Jazzy from Jerusalem

Bassist Ehud Ettun has been making a splash in the jazz  and world music circles for awhile now. Together with his pianist Daniel Schwarzwald and drummer Nathan Blankett, Ehud was in Bengaluru for the first time and performed at the Indigo Live Music Bar, even debuting some of his new material live. We caught up with the Jerusalem-based musician who sees it as his job to connect people in places where words fail to do so.

“This tour was our first time in India and I’m extremely grateful for the Israeli Consulate in Bangalore for their support in bringing us here. I’m particularly curious about Indian music and Indian musicians, and very curious about the people of Bangalore. Hopefully we’ll make some new friendships,” he says, looking forward to spending time in the city.  

Calling his sound dynamic, Ehud has earlier performed at stages ranging from New York’s Blue Note to Washington’s Kennedy Center and Boston’s Symphony Hall. “In the last six years, I have lived in the United States, and traveled a lot to South America. This influenced my music a lot by bringing new rhythms and rhythmic perceptions,” he explains, believing that his tunes always change to who he is in a certain moment. His music may be all fleshed out now, but the up-and-coming Israeli double bassist confesses that his path to becoming a musician was rather complex and unclear. It was only after he met his maestro Michael Klinghoffer at 16, that music as a career choice became evident.

The social and political climate in Israel has of course had an impact on his music, as it has on him. “In the past year I have been deeply involved with a project I started in Jerusalem, which aims to bring together people from different backgrounds around improvised music.

This is a part of Internal Compass –  a group of creative musicians from all around the world who work together and seperately on improvised music as a tool for social change,” he lets us on. Ehud is set for a busy 2016 otherwise – a new album with his trio is scheduled to release later this year, even as he continues his work with Japanese pianist Haruka Yabuno on the Yabuno Ettun Project. “This year, I’m scheduled to play in Korea, Russia, USA, Europe and South America. However, I’m always looking for interesting musicians and artistes to collaborate with. Most importantly, I’m constantly practicing and studying,” says Ehud, adding that he rarely feels the need to unwind seeing as he loves doing what he does. “I really like technology and innovation, reading and hiking otherwise,” he concludes.