Nov24
The performance by saxophone player Abate Berihon and Oud and guitar player Amos Hoffman is a multi-layered encounter between Ethiopian musical tradition and jazz improvisation. The ongoing musical encounter between Berihon and Hoffman began in 2002. Since then, they have combined Ethiopian musical traditions and melodies based upon pentatonic scales, with jazz improvisation incorporating Middle Eastern modes and rhythms. Superimposed upon this are texts drawing inspiration from Jewish prayers, as well as poems by Berihon focusing upon a great love and longing for Jerusalem. The oud, the two musicians explain, is a real symbol for them of the cultural-musical bridge between Ethiopian and Middle Eastern tradition.