One of Israel’s finest jazz musicians will help celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut on April 22 at the St. Paul JCC
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR
Israeli jazz flutist Mattan Klein is touring the United States this month, playing a number of JCCs.
“It is the Yom Ha’atzmaut season, Israel Independence Day time, so we are hopping between cities,” comments Klein. “We are Israelis and the music appeals to the Jewish audiences.”
The Jerusalem native, who now lives with his family in Tel Mond, which is east of Netanya, will perform on Thursday, April 22 at the St. Paul JCC, as part of the communal celebration of Israel Independence Day. Special guests Evyatar Edri and Or Cohen, visiting musicians from St. Paul’s Partnership 2000 Region in Israel, also will perform.
Klein speaks fluent, unaccented English and is no stranger to American culture. His late father, Prof. Michael Klein, was dean of Hebrew Union College, the Reform movement’s rabbinical seminary, in Jerusalem.
“That’s how I got my English,” Klein explains. “He was an American speaking English to me as I grew up; and that was already a connection to American Jewry… the American atmosphere on campus was very dominant.”
During a recent telephone conversation with the Jewish World, as he was heading to a gig near Tel Aviv, Klein discussed his musical education, the myriad influences on jazz music in Israel, and the upcoming show in St. Paul.
Mattan Klein: There’s music from everywhere in Israel, and you just have to open your ears, open your eyes. (Photo: Courtesy of the St. Paul JCC)
Mattan Klein: There’s music from everywhere in Israel, and you just have to open your ears, open your eyes. (Photo: Courtesy of the St. Paul JCC)The flutist and composer began his music studies at the age of seven, on piano. He later switched to flute, and as a young teenager toured Europe and North America with several Israeli folklore groups. At 15, he recognized that jazz would be his métier, and began performing and composing with a group in Jerusalem. At the age of 16, Klein won first prize in the Pizmon-Tichon composition competition, presenting music set to lyrics by poet Natan Alterman.
After completing his military service, Klein formed the Mass U’Mattan ensemble, which gained renown in Israel. He studied performance and theory for a year at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem; then, with a substantial merit scholarship, completed his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Klein became part of the jazz scene in Boston and later moved to New York.
In the ethnic melting pot of Israel, Klein has absorbed diverse musical influences, which have influenced his composing and playing.
He mentions that the Israeli musical smorgasbord encompasses “sounds from South America, Brazilian Jews, Latin American Jews, who brought those kinds of sounds,” which have merged with Middle Eastern music, “traditional writing for big bands, American jazz styles,” along with music from the Balkans, Eastern Europe, etc.
“There’s music from everywhere,” says Klein, “and you just have to open your ears, open your eyes. You can smell the spices, you can use most of your senses to get a glimpse of everything.”
Klein’s supple lyrical flute playing and composing draw on Brazilian and Latin rhythms, and electrified jazz of the recent past.
“I love the whole fusion scene that occurred in the ’70s,” he testifies. “If you remember bands like Weather Report, they always had African and South American grooves and musicians in the mix.”
He adds that jazz “really is today’s world music. Maybe Wynton Marsalis will not be happy to hear that; but I feel that it’s not only the traditional, straight-ahead swing music, but it has so much more depth.”
His most recent album, The Mattan Klein Quintet: Live at the Nashville Jazz Workshop (MKINC), features a hearty influence of Brazilian music, thanks in part to the group’s bassist, Gustavo Amarante, a native of Belo Horizonte, in southeastern Brazil. Klein and Amarante will be joined here by pianist Manu Koch and drummer Yuval Lion.
In addition to playing with a quartet, or quintet, Klein collaborates on some other projects, including Seeds of Sun, an Israeli and world jazz ensemble that has toured around the Jewish world. The group has a new program that is a musical tribute to Israeli musical legend Naomi Shemer, with her tunes arranged in various music genres.
Also, Klein is a co-founder, arranger and performing member of 4 Flute Flight, a group formed last year, which, as its name suggests, is comprised of four flutists and a rhythm section. Klein is hoping that 4 Flute Flight will tour in the U.S. sometime soon.
The St. Paul JCC should be commended for continuing its tradition of bringing in great Israeli musicians (Avishai Cohen, Omer Klein et al.). Hopefully, the Jewish community will turn out to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut and Mattan Klein’s wonderful music.
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The Mattan Klein Quartet will perform in concert 7 p.m. Thursday, April 22 at the St. Paul JCC. Tickets are $15 for St. Paul JCC members, $20 for the general public and $6 for students; call the JCC at 651-698-0751 or go to: stpauljcc.org.
(American Jewish World, 4.16.10)
