Gilad Chatsav Trio At A Tel Aviv House Concert

Gilad Chatsav Trio
House Concert
Tel Aviv, Israel
July 25, 2024

You are always guaranteed a fun evening when Israeli jazz pianist Gilad Chatsav performs. This Thursday evening's house concert in Tel Aviv was no exception. Gilad Chatsav has been making a name for himself on the Israeli jazz scene for a while now and is familiar with house concerts as he had organized the Shuffle Concerts a few years back, a very successful series of over 100 house concerts in the vibrant Israeli city.

This time, he was joined by David Michaeli on double bass, who had just returned a few hours previously from a German tour with his band Shalosh (the Israeli cross-genre jazz trio that has been making waves in recent years) and Norbert Goldberg on drums who was visiting straight from New York. Hardly any rehearsal time was allocated, given the circumstances, but it did not deter the musicians from delivering this high energy concert. That is the thing with professionals—they just pick up from where the other leads and as is often the case, a lack of rehearsal time can bring a freshness and spontaneity to the overall performance.

With lights dimmed and wine bottles on offer, attendance was high; more people kept arriving and either stood up at the back of the room or sat on the floor. That is the beauty of house concerts—the lack of formality.

The concert kickstarted with an exciting interpretation of "Killer Joe" by Benny Golson. And right then, the mood was set. People would be feet-tapping the whole evening. This was followed by "Afro Blue," originally composed by Mongo Santamaria. Chatsav ran along with the piece followed by a confident solo by Michaeli before Goldberg joined in. Such energy filled the room it was obvious the trio was having fun.

Moving onto Brazilian territory, the trio performed "A Rã ," the bossa nova standard otherwise known as "The Frog" and which was made famous by Antonio Carlos Jobim. It is a very simple melody which repeats itself, a bit like a scat, in a humorous manner. It is an exquisitely contagious, happy song and it was well received by the audience.

Whether it was the very catchy and beautiful tune "Bebê" by the legendary Brazilian composer Hermeto Pascoal, which added a '70s feel to the atmosphere, or Jobim's "Desafinado," with its increasing tempo, the trio delivered some serious grooves. Michaeli's bass strutting offered an irresistible earthy timbre while Goldberg played some fiery chops and displayed an energizing vitality that captivated the audience. Both of them provided an excellent rhythm section that matched and kept up with Chatsav's cheeky playfulness. There was definitely some nimble interplay there and the smiles on the musicians' faces as they played said a lot.

"Down in Jaffa" was the only original in the series of covers and one of Chatsav's earliest compositions. He has played it often and so one might think it would be outdated. But sometimes a piece matures, just like wine, and depending on the rhythm section, the outcome is utterly revamped. This time around, the piece sounded almost new.

Slowing down a bit, the trio performed "Morenica," the well-known Sephardic folk song which Chatsav had performed before whilst working on his Ladino project. It is a mellow piece that paired nicely with the languorous "Caravan," a piece as smooth as silk and a winner in any concert. The soulful double bass solo on "Morenica" was a lovely addition.

The evening closed with a take of the explosive "Mambo Influenciado" by Chucho Valdes; no gimmicks or pretension were displayed, just a happy celebration of this musical creative force called jazz.

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