The Livnat Brothers in Camelot
The Show and the Exhibition

3 Special Performances in Camelot on the occasion of the release of the record 'Meditation of the Sad Soul.' The Livnat brothers, creative musicians, are putting out an unusual show that combines vocal and instrumental pieces together with an exhibition of paintings by Aviv Livnat. The new disc 'Meditation of the Sad Soul' is widely acclaimed. 'Meditation of the Sad Soul,' is a record of a musical journey, one the Livnat brothers have been working on during the last few years. They reveal how they decided on the contents, what creative methods they chose, and how, as brothers, they worked as a team. Aviv Livnat: "The record might be described as made up of connections of varying levels and different layers - from both its planning and production aspects. First of all, the connection between Arik and myself took a turn along an interesting path, because Arik embraced the task of musical producer as well." Arik Livnat: "Over all the years Aviv, my older brother, was the one who backed me and led me forward. It was he who led me to discover the world of music. To some extent, the boot was on the other foot with this record; here, I took on the job of producer, and gave my backing to the choice of various materials. This turned out to be a dream of fascinating studio work and an unforgettable experience that we went through together." Aviv Livnat: Another interesting connection was the one between the marvellous texts of translated poets, such as Fernando Pessoa, Kavafis (Cavafy), and Frost, and those of Jewish poets such as Nathan Sach and Leah Goldberg. We also interspersed my own texts in the record, and these form a bond that holds the lyrical mosaic together.' How did the record come by this name? 'Meditation of the Sad Soul' is taken from the title of an ancient book by the philosopher Abraham bar Hiyya; it is also the title of the instrumental piece that concludes the record. How did you encompass such a large variety of poets? Arik Livnat: "When Aviv returned from Paris, he introduced me to fascinating material. Poems such as 'Ithaca' by the Greek poet Kavafis (Cavafy), 'Follow Your Fate,' by Pessoa - great stuff because they are true to life. But Aviv's materials, too, come directly out of his own life experience, and the way he got to them - Aviv has traveled widely and given exhibitions of paintings abroad - gives him his own story to tell; that is why from the start I encouraged him to combine his own texts in the record as part of the description of the journey." Whoever has the disc 'Meditation of the Sad Soul' notices the special emphasis laid on its design, which is based on the paintings of Aviv Livnat, so that obviously the connection between the show and the exhibition is not accidental. Aviv Livnat: "I do not distinguish between my musical creations and those in the plastic arts. Some of the songs were written straight out of the paintings I'd done at the time whereas, on the contrary, on many of the intervals between recordings I continued to work out my musical material onto canvas and paper. The songs are interlaced with the paintings and vice versa. I am very excited that at the show in Camelot we will be presenting an exhibition of art combined with live music." Apart from Aviv Livnat (guitar and vocals) and Arik Livnat (wind instruments and sound), other musicians will also appear: Arnon Friedman, pianist, graduate of the 'American School,' Paris (Arik Livnat: "Arnon plays together with us on the record. He is a wonderful musician with a very sensitive touch for jazz and contemporary music"); Jonathan Cnaan, bassist, a graduate of the music stream at 'Thelma Yellin,' and a student at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv; and Haggai Fershtman, drummer and painter, also a graduate of 'Thelma Yellin.' The Livnat brothers' performance is an outstanding artistic experience, and all that remains for us to do is to come, listen, and see. Aviv and Arik Livnat began their joint musical activities seven years ago as 'The Livnat Brothers and the Ways Group,' which was based on Arik's saxophone and Aviv's guitar, and moved along the seam between jazz and rock. They appeared with this group in festivals and in jazz clubs, finally putting out their first album, 'The One You Can't See.' The album is instrumental throughout apart from the song 'Dear Darkness,' which was written to the lyrics by Ehud Manor and dedicated to their late father, the pilot Arnon Livnat. The record was received with enthusiastic acclaim by jazz lovers as well as by general audiences (the record initially came out in a limited artistic edition and, by popular request, will be re-released). While working on the record 'Meditation of the Sad Soul,' the singer Stevie Wonder came to Israel to give a series of performances. Arik Livnat was invited to accompany him together with a symphony orchestra. Aviv: "Arik was invited to play with Stevie Wonder in the Sultan's Pool, in Jerusalem, and in the Ramat Gan Sports Stadium. Stevie Wonder heard Arik play and without any warning invited him to join him in an impromptu duet." "One of the highlights of the evening was a wild duet between Stevie Wonder's mouth-organ and Arik Livnat's saxophone." ('Ha-ir') It was an exceptionally profound experience, and served as a tremendous inspiration in producing the record 'Meditation of the Sad Soul.' Camelot Music September, 1997