Gilad Atzmon’s Orient House Ensemble at Sheffield Jazz at Millennium Hall

Don’t miss seeing this band live! – Atzmon’s fiery, impassioned style regularly attracts packed houses in Sheffield. Touring for nearly 15 years, they’ve gained a reputation as one of European jazz’s preeminent bands – Robert Wyatt in the Guardian has called Atzmon “the best musician in the world today”. “a local jazz giant” (Guardian) “exhilarating” (Herald Sunday Tribune)

Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel in 1963 and had his musical training at the Rubin Academy of Music, Jerusalem (Composition and Jazz). As a multi-instrumentalist he plays Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxes, Clarinet and Flutes. His album Exile was the BBC jazz album of the year in 2003. He has been described by John Lewis on the Guardian as the “hardest-gigging man in British jazz”....

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Don’t miss seeing this band live! – Atzmon’s fiery, impassioned style regularly attracts packed houses in Sheffield. Touring for nearly 15 years, they’ve gained a reputation as one of European jazz’s preeminent bands – Robert Wyatt in the Guardian has called Atzmon “the best musician in the world today”. “a local jazz giant” (Guardian) “exhilarating” (Herald Sunday Tribune)

Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel in 1963 and had his musical training at the Rubin Academy of Music, Jerusalem (Composition and Jazz). As a multi-instrumentalist he plays Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxes, Clarinet and Flutes. His album Exile was the BBC jazz album of the year in 2003. He has been described by John Lewis on the Guardian as the “hardest-gigging man in British jazz”.

His albums, often explore political themes and the music of the Middle East. Until 1994 he was a producer-arranger for various Israeli dance and rock projects, performing in Europe and the USA playing ethnic music as well as Rock ‘n’ Roll and Jazz. Coming to the UK in 1994, Atzmon revived an interest in playing the music of the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe that had been in the back of his mind for years. In 2000 he founded the Orient House Ensemble in London and started re-defining his own roots in the light of his emerging political awareness. Since then the Orient House Ensemble has toured all over the world.

Over the years Gilad Atzmon’s music has moved more and more towards a cultural hybrid. As a bandleader and reed player he has been amazing his listeners with a powerful personal style that combines great bebop artistry and Middle-Eastern roots in a sophisticated, sometimes ironical manner. Influenced by Coltrane’s powerful approach on the sax, Gilad’s live performances are simply breathtaking and overwhelming.

Gilad’s latest album, “The Whistle Blower”, released in 2015 has had great reviews, an example of which is Bruce Lindsay’s from All About Jazz:

Saxophonist Gilad Atzmon is a giant of jazz—an imposing physical presence, a huge personality, technically masterful and emotionally committed to every note. On The Whistle Blower, the Orient House Ensemble’s eighth album since it formed in 2000, he’s joined by long-term Ensemble members Frank Harrison on piano and Yaron Stavi on bass along with new recruit drummer Chris Higginbottom. The band is as strong as ever, the album a worthy addition to its discography.

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