Home » Jazz Articles » Play This! » Sasha Berliner: Khan Younis

Sasha Berliner: Khan Younis

By Carl Medsker
May 19, 2025
View read count

Fantôme (Outside In Music, 2025) is vibraphonist Sasha Berliner's third release as a leader, and it is excellent from start to finish, due to its diversity of moods, energy, instrumentation, arrangements and well-written compositions. This is an ensemble effort, with everyone contributing to bringing Berliner's ideas to life. The core band consists of Taylor Eigsti (piano), Harish Raghavan (bass) and Jongkuk Kim (drums).

"Khan Younis" is one of two slower, lusher tracks on an otherwise kinetic, assertive album. An expansive and beautiful piece with a touch of appropriate melancholy, it was written in tribute to and support of the so-named city in Gaza devastated by war. The performance is heartfelt and empathetic, while the ending picks up just a bit, perhaps to suggest hope for the future.

Contact Carl Medsker on All About Jazz.
Half my career in healthcare, half in IT, passionate jazz fan throughout.

Contribute to Play This! Recommend a favorite song, album, or performance and we'll share it with your fellow All About Jazz readers. Submit it here.

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Sharel Cassity: In the Spirit
< Previous

Lysis
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.