Israelis, Alterman at Jazz Fest
Above: TATRAN has played together since 2011. Photo by Zohar Ralt.
Two Israeli bands and a local Jewish star are performing on the final day of the three-day Atlanta Jazz Festival.
The Assaf Kehati Trio, TATRAN and Joe Alterman are taking the stage Sunday afternoon, May 29.
The Assaf Kehati Trio features Boston-based Israeli jazz guitarist Assaf Kehati, who is known for traditional swing and three-piece jazz.
Kehati started developing his jazz palate at age 20, when he transcribed artists such as Pat Metheny, Jim Hall, Keith Jarrett and the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Paul Desmond.
He attended the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Tel Aviv and finished third in “The Jazz Player,” a national Israeli competition featuring musicians of all instruments.
He attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston on a scholarship and studied with jazz drummer Billy Hart, with whom he then began to perform live.
The Assaf Kehati Trio performs on the festival’s International Stage at 1:30 p.m.
TATRAN, another jazz trio. immediately follows on the International Stage at 3:30 p.m.
The Tel Aviv trio formed in 2011 with Tamuz Dekel on guitar, Offir Benjaminov on bass and Dan Mayo on drums. TATRAN’s music lacks vocals, but the eccentric sounds and intricate ballads the trio produces place listeners on a foreign planet that seems familiar, as when dreams synthesize memories and emotions to create new realities.
The three Israelis recorded their first studio album, “Shvat,” in 2014. Last November they released a live album, “Soul Ghosts,” which mixes five new songs with tracks from “Shvat.”
TATRAN released an animated short film, “Glance,” directed and animated by artist Shahaf Ram, in May 2015.
Alterman, a jazz pianist and Epstein School alumnus who is based in New York, is scheduled to play with his own trio on the Local Stage at 4:30 p.m. the same day.
The Atlanta Jazz Festival is in Piedmont Park and is free to all.
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