“My song Migrant Voices came to me a few years ago as if it was whispering in the wind. Its unique melody seemed to migrate through the air, carried by the flow of immigrants across our world, laden with their hopes, fears and dreams,” notes composer and instrumentalist Itamar Erez, describing his creative process.
Performing Migrant Voices and other songs at Coquitlam’s Place des Arts on Nov. 2, Erez will be joined by Dan Howard on bass and, for the first time, Karl DeJong on drums, infusing emotion-inspired tunes with a fresh perspective. DeJong is replacing the trio’s former drummer, Kevin Romain.
“The music changes when you play with other people,” says Erez. “New partners always bring something new to the music because we interpret the music a little bit differently.”
Feeling home in a jazz ensemble
With rehearsals scheduled in the coming days, Erez notes that the trio will improvise on the spot during the concert, a hallmark of jazz performances with flexibility and freedom. For him, written music is only a framework, within which musicians are free to elaborate.
“I like to think about my music as a journey,” he says, “What the audience needs to do is just to be there, to be on the ride with us.”
He adds that the same tune can be explored and transformed in multiple ways, such as shifting an octave or playing with timing. Piano, bass and drums form the classic jazz trio, which Erez sees as a “beautiful vehicle” that is complete in itself.
“You have the harmony in the piano. You have the rhythm in the drums. The bass lays the foundation of the tonality, which connects the drums with the piano,” he says. “Sometimes the bass doubles what’s in my left hand, and sometimes the drums will play melody as well.”
Erez notes that although the instruments fit together naturally, musicians still need great sensitivity to play into each other.
“Musicians listen to all that’s happening and respond [through music] in real time,” he adds. “We create a balance as we play.”
No stranger to group performances, Erez has collaborated with musicians around the world. Back from a tour with his quartet recently, he reflected on how their friendship is just as important as the making of music.
“When a group has nice energy, you feel comfortable with each other, and you can experiment with new ideas,” he says. “You feel at home.”
Multicultural music with a natural flow
Born and raised in Israel, Erez describes his hometown as a place with many cultures. He was exposed to diverse music at home and later studied abroad in Europe and Canada. Along the way, he learnt flamenco, Brazilian music and Turkish music, which can be heard in his later works.
“Sometimes the music is influenced by a scale or rhythm from, for example, the Middle East, but it’s more about my personal interpretation of the music and my own expression,” he says.
Instead of consciously picking and blending different music styles, he realized that finding his own voice was the key, as the music from different cultures already existed within him. For Erez, this is the most natural and convincing way to express oneself, as if the composer is a medium, absorbing, digesting and internalizing the cultural differences to present a unique composition.
“[My music is] a canvas where the full spectrum of human emotions finds expression – from profound sorrow to ecstatic joy, from quiet contemplation to passionate intensity,” he notes.
Erez is keen on recreating the emotional landscape of human beings through his music. He hopes that these indescribable feelings will have their voices.
“The beauty that emerges through music dissolves boundaries between people, languages, and nationalities, resonating in an ancient, clear space within our hearts,” he says. “It invites listeners to explore their own emotional depths, fostering empathy and understanding.”
For more information on the concert, see https://placedesarts.ca/events/concert-with-itamar-erez-trio.
