Dreaming of Hope, Joy, and Aspiration Crystal balls always seem to be in short supply as we attempt to make sense of the world around us, but Yoron Israel must have had a cell-phone connection to the future when he conceived his new album, New Dreams [Ronja Music Company]. Although the jazz-trio project was recorded before COVID-19 gifted everyone with a “new normal,” the album’s overarching theme of embracing challenges with positivity, fortitude, energy, hope, and joy serves as a prescient set piece for outfoxing a global pandemic. New Dreams is one of those album’s you’d want caressing your eardrums if life is bringing you down, or if you need a bit of a compassionate kick to get moving on a task or aspiration. Israel—who is Chairman of the Percussion Department at Berklee College of Music, and has performed with Horace Silver, Kenny Burrell, Tony Bennett, Sonny Rollins, Ahmad Jamal, […]

January 2022 Issue