The Livnat
brothers are musicians who create and play original music in Israel
and abroad, and have been doing so for over a decade. Aviv and
Arik Livnat grew up in a home imbued with art and creativity.
Their mother, the painter Eve
Livnat-Merzer, immersed them from an early age in the world
of art in general and of music in particular; to this day, they
maintain an artistic dialogue with the hand-hammered copper of
their grandfather, the renowned artist Arieh
Merzer. They began their joint musical activities after the
release of Aviv Livnat from the Israel
Air Force band where he served as a guitarist, followed by that
of Arik Livnat in his capacity of saxophone
soloist from the Israel Defence Forces band.
"Ways" group and the first Album
They inaugurated the "Ways" group in 1988 under whose
name they recorded their first disc, "The
One You Can't See," which came out in 1990 and was dedicated
to the memory of their father, the Israel Air Force pilot Arnon
Livnat, who was killed in the Six Day War. The roots linking
the Livnat brothers to jazz are firmly planted in the field of
rock and progressive rock. Groups such as "Yes," "Genesis,"
and "Pink Floyd" as well as others influenced them at
the dawn of their careers, as did the study of classical music
and composition. Aviv studied classical guitar and Arik classical
flute; they went over to jazz only later. The diversified melting
pot from which they sprang as musicians laid its mark on the Livnat
brothers' style of playing and writing; their constant efforts
to expand even further the borders of shape and style, and the
freedom with which they did so, was a signature of their musical
oeuvre. They moved from free-style jazz productions, through textual
songs and works, classical music and music for theater, dance
and movies, and up to composing Jewish jazz and music; this is
the direction they are lately exploring in depth and for which
they are reaping exceptionally wide acclaim at home and abroad.
Music critics have bestowed on this stylistic fusion the label
"Jewish Blues."
Second Album
It is difficult to find any other group that, like the Livnat
brothers, continues to maintain its place in the Israeli jazz
scene - creating, performing, and recording - for such a long
time; this is certainly no easy task under existing conditions
in Israel. Almost 7 years elapsed between releasing their first
and second discs, although they did appear many times in festivals
during this period (they took part in the first festival of "Jazz
Blues and Videotape"), and in various jazz clubs, before
recording their second disc. Meanwhile, Aviv was active in the
plastic arts, too, as a painter, and exhibited several times in
Europe. He lived for a while in Paris, and even met the guitarist
Pat Metheny and played together with him. Arik, on his part, started
to study at Yoram Levinstein's School of Acting, and on completing
the course began to appear in the Haifa theater and to host TV
shows. Their various quests, their turning to, and development
of, different media and artistic fields, as well as the year Aviv
spent in Paris - all these led to starting work on the second
disc, "Meditation of the Sad Soul."
This disc included melodies by Aviv to the texts of poets from
Greece (Kavafis), and Portugal (Pessoa), and also from Israeli
poets (Leah Goldberg), etc. Arik, who had immersed himself in
theater productions and at the same time composed music for a
number of shows, and even appeared together with the singer Stevie
Wonder during the latter's round of performances in Israel, joined
Aviv on a one year's musical journey that lasted until they finished
recording for the disc. In 1997, "Meditation of the Sad Soul"
was released under the label "Golden
Peacock," the brand name of the company they founded
and which presently brings out their albums. A round of presentations
of the disc was accompanied by an exhibition of paintings by Aviv
under the same label; these paintings make up part of the design
of the album.
The year the album was released the Livnat brothers appeared with
their group all over Israel; during the festive gala performance
they announced the launching of the arts foundation Raz-Ram whose
aims are to aid orphaned children and youth, and to promote values
of culture, art, and heritage through music and the arts. The
Raz-Ram Foundation began its operations in 1998, but the idea
to set it up was already conceived many years prior to that; it
heralded the realization of Aviv's vision. Thus, while leading
an intensive life of musical activities, the Livnat brothers harnessed
themselves to the task of voluntary-communal activities, and to
widening the nationwide scope of activities of the Raz-Ram Foundation.
Arik and Aviv were invited to appear in Jerusalem before the US
president, Bill Clinton, and his wife; this was in 1998 during
his last appearance in Israel as president, and at this meeting
the Livnat brothers received an invitation to visit the White
House.
Throughout their early years of activity reporters often found
it difficult to classify the Livnat brothers' musical style. Jazz
critics tended to look for the jazzy aspect while pop critics
felt more of an empathy towards the rocky melody of the music.
In general the media always tried to place them inside a contemporary-style
drawer, one of either rock, or pure jazz, or pop, as a result
of which the Livnat brothers found themselves, to a certain extent,
neither here nor there; it took them several years to consolidate
their unique status that is in accord with their original style
and sound.
The "Jewish Blues" and the third Album
They produced their first performance of "Songs
Hand-Hammered in Copper" in 1999. This was a multimedia
show combining jazz with Jewish music which signaled a change
in direction of the Livnat brothers' musical oeuvre, and opened
up additional strata of sound and soul, as well as of kind and
size of audience. The show was presented in different auditoriums
all over the country: the "Israel Festival" in Jerusalem,
the "Tel Aviv-Jaffa Festival", the "Safed Klezmer"
Festival, the "Jazz, Blues and Videotape" Festival,
etc. In 2000 they made a concert tour of Poland
with their production of "Songs Hand-Hammered in Copper,"
at the conclusion of which they recorded a performance, which
was broadcast live on the Polish National Jazz Radio, in the jazz
club, "Blue Note"; this constituted their third disc,
"Jewish Jazz Live in Poland."
It was put out under the Golden Peacock label, with the cooperation
of "Adama Music." Following the Polish tour, the show
has been performed in festivals and concert halls all over Europe
and the US. In Bulgaria, they appeared together on the stage with
the ensemble of the bassist, Victor Bailey (Weather Report, Madonna,
Sting), in the Sofia International Festival. They appeared in
Czech Republic in the Prague Philharmonic concert hall; in UCL,
the University of London; in Brussels and Paris; and in a world
music festival in the town of Carpentras in southern France. They
have lately returned from a concert tour in the US. In May 2002,
a special concert was held in the UN General Assembly in New York,
as part of its international conference on the subject of children
in the world. They recently composed original music for a show
called "Jacob Jacobson" that was produced by Helen Beer
and presented in the Bloomsbury Theater in London's West End;
this music received the British Millennium Award.
The "Golden Feather" and the forth and fifth Album
In 2002 the Livnat brothers were awarded a "Golden Feather"
by ACUM (an ordinary member of CISAC) for their fourth album,
"A Child's Dream," music that
was written over the years for theater, movies, and dance. A fifth
disc, "Arik Livnat," which was
recorded in 1998 but came out only in 2002, is a solo performance
by Arik and musically produced together with Aviv. In the Jazz
Blues and Videotape 2000 festival, the Livnat brothers gave a
performance of "Fugue for Fouga-Saxophone," a show which
combines original live music with a video of Israel Air Force
Fouga jets in air combat (the video material kindly provided by
the Israel Air Force Training Services Unit), an aeronautical
dance performance that examines the artistic linkage between flight
and music experiences. This is a multimedia performance that combines
video, music and theater. The encounters of the Livnat brothers
with different audiences during their performances abroad, and
music making with musicians working in Europe, was conducive to
a reorganization called "Partisans of the Millennia,"
whose objectives are to draw different cultures closer together
and to try to bridge existing chasms and gaps through music.
Sixth CD
A new CD release 2004 "Ven Yash Iz
Geforn". The music of this CD was inspired by the novel
Ven Yash iz Geforn. The Livnat brothers engage with the musical
layers which emerge in the novel, exploring both its human and
Jewish content.
Seventh
CD MANGER BALLADS- Concerts in London
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