ABOUT

ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM by JERRY GARVAL & FREINDS

Album liner notes by Yossi Mar-Haim:

I first met Jerry in Jerusalem 40 years ago. He had just arrived from the United States, spoke Hebrew with a perfect Middle Eastern accent, and tried to get us all to play correctly. Since the jazz tradition in Israel was not very developed at the time - there were no schools or other relevant instructional facilities – Jerry's approach did not make him a particularly popular figure. A stubborn guy, optimistic, who spends most of his time on the road to Jerusalem, at home in Beit Shemesh (a town between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) working as a teacher at the acclaimed Jerusalem Music Academy, or as a member of various jazz groups. Particularly noteworthy among the latter are the early 70s “The Jazz Workshop” and mid-80s “Kedma”, both of which explored and integrated Middle Eastern music and jazz. For Jerry the essence is the direction and the road, and not necessarily the end result.

So, it really is no surprise that, 25 years ago, at a time when no one in his or her right mind even dreamt of producing an Israeli jazz album, Jerry gathered together some of the best jazz musicians in Israel to make a recording of his music. The horn players included Steve Hornstein, who also came from the States and insists upon composing and playing original non-commercial music, Ya'akov Meiron - a member of the acclaimed East-West crossover genre ensemble - and senior members of the reed-playing fraternity Peter Wertheimer, Albert Piamenta, and Merton Cam. Add to that bassman Eli Magen, Gil Dor on guitar and Oren Fried and Oren Balaban on drums and percussion, with Jerry enhancing the festive proceedings with his singular expertise and spirit on trombone, drums and percussion.

The album is a fusion of Jerry's entire world, his tangible and perceived worlds, and what he hoped his highly talented colleagues would contribute to the project. This is a rare gem from 1980s Israeli jazz circles. All the compositions are his, except for two highly intriguing tracks: “Contrasts” - a combined effort by Garval, Magen and Horenstein; and an old amusing calypso number “Mama Look at Boo-Boo”. The first is a modernistic free-ranging piece based on alternating and contrasting elements from each of the three instruments, while the second is a “comic relief” number in which Jerry sings of a father whose kids can't believe how ugly he is. This makes for a comical, but authentically performed, calypso.

So the album swings back and forth between two poles: one modern and refreshing, as if written today and not 25 years ago, designed to allow the musicians generous freedom of expression and the space to explore lesser known areas; and the opposite pole full of “joie de vivre”, (with plenty of African and Latin percussion), with clear and organized charts. The second pole reminds me of some of the more spirited of Mingus’ compositions for larger ensembles, and some of Carla Bley’s work. The first pole conjures up images of the free jazz of Don Cherry (new and old dreams).

All together it’s a happy album, and completely original. I'm reminded of what Miles Davis once said: “I never bring a sad band to any club.” By “sad” he meant devoid of “joie de vivre”. “Jerry and friends” (the group’s official name) does not lack either joy or creativity. This album represents a milestone in the otherwise mostly conformist Israeli jazz scene which tends to either follow the fusion road, or prefers the comfort of mainstream hard-bop with its improvs based on chord changes. At a time when the vanguard of young Israeli musicians were coming home from U.S jazz schools and were largely interested in “making music like in America”, Jerry - who came from America - was engrossed in exploring the spirit and sounds of the Middle East and, more specifically, Jerusalem.

Today, 25 years later, there are modernists in Israel - players like Harold Rubin, Albert Beger and Jean Claude Jones - with their followers. And there are more ethnically-oriented groups like “Esta” and “Bustan Avraham”. With hindsight, you could say that Jerry foresaw the evolution of this music, and was one of the first to get audiences to open themselves up to different, adventurous and challenging sounds.