Yosef Gutman - Tsuf Harim (2023)
Yosef Gutman - Tsuf Harim (2023)
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 246 MB | Tracks: 15 | 62:57
Style: Jazz, Guitar | Label: Soul Song Records
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 246 MB | Tracks: 15 | 62:57
Style: Jazz, Guitar | Label: Soul Song Records
In early Hasidic writings, magical and supernatural concepts rooted in the mystic were common. Such notions held that human acts, including musical activity, could affect the godhead and thus the whole world. By the late eighteenth century, these Jewish religious teachings saw music as something inward, a form of contemplation with the soul.
Yosef-Gutman Levitt was born in South Africa and was inspired by Weather Report to learn the bass. After moving to New York, he strived to enter the city's jazz scene but by 2019 was on a mission to record "nigunim" (Hasidic melodies). The guitarist Tal Yahalom was born in Israel and has been an award winner at several jazz festivals. In tandem, this duo has created two albums which express the universality of Hasidic songs. Tsuf Harim is their second offering and uses upright bass and five-string acoustic bass alongside nylon-string and steel-string acoustic guitars. Given the history of Jewish suffering, this music articulates deep emotions and longings possibly better than words ever could.
At times the pieces feel like whispered conversations, as kindred spirits flow through each instrument. Intimate with a sense of quiet mystery, Tsuf Harim bears comparison with the likes of Dawn Dance by Steve Eliovson and Collin Walcott (ECM, 1981) or Ralph Towner's Blue Sun (ECM, 1982). Yahalom's guitars sound crisp and purified on the opening cut, "Asader Leseudata," with just a hint of flamenco. "Nigun Shabbat" sees Levitt's bass come warbling in warmly as the acoustic melody dances with an enchanted glow. The carol-like "Atem Shalom" yearns peacefully, based on a tune once sung by Jewish refugees from Soviet Uzbekistan. Perhaps the weariness of wartime can also be heard in sombre cuts such as "Adon Haselichot," a melody from Georgia, another Soviet satellite from which many Jews fled.
"Nigun Purim" is like a folk dance played by nimble jazz hands, "Nigun Gaaguim" brings a classical caressing of strings, while "The Warriors" ends the record on sacred and sublime tones. A symbol of a people and their epic history, Tsuf Harim echoes the theory that all melodies have their source in holiness. Levitt and Yahalom are fine keepers of tradition, shining their contemporary light onto an ancient core.
Tracklist:
01. Asader Leseudata
02. Nigun Shabbat
03. Sar Hamemunim
04. Atem Shalom
05. Adon Haselichot
06. Daar Oved
07. Ka Echsof
08. Lechatchila Ariber
09. Nigun Lubavitch
10. Teshuva
11. Nigun Purim
12. Nigun Gaaguim
13. Me'ein Olam Haba
14. Nigun Simcha
15. The Warriors
FILE: 01. Asader Leseudata.flac
Size: 16198794 Hash: 289F54AC3F2213577AC78977E25F5503 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: E3646289BFD04234542D74D1DB807AA73EE1F58D
FILE: 02. Nigun Shabbat.flac
Size: 23688064 Hash: DFF4219AEB050DA0D029223D55DD2A4C Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: B74D173F4C1606F5637BE2CE01CF2B1D88BF8B90
FILE: 03. Sar Hamemunim.flac
Size: 14010722 Hash: F564CDBBF88DE1731F66AAD5EEF969D1 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 99%
Signature: C1552AAC3B5D453CC5B479B549B37DA297817A90
FILE: 04. Atem Shalom.flac
Size: 13980995 Hash: E17A68C9966997A76CE54DF8F86ACA9F Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: ED69505AC48E2BB5A07258E52C15F06B007186CF
FILE: 05. Adon Haselichot.flac
Size: 18307409 Hash: 555DDEEB818F53457A0E7FC478BD8947 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 99%
Signature: 3046836AD1A39A3015D1DAA058D5C8696F9BEB80
FILE: 06. Daar Oved.flac
Size: 17256399 Hash: A675FFF74E142A928474364DDEADE4E1 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: DB935B89458EE4B7DFE42509AE4AD21228F0928C
FILE: 07. Ka Echsof.flac
Size: 22247236 Hash: E44982460F5D783C4194C0A5BAEC208A Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: F540913F01116547BA2E8C8F707B0326CF832AA9
FILE: 08. Lechatchila Ariber.flac
Size: 13567082 Hash: A46D6B4C694B64AACD6D242A71DA34A2 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: B8A6964399D82F5DD92B6ED45AEB4EE7F0B1BD1C
FILE: 09. Nigun Lubavitch.flac
Size: 16761808 Hash: 602EE285FCC9915E2A22567D92C3BC37 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 89329BA79E906021502EC97F4FEF9EC9894D8189
FILE: 10. Teshuva.flac
Size: 13343606 Hash: CFEC6926197229AF822147C2E7D09710 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: A83F9F846174555B49A2E925759269137E2158ED
FILE: 11. Nigun Purim.flac
Size: 18005110 Hash: DE46E75F10B7D354FC7FB1BD1510E5EA Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 99%
Signature: 070F76CB09A89CBD1E9C730F08A8AD3F80D623FE
FILE: 12. Nigun Gaaguim.flac
Size: 19029224 Hash: A44B3B7B0F607EBA97DA485AF3B00B6C Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 8B4D18C3387BAFE2702788CDE5F39260AC9BF90A
FILE: 13. Me'ein Olam Haba.flac
Size: 19760528 Hash: 8D97249F16F8DEFF7B10EDDC341BE3E7 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 892D973C9A2559DFE84840C378FC6F5348CC7463
FILE: 14. Nigun Simcha.flac
Size: 16001278 Hash: 876F203E030F3D5854FB134CC811D752 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 99%
Signature: C448C8B45E049FBF132B52088CE3C8EBF3FF8A5D
FILE: 15. The Warriors.flac
Size: 16541571 Hash: 5BFD2FB9C08010F8A85AD4C852EA6372 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 53021E6D70F160F4A89AD55B1DDD9DEE7EFBF615