Tal Yasis

On Tal Yasis, the first of two wondrous duo albums by Yosef-Gutman Levitt and guitarist Tal Yahalom, Hasidic melodies taught by the Lubavitcher Rebbe are clothed in new instrumental garb, taking on new life. Yahalom employs nylon- and steel-string guitars to convey an uncanny harmonic sensitivity and spaciousness. Levitt provides a firm foundation on upright bass and also soars in the higher register on his signature instrument, the five-string acoustic bass guitar. This blend of sounds captures the warmth and subtlety of the source material, expressing an emotion that is gentle and real. The result is music that floats serenely within the subconscious while still remaining vividly present.

One original piece, Levitt’s “Tuvya Noam,” composed in honor of his son’s bar mitzvah, was previously heard on the Brazilian-themed Ashreinu in an afoxé 4/4 rhythmic feel. Here it is a lilting jazz waltz, with Yahalom’s guitar and Levitt’s five-string stating the plaintive melody in octaves, until Levitt’s instrument takes off on its own soloistic foray.

“Shamil,” one of the sparser, more intimate tracks, is named for a leader (Shamil), who, as the story goes, led his tribe in battle against the invading Russian Tsarist army, which was able to prevail only through the perfidy of a false peace offering. Imprisoned, Shamil laments his fate but expresses hope for future liberation. In Chabad Hasidic teaching, the story mirrors the “exile” of the earthly body from the higher realm of true spiritual fulfilment.

On Tal Yasis we also hear two distinct versions of the poignant prayer “Ki Anu Amecha” (“we are your people”): the first is a melodic feature for five-string and upright basses in succession; the second, on an entirely different melody, starts by highlighting Yahalom’s nylon-string sensitivity and poise, then yields to Levitt’s yearning melodicism, adding shaker percussion as the tempo locks in and builds intensity.

The title track “Tal Yasis,” animated mainly by Yahalom’s layered steel-string guitars and Levitt’s steady and simple upright bass accompaniment, has a lightly bouncing country-folk feel — Chabad meets Appalachia, one might say. It’s a moment that reveals the universality of this music in the hands of a player with Levitt’s globe-spanning experience: from his native South Africa, to his years in the trenches of the New York jazz scene, and at last to his current physical and spiritual home in Jerusalem.