Oded Tzur: Make A Sound

Make A Sound marks the first full release from saxophonist and composer Oded Tzúr's fledgling label, Sky River Music. After a pair of fiery albums for Enja Records and a string of esteemed releases on ECM Records, Tzúr sets out in a new direction with a set of tracks channeling deeply personal expression through his Indian-influenced jazz. He is accompanied on this journey by an experienced group of collaborators: Joe Martin (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums), Vanraj Shastri (sarangi), and Gilad Hekselman (guitar). Guitar and sarangi bring entirely new shades into Tzur's growing canvas of expression, creating an album that has the pastoral ambiance of Americana and the simmering fervor of Indian classical music.

The album does not often bounce like his previous work, though that is not to say it is devoid of emotion—far from it. Instead, it envelops and enraptures. "Radial Artery" sets the stage, opening with timid first notes from Tzúr, Hekselman, and Shastri that settle into the meditative air. Soon, Tzúr's quietly pleading saxophone becomes a full wail buoyed by Martin and Waits. Like a cry rising from the rubble at the persistence of injustice, an unquenchable mourning, Tzúr's band reaches fever pitch—its wildness mirroring the incomprehensible nature of war. From this grief, the group gathers itself, finding the courage to speak with the subsequent title track. Tzur's first vocal foray, "Make A Sound," is a deeply affecting composition—his voice raw and trembling, reminiscent of Chet Baker's soft-spoken earnestness, giving words to the plight of families and children displaced by war (read the AAJ review of that track here). 

"Mist" highlights Tzúr's deeply democratic approach. The musicians are in constant dialogue with each other, building a subtle, calming mood not far from Ry Cooder's sunburnt Americana or his collaboration with V.M. Bhatt. Hekselman's guitar shines, moving with all the dexterity of eloquent speech. Tzúr himself arrives gently, drifting beside the sarangi's bright upper register. The band moves together with the stunning simplicity of Tzúr's earlier Here Be Dragons (ECM Records, 2020), yet the colors here are more indicative of the deep well of inspiration Tzúr has continually drawn from Indian music. An exquisitely tender rendering of Mancini's "Moon River" precedes the album's closer, "Solve for Love." Spacious and contemplative, with flashes of hope, fervor, and despair, it is a breathtaking conclusion to the album that is content to rest in ambiguity. 

Make A Sound, despite its emotional impact, is not an overtly political album. It does not speak directly to any specific crisis (though there are many to choose from), instead seeking to resonate with anyone who has scanned the headlines and felt a surge of compassion for those affected. On that level, its compositions feel timeless, beyond politics and ideology, speaking with eloquence and courage to crises that demand a voice.