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Arnan Raz
“I want to focus on sound. I believe that the saxophone sound has a lot of power in reaching people’s heart
About Me
Influenced by the legacy of giants like Lester Young, Stan Getz
and Warne Marsh, as well as the innovations of Mark Turner, Arnan
Raz and his quintet create a refreshing fusion of the traditional
and modern jazz. While clearly introducing/implementing elements
of American and Israeli folk music, this band, in it's classic
instrumentation of tenor sax, alto sax, piano, bass and drums,
definitely has a 'New York' sound.
With solos that successfully match the compositions in their
extremely melodic and intuitive nature, the quintet delivers an
energetic yet elegant performance, projecting both unity and
harmony.
Arnan Raz was born in Kibbutz Merchavia, a small village in the
north of Israel to a musical family- his grandfather was a music
teacher and a painter, his uncle a famous conductor and his mom
and his brother both are professional guitar players. However,
until the age of 13 Arnan’s passion was soccer. Suddenly, out of
nowhere and without much reason, Arnan decided that he want to
play the saxophone.
Right from the beginning, he would go to practice every day with
his grandfather: “I knew that I played well when after I finished,
I would see tears in his eyes. This image is still a constant
reminder for me to what music is about”.
Pretty fast Arnan became noticeable as a serious and dedicated
saxophone player at the area where he grew up and started to
perform with local bands. His teacher at the time was Albert
Beger- a known free jazz artist in Israel and Europe.
At the age of 18, Arnan got accepted to the prestigious IDF
orchestra. At the army-training base he met all of his current
band mates- Eyal Hai, Daniel Meron, Dani Danor and Nadav Lachish.
During the army service Arnan started 6 to build his name in the
Tel-Aviv scene and perform constantly as a bandleader as well as a
sideman.
While his friends from the IDF orchestra decided to go and Study
at Berklee college of music in Boston, Arnan Decided to Stay in
Israel and go study at the Jerusalem Academy Of Music and Dance.
While Studying with Boris Gammer, Arnan really made a name for
himself as a promising Young Saxophonist in the Israeli Jazz
scene. He performed at all the main venues and festivals with
local and international bands and musicians.
After graduating, Arnan felt that it’s the right time to move to
New York in the pursuing of a jazz career: “I felt ready
emotionally to move to new york after working so hard on my
craft”.
In New York he reunited with his old musicians friends from the
IDF orchestra that at the same time also moved to NY after
graduating from school. He decided to form his quintet and since
then, the quintet was and still playing constantly mostly in NY.
Beside his Quintet, Arnan is a member in more projects such as The
Side Project- a Saxophone Quartet, Bellatonic and more. Arnan is
constantly performing with different musicians and bands in NYC.
“I want to focus on sound. I believe that the saxophone sound has
a lot of power in reaching people’s heart. Now Days, in our
materialistic world, it’s so hard to communicate that I feel even
more obligated to play music and to try to communicate with
audience on a “real level”
I hope to reach as much audience as I can and to try and do good
through music.
Love, Arnan
