BIOGRAPHY

\\\\\\\\\/////////

Ohad Talmor is a Saxophonist, Composer and Arranger.

Now American, Ohad is originally from Israel but grew up in Switzerland and is long time Brooklyn NY resident.
He plays regularly with his own project; NEWSREEL – a flexible group mirroring his multi-faceted musical identity and which features some of New York’s most creative musicians: Dan Weiss, Jacob Sacks, Miles Okazaki, Shane Endsley and Matt Pavolka. Talmor’s other projects include the Steve Swallow Trio (featuring Adam Nussbaum) and Mass Transformation – a Nonet featuring Austria’s Spring String 4tet, singer Judith Berkson, Pete McCann, Shane Endsley, Mark Ferber focusing on the Music of Anton Bruckner.
Talmor has also played with musicians such as Jason Moran, Josh Redman, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Cheek, Dave Douglas, Carla Bley, Paul Motian, Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Billy Hart and many others, most of whom do not have major recording contracts, which is just as well.
Talmor has a privileged relationship with his old friend and mentor Lee Konitz, with whom he co-leads three projects: the Lee Konitz New Nonet, the Konitz-Talmor String Project and the Konitz-Talmor Big Band.
As a Composer and Arranger, Talmor is equally involved in writing for Jazz and Classical idioms. His music has been performed by various Jazz ensembles all over the world, including: Portugal's OJM Big Band, Switzerland’s Big Band de Lausanne, Brazil’s SoundScape Orquestra, the Brecker Brothers, Steve Swallow 6tet “L’histoire du Clochard” or Belgium’s Bruxelles Jazz Orchestra.
His contributions in the Classical idiom include music for pianist Martha Argerich, Sao Paulo's Symphonic Band, the Spring String Quartet from Austria or Portugal National Orchestra. Ohad's latest Composition is a Concerto for Piano/Drums and Double Orchestras premiered in February 2010 by the Porto National Orchestra, the OJM Big Band and Jason Moran and Dan Weiss as featured soloists.
Ohad Talmor holds a Composition Degree from the Manhattan School of Music, now deeply buried in a trunk in his basement.
Everyday, Ohad spends a considerable* amount of time playing and studying the bansuri (Indian bamboo flute).

*though the definition of "considerable" is subject to various considerations.

-----------------------

Press Quotes

This is a wonderful contemporary jazz record. Bass guitarist Steve Swallow, drummer Adam Nussbaum and saxophonist Ohad Talmor combine slyly swinging jazz references with all kinds of eclectic inflections – notably through the tonal eloquence and sophistication of Talmor, who was born in Israel, raised in Switzerland and lives in Brooklyn. He studies the Indian bamboo flute, runs a nine-piece devoted to the music of Bruckner and often works with Lee Konitz. On the title track, Talmor's Joe Lovano-like staccato phrasing turns into Konitz/Warne Marsh-like long-line figures, but some pieces are such slow, smoky swingers they almost stop, while others are curling note-texture examinations cushioned by Swallow's purr. On Days of Old, Talmor's tenor sounds as diaphanous as an alto, and there are haunted-house tiptoeings and a funky finale in which the saxophonist sounds as muscular as Michael Brecker.

The Guardian - England, September 2010

Over the past decade Ohad Talmor has become one of Downtown’s best composers, co-leaders and saxists. Mr. Talmor once fronted the fine Other Quartet (two CD’s on KnitWorks), and has co-led bands with Lee Konitz and Steve Swallow in recent times. Trumpeter Shane Endsley is also a member of Kneebody and the Asphalt Orchestra. Jacob Sacks has played piano with Dave Binney & Eivind Opsvik plus his own trio with Paul Motian. Matt Pavolka has worked with Barney McCall & Sunna Gunnlaugs, while ace drummer Dan Weiss is one of Downtown’s most in-demand drummers, having appeared on more than two dozen discs in the past few years.
‘Newsreel’ is one of the few discs on the Italian Auand label to feature just American musicians. Ohad wrote most and arranged all of the songs on this marvelous disc. The opening piece, “Moon”, was co-written by Lee Konitz and Mr. Talmor is it swings hard right from the gitgo. Mr. Talmor’s slippery tenor burns brightly throughout the entire piece. “Tabla Suite” features a slow, mysterious, raga like vibe with superb, haunting sax from Mr. Talmor and appropriate vocal percussion from Dan Weiss. The tight interaction between the sax and drums is splendid with some strong trumpet by Mr. Endsley to top it off. “Americans Dream American Dreams” is a powerful piece with some selective samples of political speeches which deal with the American Dream. The band swings hard with some amazing sax and trumpet interplay up front over a fevered somewhat funky groove. “Belem” is a lovely ballad about an old neighborhood in Lisbon, Spain which is dreamy and enchanting. “New York” by Ornette Coleman is one of the two cover pieces on this disc. It is done with much restraint and elegance. The lush harmonies of the tenor and trumpet are most sublime. Mr. Talmor has a unique skill for writing music that is both lyrical and crafty, as well as unpredictable. “Kaiser Soze” was written for a character in a movie called “Usual Suspects”. It does a great job of capturing beauty and depth of a fictitious with whom we all might meet. Both bassist Pavolka and drummer Weiss are featured on “Urban Wife” and sound especially great at fueling and uplifting the structure and inner pulse/vibe of the song. This wonderful disc concludes with a smoking version of Warne Marsh’s “Background Music”. Mr. Talmor burns effervescently on this challenging post-bop piece. Both Jacob Sacks on piano and Dan Weiss’ drums stand out as well. One of this year’s great contenders for disc of the year.

Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG NY, October 2011

-----------------------

Thinking

Music is everything, expressed.
Words corrupt.

Ohad Talmor's many influences include:
Greats of the Jazz Heritage: S.Rollins, W.Shorter, L. Konitz, W. Marsh, M.Davis, L. Young, C.Parker, J.Henderson, L.Armstrong, G.Evans., O.Coleman, M.Davis, D. Ellington...
Greats of the current Jazz world: D.Douglas, S.Coleman, J.Lovano, B.Frisell, J.Moran, P.Motian, J.Zorn, J.DeJohnette, S.Swallow, J.Scofield...
Greats of the Classical Heritage: the first Viennese trilogy, the second Viennese Trilogy, Stravinsky, Bartok, Bach, Chopin, Schubert, Prokofiev, Schostakovitch, Debussy, Koechlin...
Greats of the Contemporary Classical world: P.Boulez, G.Ligeti, A.Schnittke, T.Dun, M.Feldman, T.Takemitsu. E. Varèse, W.Lutoslawski, H. Dutilleux...
Great of Northern Indian Music: Nikhil Banerjee, Ragunath Seth, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pannalal Gosh, Annindo Chaterjee, Samir Chaterjee, Ali Akhbar Khan, Ulhas Kalshakhar...
...And of course:
The Police, James Brown, X-ecutioners, Rob Swift, The Roots, G.Clinton & P-Funk, J. Hendrix, Prince, Frank Zappa, Earth Wind & Fire, G. Brassens, J. Brel, MC Solar, Astor Piazzolla, Ofrah Haza and many more.

First and foremost, Ohad's strongest and ever lasting influence is and will always be Yehuda Talmor (1940-2001)

Pictures

\\\\\\///////

Ohad Talmor Portrait

Photographer Elena Carminati

Photographer Hugh Hartshorne For High Resolution Picture, click here

Ohad Talmor NewsReel with Miles Okazaki. For a full resolution icture, click here
(Photo Scott Friedlander)

Ohad Talmor and NEWSREEL For a high resolution picture, click here
(Photo Scott Friedlander)

Chris Cheek, Josh Redman and Ohad Talmor

Ohad and Lee Konitz

Steve Swallow, Ohad and Adam Nussbaum!

With Jason Moran, Verona Jazz festival