Oded Tzur is an Israeli saxophonist and composer, born in Tel Aviv and based in New York since 2011. After studying jazz and classical music in Israel, he entered the Indian music programme at the Rotterdam World Music Academy in 2007, where he studied with bansuri master Hariprasad Chaurasia. He is known for a microtonal saxophone technique he calls the Middle Path and for quartet music built on raga ideas.
On his second release for ECM New York-based saxophonist Oded Tzur introduces a heightened sense of urgency and a conceptually augmented approach to his distinctive voice, weaving one underlying musical idea through a series of elaborate and impassioned designs. The quartet’s lineup is unchanged from 2020’s Here Be Dragons and the group’s interplay has grown even more expressive in the meantime. Throughout Isabela the saxophonist and his collaborators – pianist Nitai Hershkovits, Petros Klampani…
On My Prophet, Oded Tzur together with his quartet of pianist Nitai Hershkovits, bassist Petros Klampanis and the new group member Cyrano Almeida on drums, continues on the idiosyncratic musical path he has carved out for himself – a flowing jazz idiom that seamlessly combines multiple forms of expression –, while delving deeper into the meditative and highly concentrated realm of improvisation. In the process, the saxophonist presents some of his fiercest playing yet.
The quartet’s synergy is…
ECM debut of New York-based Israeli tenor saxophonist Oded Tzur, with Nitai Hershkovits (piano), Petros Klampanis (bass) and Johnathan Blake (drums). Recorded June 2019 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM 2676, 2020.