Yosi Levy is Israeli. That may sound simplistic, self-evident, or a plain statement of fact. But the 60-something jazz guitarist has his own, singular, way of expressing his native cultural baggage through his music.
That is one of the most striking impressions one gets from listening to his latest release, The Yosi Levy Acoustic Project II – The Duo, on which he plays alongside internationally renowned US-based Israeli flutist Itai Kriss. “That was definitely the intention,” Levy declares. He says it is a natural development for him. “When I was young I listened to the [folksy duo] Parvarim. I grew up on this stuff.” The twosome’s expansive oeuvre seasons Israeli cultural melting pot sentiments with sounds from further abroad, including Latin airs.
He says it was just a matter of unfiltered ingestion which, eventually, came out in his own work. “As a kid, you listen to music and just take it in. You don’t think about whether it is good or bad. If you like it you listen to it.”
Part of the “Israeli” feel to the record seems to hark back to pre-state times, when Ashkenazi Jews made their way over here as the Jewish settlement of Palestine began to pick up a head of steam. The largely Eastern European olim of the time included musicians who became enamored of the local ethnic sounds and began incorporating Bedouin and other colors in their own creations. That spirit resonates in the new album, and there is a plethora of textural, stylistic, and genre-based endeavors woven into the fabric of the wide-roaming record.
Considering Levy’s impressive vintage across a broad range of live performances and recording berths, as well as his long years of teaching – particularly as head of the guitar department he founded at the Rimon School of Music in Ramat Hasharon – that really is a given.
He says he opened his young ears to jazz by simply going with the flow. “Back then it was much more difficult to track down records you may have heard a snippet of on the radio,” he observes. “There was no Internet, no YouTube or Wikipedia where you can get as much information as you want, and hear any music.”
“I don’t know why I was drawn to jazz. Perhaps there was something intellectual about it that stimulated me,” he suggests. It was the not knowing that made him want to understand what was going on there. “The blues is, of course, wonderful. But, basically, it is not too technically complex. Jazz is far more complicated. I wanted to understand how they were making those sounds.”
Naturally, he also wanted to get in on the act himself.
“I took some lessons with Egon Karten towards the end of high school, and while I was in the army,” says Levy, referencing the iconic guitarist and teacher who passed on some of his know-how to the likes of Yitzhak “Churchill” Klepter, Shalom Hanoch, Yehuda Eder, and Beri Sacharoff to mention just a few of the giants of the Israeli commercial music and jazz scene.
“Egon was like a musical father to me,” Levy adds with a soft smile. “He opened up a whole new world for me.”
Making his way down the jazz highway
LEVY MADE his way along the highways and byways of the art form, gaining valuable gig time with the then leaders of the local jazz scene, the likes of saxophonist-flutist Roman Kunzman and bassist Eli Magen, before making the inevitable move to New York to further his classroom education and gain bandstand experience. There he, surprisingly, honed his skills on classical guitar in addition to enhancing his jazz-playing proficiency.
That worked out pretty well and offered golden opportunities to mix it with some of the titans of the global jazz community such as saxophonist Dave Liebman with whom Levy recorded his debut release, The House On Lefferts Blvd., with the leader on electric guitar.
That suggests a breadth of vision and a thirst for ever-expanding vistas which was partially quenched by the first part of the current diptych, The Yosi Levy Acoustic Project. For that occasion, in 2013, the guitarist joined stylistic and cultural forces with veteran Israeli flutist Ilan Salem and feted Indian tabla player Bickram Ghosh.
Levy says he tends to keep his options open, which goes a long way to explaining the generous extensive musical domains he explores on his latest offering.
“I don’t do it on purpose,” he smiles when I note the virtuosity he displays on some tracks, such as on “Scales and Ladders” which has a classical vibe to the fast-moving opening section but, true to his eclectic musical philosophy, meanders through several disciplinary climes. He also dips into the blues, flamenco licks, and samba-seasoned passages.
“I just do the things that interest me.”
Others, apparently, also take an interest in Levy’s work and express their appreciation in tangible official form. Last year he landed the prestigious Prime Minister Award for Jazz Composers, and he recently spent some time in Finland performing and giving master classes.
He also has a slot in the forthcoming annual Jaffa Jazz Festival, which takes place at ZOA House in Tel Aviv October 5-7, when he takes the stage with Italian pianist-vocalist Daniela Schächter for a standards-based runout.
For more information: facebook.com/YosiLevyMusic
