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Blow, man, blow By Ben Shalev "Sometimes, when I tell people that I'm a saxophonist, they say 'oh, I just love the saxophone, it's such a beautiful instrument.' And then I know that there is no chance that I will have any musical connection with these people," saxophonist Eyal Talmudi says. He likes to play hard, very hard. Advertisement "I like the aggressive, abrasive sound, like that of Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Johnny Griffin, David Murray, Albert Ayler," he says, listing a number of great saxophonists known for tremendous power-playing. "Sometimes it's a problem, I realized that my presence is problematic, that it's too domineering and if I don't want to censor my playing, I have to find people who can give me a fight." When Talmudi plays with Balkan Beat Box, the world-traveling ensemble that he joins a few months every year, he can play as hard as he wants. He has to play hard in the bubbling pot of an electronic beat and a gypsy tempo, which has transformed the band into one of the most successful Israeli ensembles in the world, a welcome guest at giant festivals such as the Glastonbury Festival, where they performed last summer. But in a smaller ensemble, who could put up a fight with Talmudi's gnarled and domineering sax? "There is one instrument that could do it, drums. And if there are going to be drums then clearly it has to be Hagai," says Talmudi. Hagai Fershtman has become one of the most notable drummers, both in the evolving alternative rock scene in Israel and in the small free jazz circle in recent years. He is also Talmudi's colleague in the Malox duo. The pair will perform Saturday night at the Levontin 7 club, their first joint appearance in a year. Their excellent premier album, "One Day" (which was actually recorded in one day), was released a year and a half ago. "We just haven't met since then," explains Talmudi. Talmudi, 30, is one of the most prominent representatives of what he refers to as "the Gordiya" - a group of musicians his age, most of them graduates of the same class at the Thelma Yellin International High School of the Arts, who feel at home in free jazz, rock, folk, electronic and mainly, fusions of all the above. His creative circle includes Uri Kinrot and Uzi Feinerman of Boom Pam, Adam Shaflan of Eatliz and many other groups, and Maya Dunitz of Givol Choir and Habiluim, among others. One night you might find them at an improv session of free jazz in front of 12 people, the next night they will be playing at a Shlomi Shaban studio session, over the weekend they will perform before an audience of 500 at the Barbie Club and every once in a while they will play for a crowd of 3,000 at Hangar 11 or for 15,000 at the Glastonbury Festival. As teenagers they were already doing improv music evenings at the Left Bank Club in Tel Aviv, with musicians 10 years older than them (Asif Tzahar, Daniel Sarid) or 45 years older than them (Harold Rubin). "But unlike these musicians, who really delved into the heart of improv music, we spread out across many genres. You could say that we are a group of idealistic people who don't have a specific ideology," says Talmudi. "The ideology is that everything is legitimate." After his army service, Talmudi lived in New York for a year, played in a rock group and a reggae group, and upon returning to Israel, before he started playing with Habiluim and Balkan Beat Box, he was part of ensembles of experimental music (Hamalben), improv music (PEZ), hardcore (Midnight Peacocks) and North African music (the Maghreb Orchestra). Though he was not well acquainted with Moroccan music before joining the orchestra, he felt he was well suited to the task. "I listened to it," he said. "I don't think I knew it well. But that wasn't important, because I discovered that when it comes to folk music or music nurtured by folk music, it's inside me. It doesn't matter at all that my grandfather did not come from Morocco." Talmudi continued: "I don't have to exert myself to learn and understand folk music. It's a lot easier for me than jazz. It sort of feels the way I feel when I play improv music: I don't think about anything, I just transmit it." After the Algerian music of the Maghreb Orchestra and the gypsy music of Balkan Beat Box, Talmudi connected to his Polish roots with Oy Division, where his brother Assaf also plays. Oy Division, which plays Eastern European Jewish music, was formed in order "to bring Yiddish into the club, to show that Polish Jewish music isn't a curiosity, to present a culture that was cut down in the cruelest way," says Talmudi, who plays clarinet in the ensemble. Oy Division released an album about six months ago, filled up Tel Aviv clubs a few times and performed successfully at festivals around the world. But Talmudi reports disappointment with recent sparsely attended performances in Israel. "Still, I'm optimistic," he says, "because I think we're good and because it's exciting all over again to see an audience that understands what the songs are talking about. I believe that if we continue to do good work at the performances abroad, the performances in Israel will also fill up. After all, that's how it works here." Talmudi's intense love of Eastern European folk music is reflected also in the intense sounds of Malox. If one had to describe the duo's music, it could be something along the lines of "Balkan funk" or "hardcore klezmer," though improvisation plays a large role. "There is nothing nicer than an audience shouting and letting loose," says Talmudi, "I missed the improvisation, the free playing. Add to this the fact that Hagai and I haven't seen each other for almost a year, and we're already dying to play together. I think it is possible to expect a serious burst of energy at Saturday's performance." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Haute advice Sarkozy tells Peres IDF Gaza op does not strengthen Abbas. W speaks Bush says Israel has right to protect itself against Gaza attacks.

Read & React Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff: How much time does the IDF have left in Gaza? Responses: 70 Sarkozy: Hamas to blame for suffering of Palestinians in Gaza Responses: 47 Amira Hass: Wounded Gaza family lay bleeding for 20 hours Responses: 78 'We lost our homes for nothing,' says reservist from former Gaza settlement Responses: 59 Amir Oren: What's happening in Gaza is neither war nor occupation Responses: 33 More Headlines 22:40 Israeli troops trade heavy fire with Hamas gunmen in northern Gaza 23:51 Sarkozy tells Peres: IDF Gaza operation does not strengthen Abbas 23:53 Bush: Israel has right to protect itself against Gaza attacks 23:00 Demonstrators cry 'nuke Israel,' carry Hezbollah flags at U.S. anti-Israel rallies 23:52 Two Israelis wounded by Gaza mortars in western Negev 21:05 U.S. to foil any Arab bid to push Security Council resolution for Gaza cease-fire 23:51 Gaza War Diary III: If Mexico shelled Texas, like Hamas shells Israel 22:30 Iran: We have 70,000 suicide bombers ready to strike Israel 23:51 Israel arrests newsman with Iranian TV for prematurely reporting on IDF entry into Gaza 20:19 ANALYSIS / Egypt emerges as big winner from Gaza crisis 18:20 Get up to the minute coverage of the warfare in Gaza directly to your email 18:21 PICTURE GALLERY / Gaza incursion sparks protests around world 23:10 Amira Hass / For 48 hours, gunbattles kept wounded Gaza family from medical aid 16:35 Livni: Israel will no longer show restraint when attacked 21:42 Over 2,000 take to streets of Haifa to protest IDF Gaza operation 21:17 The Guardian publishes obituary of Hamas terror chieftain killed by IAF 18:22 IDF shell kills Palestinian family of seven near Gaza City 18:21 Mauritania recalls ambassador from Israel in wake of Gaza offensive 13:40 Court orders home of Jerusalem yeshiva terrorist sealed off 14:37 Hamas official: We must lay foundation for a tomorrow without Zionists 21:02 ANALYSIS / How much time is left for the IDF to operate in Gaza? 14:51 Netivot mayor demands to have pre-school centers in bomb shelters 16:58 9/11 plotter ordered bombing of Tunisia synagogue, French prosecutors say Previous Editions Select Day 05 jan 04 jan 02 jan 01 jan 31 dec 30 dec 29 dec 28 dec 26 dec 25 dec 24 dec 23 dec

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