It's About Time !

Album review

We’ve lost count of the virtuosos on the Israeli contemporary jazz scene… Except Omri Mor isn’t a newcomer. Fans of Avishai Cohen have discovered the brilliant, Jerusalem-born pianist playing by the side of their favourite double bassist. Hiring him, the star quickly caught a glimpse of his virtuosity as well as his enormous musical knowledge, ranging from classical music to Arabian-Andalusian music, not forgetting Chaabi and of course jazz. Recorded under the art direction of Algerian drummer and percussionist Karim Ziad, his first album – aptly titled It’s About Time! (indeed, at 35 years of age, it was about time), features his mentor Avishai Cohen on six of the nine tracks, as well as Michel Alibo on the electric bass, M’aalem Abdelkbir Merchan on vocals, and Donald Kontomanou and Karim Ziad on the drums. While Omri Mor’s repertoire consists mostly of original pieces in which his talent as a composer and incredible sense for music and melody shine through, the track Marrakech by Hamid Zahir takes the listener into new territories and furious rhythms, giving Mor’s piano majestic wings of swing and freedom. © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz