Sweet sounds of jazz

ISRAELI jazz musicians Daniel Zamir and Tomer Bar are among the large international contingent to join Australian performers at the 10-day Melbourne International Jazz Festival which gets under way on May 30.

Headline acts from America include two of the biggest names in modern jazz, Chick Corea and Gary Burton, while saxophonist Charles Lloyd teams up with soulful Maria Farantouri in The Greek Project. Award-winning actor and jazz vocalist Robert Davi makes his Australian debut with his tribute show to Frank Sinatra titled Davi Sings Sinatra.

One of Spain’s most innovative instrumentalists, tenor saxophonist and flautist Jorge Pardo performs his flamenco-jazz in Huellas.

Virtuoso American tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman returns with the Joshua Redman Quartet featuring pianist Aaron Goldberg.

The famous Glenn Miller Orchestra celebrates its 77th anniversary with a cast of 38 musicians, singers and dancers performing hits from the swing era.

Saxophonist Zamir is a leading voice in Israeli music today, fusing elements of Jewish folk with contemporary jazz to create soulful arrangements.

Zamir’s records are among the most successful jazz albums recorded in Israel, he has performed with some of the biggest names in Israel’s pop and rock scene and supported Matisyahu on his European tours.

In 2010, Zamir won the Prime Minister’s Award for outstanding jazz composers, the youngest Israeli musician to win the award. Today Zamir takes the stage as a Charedi Jew.

Zamir teams up with Israeli pianist Tomer Bar for two concerts on June 5 at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club.

Bar, 20, has already released three jazz albums and has played with many top Israeli musicians. He has been a guest performer at music festivals in Israel since 2007.

Bar is also a vocalist, singing primarily in Hebrew, and has composed songs for various genres including jazz, classical, popular and even country music.

Melbourne International Jazz Festival artistic director Michael Tortoni says: “This year’s artistic program is the broadest, most inclusive and most exciting in the history of the festival. Jazz continues to be an important chronicle of modern life.”

The festival is the largest of its kind in Australia with more than 300 artists at venues around Melbourne, as well as a range of free events including lunchtime concerts and the festival’s late-night venue, The Cave.

The Melbourne International Jazz Festival runs from May 30 to June 8.  Daniel Zamir and Tomer Bar perform at Bennetts Lane, Melbourne on June 5 at 8pm and 10pm. Enquiries: www.melbournejazz.com.

REPORT by Danny Gocs

PHOTO of Israeli saxophonist Daniel Zamir.