The Eilat jazz festival 2010 (23-26 August) was a one of a kind experience for me. I went there with a friend for 3 days but stayed 4. Overall I went to 6 shows:
- Abate Berihun Quintet – Mr. Abate is an Israeli sax player and a great lead vocalist, who gave a great show of Jazz with African and Mediterranean touches.
- Gary Burton Quartet - it took me a while to digest the music and the Vibraphone, which is an unusual instrument in a way it has a very unique sound, and unlike many other instruments, there’s only one method to play it. But as I heard more, concentrated and let the band take me with them, I heard the magic and wanted more.
- The Danilo Perez Trio – Danilo’s music is mostly soft and it was the right thing to hear at that evening, It was one of my favorite choices and I enjoyed the artist class he did, earlier that day in Agamim Hotel.
- Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy – I got to say that this show blew my hat off! it was the most enjoyable and the most live and vibrant. The musicians were excellent and it was obvious they had 100% chemistry with each other. The tuba player was unusual producing jazz to psychedelic sounds. The drummer was one of the best I heard lately and Dave’s playing is extra ordinary.
- Shem-Tov Levi ensemble – Shem-Tov Levi is an Israeli musician I havent hear in a long time. He came up with a 6 member band, and the music was Jazz influenced by Arabic music, Balkan, Gypsy and classical. it was a magical show which In retrospective was my second favorite that festival.
- Manu Katché Third Round – It’s clear that these guys are great technical players, but I didn’t really connect with their music.
I also went to Danilo Perez artist class, which you can see in the clip, where he interacts with the audience prior to the show , answers questions and talks about his music and so on, very interesting.
Eilat 2010 was very kind t0 me, and although it was 39 ° c , it was rather nice, cause it’s very dry, so you don’t sweat and feel sticky , like in Tel Aviv for ex.
The sea waters were cool as always (the Red sea waters are much cooler than the Mediterranean) and clear. In between shows we sat on the beach, went in the water, went to eat, got back, etc – it was relaxing and fun.
I decided to drive via Mizpe Ramon road which is like having your private road, almost no vehicles, no semi-trailers at all and the scenery is great, you can stop at Mizpe Ramon and see the big crate, soap factory etc., much more fun than driving through the Arava road (yawn…).
Here is a little clip I made of the trip.
Click to enlarge the festival booklet. Marked in red circle, are the shows that I went to.
Temperature in is: