It’s no secret that cultural endeavor is not the best state-supported way of life in these parts. The folks with their practiced hands on the national purse strings generally place the arts near the lowest rung in the financial assistance pecking order. Nonetheless, somehow, Israeli artists of all ilks keep on churning out entertaining and compelling quality goods.
That, in no small part, is due to the existence of the Levontin 7 music venue, which opened for business 18 years ago at the eponymous address near the southern end of Tel Aviv’s Allenby Street.
For the past three years, Asif Tsahar, now the sole proprietor-manager, has held celebratory anniversary events at the Tel Aviv Museum that begin in the evening and continue through to the wee hours. Prior to the 2022 shift to the prestigious location, for one day a year, Tsahar had rolled out a multifarious slew of shows exclusively at the club, spread out across the month of July.
This year’s 18th birthday bash follows programming suit, with a string of acts representing a broad cross-section of the Israeli music scene lined up to perform at Levontin over the next two or three weeks. But the landmark shebang kicks off at the museum this Thursday: retro musician Uzi Navon is due to open the proceedings with a blast from the past with more than a twist or two of 1970s Israeli pop. That will be followed, on the main stage, with a show fronted by 40-something ethnically inclined rocker Aviv Guedj and his band.
Thursday’s event features a plethora of gigs dispersed around the museum’s auditorium and other spaces. Patrons can move from one performance to another as they please.
Tsahar, who also earns a crust as an international left field-leaning jazz saxophonist, says that while he is more than happy that the club is still a going concern, the forthcoming program is not a celebration per se. In keeping with these troubled times, the festival is more about the therapeutic benefits of music rather than rejoicing. “We are keeping our activities going, and we are continuing to work. We are doing everything we can so that when things return to normal – if they do – there will be something to come back to.” He could say that again. We desperately need an occasional musical shot in the arm to help us get through these tough times.
The history of the venue
For the past 18 years, Levontin 7 has done more than any other venue in the country to keep the indie crowd well-fed with quality fare and with some rock, pop, and Tsahar’s beloved avant-garde jazz thrown into the basement performance space mix. The club came into being when Tsahar returned from a lengthy sojourn in New York and joined jazz pianist Daniel Sarid and classical conductor Ilan Volkov in getting the show on the road. Sarid and Volkov eventually left to pursue other musical exploits, but Tsahar has managed to keep the ship afloat through thick and thin. And he isn’t about to give up any time soon.
“People think that what we do is a luxury and belongs in the margins of society, that it is not important and that it’s only culture,” he notes. “But, at the end of the day, that is the objective, the aim of life. Besides [physical] survival, we need to have an interest; we need to have beauty in life, to have life with value. That’s the basic difference between human beings and animals.”
It is fair to say the Israeli jazz scene would also be poorer were it not for Levontin 7 – particularly the more adventurous, less fettered side of the improvisational tracks. “That scene has really grown with us and elsewhere over the past few years,” Tsahar says. “There is a strong community here now. I just went to New York to play there, and I took Asaf Shehori with me. He’s a great bassist.”
Shehori will also be around for the all-nighter at the museum when he contributes to the Henry Grimes Memorial BBQ gig named after the iconic bass player who was a leading light of the free jazz scene in the US in the 1960s, only to vanish for over three decades. He was discovered in 2002 working as an elevator operator, whereupon he resumed his career, much to the great joy of the international jazz community, working steadily until he passed away in 2020 at the age of 84.
As with the Jerusalem Jazz Festival, which has been taking place at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for the past decade, Tsahar feels the musical performances in Tel Aviv benefit from the artistic environment. “It is a great opportunity for people to come to the museum. They can experience all the galleries, where there are stages and you have musicians playing in tandem with the art exhibits.”
Hopefully, Thursday’s event will have positive knock-on effects all around. “It’s a wonderful museum and, like everyone else, they’re going through a hard time right now,” says Tsahar. “They also have to think about how to refashion themselves and about how to sustain art in Israel.”
Indeed, that is a challenge and a half, but perhaps the Levontin 7 collaboration will point the way to a new, fruitful avenue to activity.
MEANWHILE, THERE is plenty to dig into on July 11 and through to the end of the month at the club. The museum roster includes some pop and rock A-listers, like Efrat Gosh, Daniella Spektor, and Hila Ruach, with Mizrahi-seasoned, feel good band The Smachot joining forces with singer-songwriter Nofar Batat.
Tsahar may not be looking to let it all hang out at the museum, in deference to the hard times we are going through, but he hasn’t held back on variety or quality. Heavy-duty Arabic-language hip-hopper Tapash will no doubt make a splash with Buttering Trio looking to push the funk ante up as high as it can go. Voice artist Yifeat Ziv should take the artistic fare a step further beyond the mainstream confines, while the UIUIUI duo will take no prisoners as they deliver their high-energy show with an on-the-fly mix of noise, electronica, saxophone, drums, and plenty of vocal calisthenics.
Long live Levontin 7.
For tickets and more information: https://levontin7.com/