Rotem Sivan's 'Antidote' Due Out 7/11

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"Rotem Sivan has carved a place for himself in the New York jazz scene through his daring improvisation, astute band leading and technical ability but above all his lyricism and musicality. Antidote is a smartly crafted combination of all these qualities in a beautiful package. The album never gets boring as the trio keeps moving throughout a wide variety of moods and soundscapes with musicality always being the prevalent force. Rotem has been one of the guitar players to watch for sometime now. This album establishes him as a force on the scene."

- Antonio Sanchez

"Rotem Sivan is one of the most creative and adventurous guitarists on the scene today. He has a great imagination and the technical abilities to communicate what is inside that imagination. More importantly, he has the courage and confidence to follow his musical ideas and impulses through to create something that is all his own." - Peter Bernstein

"When a statement is achieved with such precision, what's captured attains an importance that shall last. Antidote is a special recording, and it shall fulfill many guitar aficionados without question." - Pat Martino

"Rotem has remarkable facility and the trio creates a beautiful vibe with some unexpected turns on Antidote." - Ari Hoenig

"The gifted guitarist combines energy, ideas and undeniable chops..A remarkable talent and a welcome new voice on the scene."

- Bill Milkowski (DownBeat)

Israeli jazz master guitarist, Rotem Sivan, has announced the July 11th release of his fourth and highly-anticipated album, "Antidote". This is the sophomore album released by Sivan's trio, on which, alongside musical titans, Haggai Cohen Milo on bass and Colin Stranahan on drums, Rotem Sivan "emerges as a guitarist of great imagination and ferocious brilliance" (Raul Da Gama). With Jazz Times Magazine regarding Sivan as a guitarist who, through his style and sound, brings a fresh flair and "a remarkable sophistication to jazz, which transcends audiences" from around the globe, "Antidote" is sure to provide its listeners with an innovative musical experience where meaning and class ooze from each note.

"Rotem Sivan's playing has a rare class to it, one where each note has meaning, each note has a depth of soul, with each note revealing a different part of the performer's character; laid bare and open right in front of us."

- Mike Gates (UK Vibe)

Originally from Israel, Rotem Sivan has created a strong presence worldwide (and at an alarming rate at that!) evidenced by his ever-growing social media presence of over 12k fans on Facebook, 28k followers on Instagram and 5k followers on Twitter. Not only has he established himself as a respected and prestigious jazz musician in the New York jazz circle, he has successfully toured across Europe and South America, with his talented and tightly-knit trio.

On "Antidote", this ensemble skillfully and purposely decided to use separation during the recording process; a technique that they had not used on their previous, debut album. As Rotem himself explains, this allowed him as a guitarist "to mix in a range of elements from other music genres", which when one listens to this recording can immediately detect that this was a core feature of the album. Many also regard this album as having a huge and significant connection between particular elements of the music and Sivan's personal emotions; and they are certainly not wrong to think so! As Rotem explains:

"The music for this album is a product of the shock and heartbreak I experienced when my girlfriend of more than seven years unexpectedly ended our relationship. These are some of the songs I wrote over the years as I coped and learned how to love again, and they represent different points on my journey."

With knowing the heartfelt story behind the writing process of this album, it is hard to avoid noticing the expressive relationship between emotion and music, so strongly existent throughout the record. Each track has its own distinct musical character, empathetic to the specific emotion that Rotem presents on said track. For example, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", with silky vocals by Gracie Terzian, may be the jazziest rendition of this standard you will ever hear, whereas the title track off the album has a certain sense of anguish attached to its performance. Then, in contrast to both of those tracks, "Reconstruction" is an instrumental odyssey with a dramatically abrupt, question mark ending. The trio provides a delicate jazz lullaby-esque cover of Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" and "For Emotional Use Only"—perhaps the most tangibly personal track on the album, is melancholy, meditative, and utterly transfixing.

This continuous connection between emotion and sound gilds the record with a beautiful, artistic depth. However, even without factoring in the album's deep personal significance to the artist, "Antidote" is an intensely rewarding listening experience from beginning to end. The classic jazz foundation is present throughout this genre-straddling album and that's it. That's the significant musical facet of this record; although jazz is at the core, each track veers boldly from one genre to the next, and Sivan's brilliantly idiosyncratic and simply spellbinding guitar work provides the unifying force which easily carries the listener from song to song.

"With eleven songs, including an especially wistful version of' Over The Rainbow', Rotem Sivan gives us a recital of astonishing strength, poetry and, for one so young, musical maturity." - Raul Da Gama

MORE ABOUT ROTEM SIVAN

Rotem Sivan completed his studies in both classical composition and jazz with honors in Tel Aviv & NYC. Sivan tours with his trio most of the year playing in world-renowned festivals and clubs in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Poland, UK, Slovenia, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Israel, USA, and Canada, among others, and has given workshops around the world in top universities and schools. Rotem has developed a strong online presence with over 28k followers on Instagram alone. Upon graduation Sivan moved to NYC to pursue his passion for jazz. While making his first steps in the local scene he was also studying at The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music. Since his relocation, Sivan has performed with many prominent musicians, including Peter Bernstein, Ari Hoenig, Ben Street and Ferenc Nemeth. Sivan can be seen regularly at the city's top venues such as Smalls, Birdland, The Jazz Gallery, The Bar Next Door and The Blue Note. He has performed at many international festivals such as Polanco Jazz Festival, Chutzpah Jazz Festival, Marseille Jazz Festival, Venice Jazz Festival, Fara Jazz Festival, Exposure Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Utopia Music Festival, Bern Jazz Festival and Sonora Jazz Festival to name a few. In 2013 he released his debut album "Enchanted Sun" on SteepleChase Records, followed by his second album "For Emotional Use Only" on Fresh Sound New Talent Records. Jazz critics and magazines around the world praised both albums, receiving 4.5 stars from Downbeat Magazine. Sivan released his third album "A New Dance" in 2015 with bassist Haggai Cohen-Milo and drummer Colin Stranahan, which was again met with critical acclaim.

"Antidote"

Due Out July 11, 2017

The Rotem Sivan Trio featuring Haggai Cohen Milo & Colin Stranahan

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