Album Review: "Portrait" by Tal Arditi

Tal Arditi will comfort you and challenge you. His use of traditional jazz forms, his inherent groove, and clean guitar playing will keep you nodding along. But his alternate time signatures, extended forms, and tonal choices will keep your brain on the edge of it's seat.

Tal Arditi is a jazz guitarist and composer from Israel. He studied at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and then moved to Berlin. In Berlin, he composed a number of songs that comprise his latest album release: "Portrait".

Arditi's style brings to mind some of the harmonic and time signature flavors of Sting (well..., the push-the-boundaries Sting, not the pop-and-rock-icon Sting...). More specifically, Arditi brings to mind fellow countryman Avishai Cohen in his use of tonality and melodic structure.

The Tal Arditi Trio released their first album, Portait, this past May (2018). The album captures the songwriting and musical development of Arditi over the previous 18 months in Berlin.

Listening to Portrait's first track, "One Step Behind", I found myself bobbing my head addictively to the groove of the jazz structure's head, and then suddenly squinting in scrutiny of the bebop-ish harmonic choices of the middle section's single-note solo.

This pretty accurately sums up my general takeaway from the Tal Arditi Trio's Portrait: An addictive groove and a provocative tonality.

It's the type of playing that pushes my own musicality as a guitar player, and my experience as a listener.

You can find the Tal Arditi Trio's new album, "Portrait", here:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/52cg2TKLW1STxLOJ1ywLN5?si=WhEj-z0RQH-i8xdFShQZIA

Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/portrait/1385357530

Bandcamp: https://talarditi.bandcamp.com/ - Physical CD's (as well as the digital album) are available

Vinyl is available here:  http://www.editionlongplay.com/index.php/de/

VIDEO: "One Step Behind"

Full Album Description:

Portrait is the debut album by the young Israeli guitar player Tal Arditi.

The album was recorded live at ''A-Trane Jazz Club'' in Berlin , featuring Tobias Backhaus on drums and Andreas Lang bass.

The idea behind the name Portrait is that the concert in ''A-Trane'' was a portrait of Tal's life until that point. Eight original music pieces that resemble his year and a half alone in Berlin, and all his experiences so far.