Soul Song

South African Yosef-Gutman Levitt grew up listening to American jazz fusion, took up bass guitar and won a scholarship to Boston's Berklee College of Music. There he met Benin-born guitarist Lionel Loueke (who would later work with Herbie Hancock). Levitt left the music business and moved to Jerusalem but returned to music in 2018, notably with his five-string acoustic bass.

Soul Song reunites Levitt and Loueke, the line-up completed by pianist Omri Mor, drummer Ofri Nehemya and producer/co-composer/arranger Gilad Ronen. At times, it's reminiscent of the Jacques Loussier Trio's interpretation of Satie's music but there are also hints of Levitt's South African and Hasidic roots, not to mention the influence of Brazilian music and the New York jazz scene.

Eschewing self-conscious extended solos, the musicians dance and weave lightly around each other. On ‘Pillar of Cloud,’ Mor's piano introduces a theme picked up by Levitt's bass, then Loueke's lilting guitar adds a phrase to be completed by Levitt. Nehemya's sympathetic, ever-changing drumming – switching as required between sticks, brushes or hands – completes this beautiful, serene album.