Yosef Gutman – Shir Redidot

Soul Song

Jerusalem-based composer and bassist Yosef Gutman continues his inspired run of collaborative albums with Shir Yedidot, a collection of chabad nigunim, which are Hasidic melodies along with a selection of his own compositions, but all inspired by the idea of melodies adorned with prayer and tears.

This approach tends towards the lower key, but along with the melancholy comes uplift and positivity and the assembled players: regular travellers Yonathan Avishai on piano, Gilad Ronin on reeds, Yoed Nir on cello, Yshai Afterman on percussion and new arrival Yagel Harush on kamancheh, oud and ney sprinkle the assorted selection with the dust of love and respect.

The sound is dreamlike and hopeful, and takes a pan-national approach to the traditional pieces which borrows from East and West. The gentle uplift is tempered by the quavering kamancheh, which sounds fragile, a sense of romantic consideration in the choice of notes. As ever, the bass is the unheralded glue that binds these pieces as turns are taken by piano, reeds and flute to carry the ancient melody. Some of the pieces share some sparse DNA with the Celtic folk tradition; something in the sense of windswept space and lonely momentum.

These folk hymns speak to everybody, moving at a gentle pace that fosters inclusion, the leading instrument always calm and assured as it treats the music with respect, but not reverence. They aren’t afraid to apply their own personalities and as this is a group of talented musicians, this is inescapable. Yosef’s own “Burning Fire” is a case in point, with a delightful percussive heft and playful piano riff offering particular momentum to a generally languid set; but it is tamed by the cello and minor chords which still tug at the heart.

“The Shepherd” is more introspective, a slow swirl of sound that finds the piano picking a morse message of recognition as the strings pick their playful way through a vista that opens as the song progresses. There is such delight here and although I know nothing about these ancient melodies, their accessibility and charm are open to all. Some feel like the light spilling from a living room into a dark evening, while others are flooded with innocence, a sense of how things may have been but with a flow that embraces as it goes.

The juxtaposition of the slower pieces with the more joyful keeps the listener engaged and by the time number 157’s trickling piano appears like rays of light seen through receding cloud, the album has worked its magic, drawing you into a universe that is about inclusion and respect. Once again Yosef’s deft touch and welcoming aura sends more joy into the world.

-Mr Olivetti-