Amos Hoffman

Amos Hoffman at a concert with Avishai Cohen. Innsbruck, 2009

Amos Hoffman (born April 19, 1970 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli jazz guitarist, oud player and composer .

Live and act

A native of Tel Aviv , Amos Hoffman began playing the guitar at the age of six and later studied at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem . After graduating, he moved first to Amsterdam , then to New York City , where he worked with jazz musicians such as Dennis Charles , Evelyn Blakey and Juma Santos . There he also met the bassist Avishai Cohen , whose band he was to belong to for several years. During this time he studied Middle Eastern music with the Lebanese oud and ney player Bassam Saba .

In 1998 he recorded his first album under his own name for the Fresh Sound Records label , The Dreamer , with Avishai Cohen and trumpeter Duane Eubanks . He has also worked on a number of other projects such as Ben Wolfes 13 Sketches (1997), Jay Collins ' Cross Culture (1999), Sam Newsome (1999), with Avishai Cohen's formation Continuo , with which he recorded several albums ( Adama ).

At the end of 1999 Hoffman returned to Israel and began to work mainly as a composer. Eventually the music appeared on the Na'ama album , which was released on Magda Records in 2006 . Na'ama pays homage to the traditions of classical Arabic music, including its forms of taqasim (improvisation) and maqam , playing on scales.

With his next album Evolution he combines elements of jazz with the music of the Middle East; Avishai Cohen worked on the album as a double bass player, pianist and singer, as well as the percussionist Ilan Katchka and the flautist Ilan Salem . In 2019 he leads a trio that includes Jonathan Levin (organ) and Eric McPherson .

literature

• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .

Web links

• Web presence