The Squid's Ear Magazine


Tsahar, Assif: ayn le-any (Hopscotch Records)

A freestyling solo album from NY/Israeli saxophonist Assif Tsahar, performing on tenor sax and bass clarinet in an exciting three-part improvisation of avant forms of technical dexterity and extended range through emphatic and sustained expression of long lines and cycling figures that shift and transform; a great example of Tsahar's skill and imagination.
 

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Personnel:



Assif Tsahar-tenor saxophone, bass clarinet


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UPC: 015568230950

Label: Hopscotch Records
Catalog ID: HOP 07
Squidco Product Code: 1802

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2002
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardstock Sleeve

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Between his long improvisations, running the Hopscotch record label and playing in many projects, it's amazing that tenor saxophonist Assif Tsahar gets a chance to catch a breath. "I'm overreaching" Tsahar says, "but it's not easy for me to slow down."

A stalwart of New York City improv scene, the Tel Aviv-born Tsahar has had an extraordinary past year, releasing four CDs for his label, from the solo sax record Ayn Le-Any to the trio session Ma to Embracing the Void by his improv-heavy big band the Zoanthropic Orchestra to the debut of his string-heavy, saxophone-free ensemble New York Underground Orchestra on The Labyrinth (for which he composes but does not perform). Tsahar's Hopscotch discs are very personal events, as he not only is responsible for the music but also the liner notes, artwork and packaging design. "It's very satisfying. The [label] reflects me, and it's worth the effort," Tsahar says. "It's part of the history and sociology of this music. More people should be doing it."

Although his large groups show Tsahar's capriciousness and creativity, the best place to experience his playing is through his small-group interactions. He works frequently with Mat Maneri, Jim Black, Cooper-Moore, Hugh Ragin and Chris Jonas, among others. One of Tsahar's most intimate collaborations came to a tragic end recently with the passing of German bassist Peter Kowald. The two displayed a telepathic connection and had played together as a duo, as a trio (with drummers Hamid Drake and Sunny Murray) and as a quartet (with trumpeter Hugh Ragin and Drake, on the spectacular Open Systems album released in 2002 by the French label Marge). As a tribute to Kowald, Hopscotch issued Ma, a live concert CD of Tsahar, Kowald and Murray performing in Barcelona in July 2002.

Throughout his early career, Tsahar's most frequent collaborator was his then-wife, drummer Susie Ibarra. During the couple's seven-year marriage, Tsahar and Ibarra performed in multitudinous settings. "We really grew up together musically," Tsahar says of his ex-wife. After their 2000 separation, Tsahar started working with some of the improv scene's best percussionists-like Drake, Murray, Günter "Baby" Sommer and Rashied Ali-and he's not dwelling on the music and life he had with Ibarra. "Old love-you always have something for it, in music and in romance," Tsahar says, "but creativity is never in looking back." "-Daniel Piotrowski, JazzTimes


Artist Biographies

"Assif Tsahar (born Israel, June 11, 1969) is an Israeli tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist. He lived in New York City from 1990 to the early 2000s, returning to Israel.

He has performed with Cecil Taylor, Butch Morris, William Parker, Mat Maneri, Hamid Drake, Peter Kowald, Susie Ibarra, Rashied Ali, Warren Smith, Wilbur Morris, Le Quan Ninh, John Tchicai, Fred Anderson, Rob Brown, Roy Campbell, Gerald Cleaver, Agusti Fernandez, Ken Vandermark, Kent Kessler, Joe Daley, Herb Robertson, Cuong Vu, Chris Jonas, Ori Kaplan, Oscar Noriega, Roman Stolyar, Alex Harding, Steve Swell, Cooper-Moore, and Tom Abbs

He founded the label Hopscotch Records in 1999. In 2006 he opens the music club Levontin7 with Daniel Sarid in Tel Aviv. "

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assif_Tsahar)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Untitled 6:19

2. Untitled 34:23

3. Untitled 6:28

Related Categories of Interest:

Hopscotch Records

Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Solo Artist Recordings
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
Hopscotch Records

Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Solo Artist Recordings
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
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The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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