June 2008

Omer Avital
Arrival
Fresh Sound World Jazz

By Forrest Dylan Bryant

Although Omer Avital’s arrival as a creative force occurred more than a decade ago, this richly evocative disc serves as a time capsule of sorts, revisiting 11 tunes the Israeli-American bassist wrote from 1998-2001. Building on straightforward themes while incorporating diverse influences such as Latin and Middle Eastern grooves, Avital and his fellow downtown travelers (pianist Jason Lindner, saxophonist Joel Frahm and trumpeter Avishai Cohen among them) create eclectic modern jazz that’s both celebratory and reflective, bracingly fresh and thoroughly comfortable.