Tal Gamlieli
Tal Gamlieli has been an in-demand jazz bassist since 2007. Since completing his master’s degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston he has collaborated with numerous acclaimed musicians, around the world, including trumpeter Avishai Cohen, pianists Joanne Brackeen and Danilo Perez, saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi and vocalist Liz Wright.
Over the past decade he has performed, as leader and with various top acts, at a slew of prestigious venues and major international events such as Love Supreme Jazz Festival (UK), Small's Jazz Club (New York), Jazz Dock (Prague), Pizza Express (London, UK), ORF Radio Café (Vienna), the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC and the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia...
Tal has been fronting his own trio since 2014. The band made its first international appearance at the Panama Jazz Festival, in January 2016, since when it has been touring extensively and playing to enthusiastic audiences across the globe.
Tal’s well-received debut album “Dania” came out in July of 2017, and his sophomore release Change of Heart, a joint project with acclaimed American saxophonist Dayna Stephens, was released on August 2019.
A recipient of a Downbeat Magazine Award for Outstanding Performance, Tal possesses a highly expressive, lyrical and harmonious musical style, and conveys a wide sweep of emotions, colors and textures.
Tal feeds off a broad and exotic range of cultural baggage. Growing up in a village in the hills near Jerusalem, Israel, his early years were informed by the infectious rhythms and ethnic seasoning of his father’s Kurdish roots, while his German-born maternal grandparents introduced him to the world of western classical music. His musical sources of inspiration reflect that eclectic hinterland, and include such iconic envelope pushers as trumpeter Chet Baker and bassist Charlie Haden, seminal Brazilian pianist and composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan and internationally renowned Israeli bass player Avishai Cohen.
From a very early age it was clear to Tal that music can bring people together through its power to evoke universal feelings. This led him to pursue a career in music, and he continues to reach out to people of all social sensibilities, and cultural and ethnic stripes, evoking a sense of togetherness wherever he plays.