Hear, O Israel: A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz CD. Originally privately pressed in 1968 in minute numbers and only for sale at Friday night prayer concerts, Hear, O Israel has to be one of the rarest and most extraordinary jazz recordings to come out of New York. Written by a 17 year-old and played by one of the greatest jazz line-ups of all time, this really has to be heard to be believed. And this is the first-ever proper release of this extraordinary album. Back in 1968, a 17 year-old named Jonathan Klein had written an alternative concert for Friday Night Jewish prayers. It had been performed a few times at various Friday night gatherings, and been received well. The decision was made by a Jewish charitable organization to take this concert a little further and record it properly. An extraordinary line-up was put together (we have no idea how this came about), and the recording was made. It was pressed in very, very limited numbers without a real label, with no catalog number and was only offered for sale at various prayer gatherings. Without real distribution, the LP disappeared from view very fast, and even today there is little or no reference to it anywhere except on an obscure Herbie Hancock recordings web site. Jonny Trunk first came across the album in the late 1990s, and again recently in 2005. Because it is so unusual and so incredibly beautiful, he decided to get in touch with everyone involved, and officially licensed the recording for its first-ever worldwide release. Musically, the album is like no other, with its wholly unique mixture of spiritual New York jazz, Hebrew praises and modal phrases. Led by Herbie on piano, from the moment the album starts, its striking originality will hit you, and for the next 40 minutes you may find yourself lost in subtle prayer that you might not have believed possible. The jazz moves, the voices soar, hallelujah! Music written by Jonathan Klein (who today may or may not be a tutor at the Berklee School of Music); Herbie Hancock (piano), Jerome Richardson (flute, tenor and alto sax), Thad Jones (trumpet and flugelhorn), Ron Carter (bass), Jonathan Klein (French horn and baritone) and Grady Tate (drums). The recording also features Antonia Lavanne (soprano), Phyllis Bryn-Julson (contralto) and Rabbi David Davis (reader).
