Avi Avital at Carnegie Hall

[Ken_P]

Avi gave an amazing performance in the recital hall at Carnegie last night! Great playing, great program, great sound. It's not often you get to hear any acoustic instrument completely unamplified, but last night was one of those rare chance, and it didn't disappoint.

So many highlights - first the Bach D minor partita. Let's just say Chris Thile is going to have a lot to live up to when he gets around to part 2 of his Bach recordings. I can't imagine Bach on the mandolin sounding any better. He also played the De Falla siete canciones with a harpist. In addition to the absolutely delightful music, mandolin and harp sound amazing together. They really blended perfectly. He finished with a new piece for him and string quartet, which was very nice, although I'm sure I'd need to hear it a few more times before I could comment fully. Initial impressions were good, though. As with the harp, mixing plucked and bowed strings worked very nicely. He created some really nice textures by combining the two. He played the Bulgarian tune Bucimis as an encore and really let loose - phenomenal playing and you could tell he was really enjoying it.

In addition to all that, he did a CD signing right after the show and I got to talk to him for a bit. Very nice, as you'd expect, and very happy to be playing here. I managed to grab a pick off the stage after the show, and he very nicely said I could keep it. I of course asked him about his unorthodox technique, and he graciously showed me how he does it, although with a warning that it's probably not a great idea - if he had it to do again, he said he'd go with a more conventional grip. That said, though, he really made it work!

[Jim Garber]

Thanks for the review. Next time he is in NYC I will have to get tickets much earlier.

Please describe his unorthodox technique in more detail. What is unorthodox about it? Also, did you get to see his Kerman mandolin up close? I assume these are just similar to Seifert German-style flatbacks.

[Ken_P]

His pick grip is basically backwards from "normal". I was sitting in the front row and he demonstrated for me afterward, so I think I've got a pretty good handle on it. Normal pick grip, more or less, is you hold the pick between the pad of your thumb and the side of your index finger, and the edge strikes the string horizontally, with some coming at it from more or less of an angle. For Avi, he holds the pick between the tip of his thumb and the pad of his index finger, so that it strikes the string almost vertically. I was trying it a bit this morning, and it does feel quite awkward. I can see some advantages, though. For one, it allows him to get incredible tone and volume out of a very thin pick (Dunlop Gator Grip .58), because when you hit the string edge on, it's actually quite stiff. When you play it normally, it's very weak and floppy with almost no tone. When you get it almost vertical, though, you start to get really great response from the instrument - lots of tone, bright, but not shrill and not thin at all. It also lends itself to fantastic articulation, I think because there's so little material coming in contact with the string, it can be very precise. Actually, I think this factor is a part of his signature tone - that great definition he gets on every note.

As for the Kerman, I couldn't see very much about it that you can't see in pictures or on youtube. One thing I did notice though, the back does not seem to be flat. I didn't get to see the back of it more than a few times, but there was definitely a little bulge in the middle. Definitely not a bowl back, but it looked like it might be carved somewhat like American style instruments. Does anybody know of any precedent for that? A flat top with a carved back? Of course, a lot of other things in Kerman mandolins are unprecedented, so that might not mean much

[bratsche]

Ken, thanks for the review. He did the Bach d minor in its entirety? Wow, I'm jealous!

As far as his pick goes, I had really wondered about it. I know he used a very thin one, because I've seen pictures and interviews where he has it "planted" under the strings at the first fret! (I don't even have any picks that are as thin as that, and I couldn't imagine how he could play, let alone pull such a tone, with one so thin!!) In this interview, which I just found earlier today and which is longish but interesting, he goes into some more detail about the picks he prefers around 9 minutes in:



A bit after that, he goes into his mandolin and its maker, and how Kerman made little tweaks to it, with Avi's input, to zero in on the acoustic properties he wanted. I also noticed that the back of it is definitely convex. Below are some screen shots I got from the interview, which show the profile and back of the Kerman.

bratsche

[Jim Garber]

Little by little and video by video we learn some more. In this video he shows that the Kerman mandolin has a double top. BTW it looks like he strings it with flatwound strings, probably Thomastiks.



And in this one you can see his picking. Actually, even tho he uses a standard light gauge (he says .58mm) guitar pick, it is somewhat similar to the Ranieri technique which uses the long Roman style pick. BTW it is not mentioned but I think this is a mandola, not a mandolin.

[R. Kane]

I met Avi last Friday at checkin at Tegel Airport in Berlin. In the checkin line, he looked back at me and said "looks like a lot of mandolins on this flight," as he had two cases. We talked about our instruments, and planned to open them up at the gate, but it never happened. I had no idea who he was, just a friendly Isreali mandolinist. Sometimes good fortune is wasted on me.

[JeffD]

Ohhhh man. So close.

Well maybe its better this way. You got to talk to him person to person. I had a chance to meet Marty Stuart and I chickened out.

[bratsche]

Oooh, what a lovely sounding mandola! It looks really big... and I assume it has a convex back like the mandolin. Those carvings on the front are really nice. (Are they sound ports as well, I wonder?)

Pity these threads don't get the amount of activity that those about "some players" get...

bratsche

[M.Marmot]

Pity these threads don't get the amount of activity that those about "some players" get...

bratsche

I'm glad someone else has noticed that too - and on that point, i'd like to thank the folks at the cafe for highlighting Mr. Avital's work and album so prominently over the last few weeks.

Both are really is deserving of far more attention/discussion than it seems to be getting here on the forums.

To the O.P. - that sounds like a wonderful experience.

Thanks too to everyone who has contributed to this thread - the videos are a treat

[Jeff Hildreth]

I just bought , received, and played Ari's two CD's "Bach" and "Between Worlds".

I am not known for praise.... these two CDs are nothing short of incredible. a must have.

Thank you Ari.

Jeff

PS It is not necessary to own and play a Loar or a "Bowl Back of Note"
The mandolin and mandola were nothing short of remarkable instruments. Proving (as well ) it is the player AND the instrument.

[JeffD]

I have the Bach, I haven't yet acquired Between Worlds. Its on my list.

Chilly morning, (the thermostat was set too low). Sitting with my hot coffee while the house warms up, Bach mandolin on the large speakers, while outside it is six below zero and the sun is coming up.

[Jeff Hildreth]

24 degrees in So Oregon... house is 62... just stoked the fireplace..coffee's hot and the fritatta is splendid.

I listened to " Between Worlds" again, this morning. Excellent. In addition to the fine mandolin and mandola , a plus is the orchestration and Richard Galliano's CBA (chromatic button accordeon) playing. I have been a fan of his for 20 years.

[bohemianbiker]

According to Avi's web site, he's playing at the Savannah Music Festival on Apr. 1 & 2. However, when I go to the SMF's web site I only find the Apr. 1 date. Anyway, I sure hope he has some other performances in the US. Would love to see him play. bb