TEL AVIV FLORA & FAUNA
Orr Sinay: double bass
Yoni Niv: crotales
Shaul Kohn: acoustic guitar
Haggai Fershtman: cymbals
Tom Soloveitzik: tenor saxophone
Recorded by Ishay Piccione on July 24th, 2018, at Pluto Studios, Tel Aviv
Mixed & Mastered by A. F. Jones at Laminal Audio
Cover design by Avihai Mizrahi
Photographs by Valery Bolotin
Special thanks: Shaul Kohn, Al Jones, Valery Bolotin, Dahlia Ginosar
Released 2020
Artifice and nature intersect in «TEL AVIV FLORA & FAUNA», Tom Soloveitzik’s exploration of the ambiguous territory between musical composition, the built environment, and the natural world. This release includes a PDF of Soloveitzik’s score, which deftly integrates field recording with structured improvisation and a precise attention to geographic specificity; a recording of the piece by Soloveitzik (tenor saxophone), Orr Sinay (double bass), Yoni Niv (crotales), Shaul Kohn (acoustic guitar), and Haggai Fershtman (cymbals); and a PDF document in which Soloveitzik’s densely poetic reflections on his surroundings are richly illustrated by the photography of Valery Bolotin. Together, they give a portrait of Tel Aviv’s distinctive conflation of the organic and the artificial. The complete release is here presented on a USB flash drive.
“The idea for Tel Aviv Flora & Fauna started developing from remnants, debris, and other everyday mutations that I found around me, in my daily surroundings here in Tel Aviv, in the intersection between urban life and nature. I first framed them in the visual realm and then moved on, exploring ways to communicate them via sound. All the instruments in this piece (except the saxophone)—guitar, crotales, contrabass and cymbals—were played using a bow. During our session in the studio, the outside surroundings of southern Tel Aviv were recorded from the rooftop above us and were later used as additional sound material.”
Reviews:
Brian Olewnick
Suppedaneum, run by Joseph Clayton Mills, has long been one of my very favorite labels, quite a unique enterprise whose releases overlap into scores, texts, visual elements and more. To the extent items are still available, you should all check it out if you haven't already.
The label has two new releases, available either via download from bandcamp or on USB drives, with accompanying scores and other stuff. Both are excellent.
- Tel Aviv Flora & Fauna: a quintet (double bass, acoustic guitar, crotales, cymbals, all bowed) and tenor sax, the musicians seeking to somehow replicate or re-image the sounds of the city, field recordings layered in. Oddly eerie and moving, immersive and unusual.
