“Part of a wave of brilliant Israeli jazz musicians who have invigorated the US jazz scene over the past two decades”
Hoffman & Lemish
The Amos Hoffman & Noam Lemish Quartet offers an inspired blend of jazz and Jewish folk melodies. For years, Amos and Noam have been collecting Jewish melodies from different parts of the world including Kurdish, Yemenite, Moroccan, Ladino, Russian and Israeli songs. The quartet's lyrical and vibrant reimaginings of beloved Jewish melodies have been captivating audiences all across North America.
Hoffman and Lemish, both of whom have roots in Israel but have spent much of their adult life in North America, began collaborating in January 2016. Their work together started when Lemish, who grew up admiring Hoffman’s pioneering blend of jazz & middle-eastern influences invited Hoffman for a series of performances in Canada. The two musicians clicked on their initial tour and decided to launch the Pardes project. The pairing of their unique talents and backgrounds brings about this truly exciting project.
Since 2016, Hoffman and Lemish have performed together at an array of venues in both the US and Canada including in New York City, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Berkeley, Portland, Buffalo, Rochester, and Columbia (SC).
The meaning of the word Pardes in Hebrew is “orchard” or “fruit garden”. The word also carries with it many layers of meaning in Jewish philosophy. Pardes is etymologically rooted in Farsi and is the origin of the word “paradise”. The songs presented in this project are both geographically diverse in origin and cover a wide-range of emotional terrain and sonic landscapes. The renditions are simultaneously faithful to the songs’ origins and rooted in the African-American and Afro-Caribbean musical traditions. The result is a joyous, uplifting celebration, texturally rich music, filled with groove, lyrical melodies and outstanding solos. In Pardes, Hoffman and Lemish breathe new life into gorgeous melodies that had been forgotten and create music that is appealing both to listeners completely unfamiliar with the melodies in their original context and to those who recognize these songs.
“Listening to Pardes the Amos Hoffman and Noam Lemish Quartet’s first collaborative CD release it’s easy to feel like you’ve been transported to a musically intoxicating garden of eden...each track is worthy of its own review...plug into Pardes and enjoy your stay in paradise”