IAJRC Journal

The Research and Reviews Quarterly of
The International Association of Jazz Record Collectors

Vol. 40, No 3, August 2007 – P.102

Israeli guitarist Gilad Hekselman is one of a sizeable number of players who’ve made the move from the Middle East to New York. SplitLife, new from Smalls Records, puts him in front of an audience with his trio. It’s a lovely disc, as Hekselman displays a smooth and unpretentious style on a program that includes originals alongside a few pop standards and Ornette Coleman’s “When Will the Blues Leave.” His clean guitar sound is crisply articulated, and his guild rhythms are engaging and welcoming. Bassist Joe Martin and drummer Ari Hoenig are so simpatico in following the guitarists’s twists and turns that you’d think they’d been playing together for years instead of the barely two months that they had under their belt when this was taped. Hekselman’s “Suite For Sweets” really flies, but there’s not really a dud here. Recommended.

-- Stuart Kremsky