk
by Ian Patterson
One thing that has perhaps been understated in some quarters when considering drummer Asaf Sirkis' recordings as a leader is just how lyrical and understated his music tends to be. The Inner Noise recordings, which aligned drums and guitar with church organ, drew almost as much attention for the unorthodox nature of the trio as they did for the music itself, which is as subtle as it is expansive. It is also quietly melodic and vaguely uneasy at the same ...
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