Music / gilad atzmon
Review: Talinka, Hen & Chicken
Talinka, on record, is a vocal-led quartet led by Israeli singer and actress Tali Atzmon, featuring acoustic arrangements of her own songs and jazz classics. The band also includes her husband, multi-instrumentalist Gilad Atzmon, his long-time musical accomplice Yaron Stavi on bass and also baroque musician Jenny Bliss Bennett who contributes violin, flute and viola da gamba as well as additional vocals. Talinka on stage was something of a cabaret concert party, however, that drew on the band’s diversity of instrumental and musical skills to offer a highly varied if sometimes disjointed programme.
This was, I think, Tali’s first visit to the Hen & Chicken, a venue where Gilad is a familiar (and popular) visitor, and inevitably there was an interesting tension as she tried to keep control of his stage presence between numbers. This was largely achieved by evoking sympathy for her long-suffering acceptance of his foibles. Once the music started, however, Gilad played his part as required in what were often tight arrangements closely defined by the song and singer to give an atmosphere to the pieces.
Messrs Atzmon & Atzmon
There were notable Talinka moments, including a richly voiced rendering of Billie Holiday’s Don’t Explain that began as a sinuous duet with Yaron Stavi’s bass and grew to a low-register trio with Jenny Bliss’ viola da gamba and Gilad’s bass clarinet complementing Tali’s contralto vocals. That tune was followed by Scarborough Fair, the full nonsense of the traditional folk lyrics laid clearly out by Tali and Jenny’s vocal harmonies while a North African lilt was emphasised by hand percussion and swooning accordion. The lugubrious Every Now and Then had a strong feel of Leonard Cohen, though it is as far as I know an original Talinka song, with finger-style viol and sonorous bass clarinet adding an undertow of mournfulness.
is needed now More than ever
The irrepressible Gilad
There were also, however, notable non-Talinka moments too, including a spell-binding Baroque duo for viol and double bass composed by Heinrich von Biber, and a sax/bass blues jam with extended audience singalong participation that let Gilad off his self-imposed leash for ten minutes or so. He also let rip with a sizzling Bebop sax solo on a briskly swinging quartet version of How Deep Is The Ocean?, a mainstream favourite that felt a little out of place even in so varied a programme. What emerged strongly was the vital contribution of Yaron Stavi’s bass throughout the show – rhythmically critical in a drumless context like this, but also melodic and enlivening as well.
There was a lot to enjoy in the evening overall, with the unusual instrumentation allowing interesting and original musical textures that refreshed even the most familiar numbers. It felt as though Tali’s vocals and songs needed to be the focus a bit more and Gilad’s non-musical contributions even more restricted to allow this, however. This might require an act of self-restraint beyond mere mortal powers, of course, but it is clear that Talinka is not just another Gilad Atzmon project and needs the space to develop in its own right if the rich ingredients are to come together into something truly robust.
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