Omer Avital

Bassist Omer Avital entered the world in Givataim, a modest Israeli town, where his classical guitar studies commenced at age 11 upon enrollment at the Givataim Conservatory. Raised in Tel Aviv within a Moroccan-Yemenite household, he absorbed Middle Eastern and Spanish elements that later merged with jazz and blues sensibilities. At Talma Yalin, the country’s premier arts high school, he redirected his energies toward the acoustic bass, assumed leadership of the jazz ensemble, and composed every arrangement for the group. During his final year, at age 17, professional engagements began, though they were interrupted by less than a year of service in the Israeli Army. Upon release from duty, he relocated to New York City and performed alongside Roy Haynes, Jimmy Cobb, Nat Adderley, Walter Bishop, Jr., Al Foster, Kenny Garrett, Steve Grossman, Jimmy Lovelace, and Rashied Ali. His pivotal opportunity arrived in 1994 when he directed his own ensembles and big band at the after-hours sessions held at Small’s in Greenwich Village, sharing the endeavor with pianist and co-collaborator Jason Lindner. Among the musicians who passed through those bands were Mark Turner, Myron Walden, Gregory Tardy, Joel Frahm, Charles Owens, Grant Stewart, Jay Collins, Jimmy Green, Ali Jackson, Joe Strasser, and Daniel Freedman. The Impulse label documented Avital’s quartet on the 1997 release Jazz Underground: Live at Smalls. The following year he contracted to issue his first album, Devil Head, yet the project remained unreleased. Think with Your Heart and Arrival marked the initial pair of many recordings that appeared on Fresh Sound/New Talent or Small’s, while Avital sustained associations with Joshua Redman, Aaron Goldberg, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, Anat Cohen, Marc Miralta, the Israeli/international worldbeat band Third World Love, pianist Yonatan Avishai, Yuval Cohen, Emilio Solá y La Orquestable, Antonio Hart, Bill Saxton, Jeff Ballard, Brad Mehldau, Claudia Acuña, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Peter Bernstein, Larry Goldings, Marlon Browden, pianist Omri Mor from Jerusalem, the Ithe Izraeli Magreb Orchestra, the Andalusian Orchestra Ensemble, and the legendary Algerian pianist Morris Al Mdiuni.