www.billyhartmusic.com
www.assafkehati.com

Assaf Kehati Trio featuring legendary drummer Billy Hart (native of Washington, DC)

Tickets: $ 15

"Israel- born, Boston resident guitarist Assaf Kehati’s quartet grabs a page from the glory days of the ECM label. His band features a marvelously spacious sound, austere yet melodic soloing, group interplay that’s scarily telepathic and all-stars at every position". KEVIN CONVEY, BOSTON HERALD.

"Lots of thematic phrases in Kehati’s solo, hinting at the harmony and going outside just enough to let his hair down. Sometimes it’s hard to keep things fresh and keep the listener engaged when there is no polyphonic harmony going on behind the soloist; this is not a problem for Kehati". JOSH SAGER, FRETTERVERSE.

Israeli/Bostonian jazz guitarist Assaf Kehati has been performing with legendary drummer Billy Hart (who has performed with such jazz giants as Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Michael Brecker) in the past two years. The Trio plays both Kehati’s and Hart’s original compositions as well as jazz standards by composers such as Arthur Altman, Irving Berlin and Ray Noble. Kehati's new CD “A View From My Window” with his all time favorite Israeli musicians was released in January 2010. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/AssafKehatiQuartet Billy Hart is one of the most in-demand jazz drummers alive. He has worked with some of the most important jazz musicians in history. Early on he performed in Washington, D.C. with soul artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave, and then later with Buck Hill and Shirley Horn, and was a sideman with the Montgomery Brothers, Jimmy Smith, and Wes Montgomery. Following Montgomery’s death in 1968, Hart moved to New York, where he recorded with McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zawinul, and played with Eddie Harris, Pharoah Sanders, and Marian McPartland. Hart was a member of Herbie Hancock's sextet (1969-1973), and played with McCoy Tyner and Stan Getz in the 1970’s, in addition to extensive freelance playing (including recording with Miles Davis on 1972's On the Corner).

In the 1980's Hart was a regular with many bands and leaders: Gerry Mulligan, Billy Harper, Clark Terry, The New York Jazz Quartet, the Jazztet, Mingus Dynasty and most extensively with Quest (with David Liebman, Ritchie Beirach, and Ron McClure).

In the 1990's Hart was a member of the Charles Lloyd, Joe Lovano, and Tom Harrell groups, and in 1999 he began performing with the Three Tenors (Liebman, Lovano, and Michael Brecker). He is on about 500 hundred records as a sideman.

His current group is a quartet with Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson, and Ben Street. He is also featured in a trio led by pianist Jean-Michel Pilc.

Assaf Kehati arrived to Boston in 2007 after finishing his jazz studies at prestigious Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music (member of Berklee International Network), Israel. He has been exposed to music since he was born. His grandmother was a professional pianist from whom he learned his first music notes. He started to play piano and guitar at the age of ten, later followed by classical violin. After being involved with different music styles for nearly ten years, he started to take interest in jazz. Shortly after, he was accepted to Rimon School. A few months into his jazz studies, he already became the winner of a number of local jazz awards, including the third place of “the Jazz Player” national competition in Israel. He also became a member of internationally recognized Rimon Honors Ensemble, “Hot Jazz”, which featured famous Australian jazz fusion guitarist, Frank Gambale.

While in Israel, Kehati performed with many prominent musicians including Alon Farber (Fresh Sound Label), Shai Chen, Haggai Amir and Daniel Sapir (Yehuda Poliker Band). He appeared at the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival, Channel 22 TV, Shablul Jazz Club, Machtesh Ramon Jazz Festival and at the Israel National Festival in Jerusalem.

After receiving a scholarship to pursue his graduate studies at New England Conservatory, he moved to Boston and was immediately noticed by such famous artists and faculty members as Ran Blake, George Garzone and Billy Hart, who later joined his trio.

In Boston, Kehati has performed at Jordan Hall, New England Cable News, The Beehive, WHRB Radio, Boston University, Brandeis University, Savant Project and Slades. In Canada, Kehati performed at Banff Centre Jazz Club and in Eric Harvie Theatre.

In addition to his quartet with Billy Hart and Eli Degibri, Kehati performs with Tammy Scheffer, Adam Bartczak’s Republic, Tal Gamlieli, Emily Wolf, and the Israeli Jazz Group.

Kehati’s recent compositions are inspired by the daily and trivial, yet wonderful and significant experiences of life: from a winter, snow-laden view of Fenway Park from his apartment porch (A View From My Window), to the mundane but satisfying life of a snail (Sunshine Berale), to a story of exodus with mixed feelings of freedom, pride, fear, and hope (Passover). His imagination has been fed over the years by a wide range of influences such as Berlioz, Kenny Rogers, Pat Metheny, Sting, and Gershwin.

Kehati opens these quartet performances with one or two intimate Jazz Standards played as a trio. He connects traditional Jazz with contemporary compositions. The standards give the audience a taste of his interpretation, his deep emotion, his musical motives, ideas, and vision that reflect later in the performance of his intriguing original compositions.