Gilad Atzmon

Da Gilad Atzmon var gutt og vokste opp i Jerusalem, bestemte han seg tidlig for å spille klarinett. På radioen hørte han ei jazz-låt av og med Charlie Parker som han forelsket seg i, så han dro til den eneste platebutikken i byen, og der, helt i bunnen av en kurv, bevisst bortgjemt, fant han plata. Da fikk han sjokk, for han fikk se på platecoveret at Charlie Parker var svart. Gilad hadde vokst opp i Israel med en forsikring om at alt vakkert ble skapt av jøder, så det akutte anfallet av kognitiv dissonans gjorde at han raskt konkluderte med at Charlie Parker måtte være en svart jøde.

Filmen om og med Gilad Atzmon er ferdigprodusert og ligger blant annet på Youtube.

Gilad Atzmon is one of modern music’s best saxophonists, and one of the most controversial public opponents of Israel. A gentle giant, warm, charismatic and somewhat shy, Gilad is a complex character. Born into a pro-Zionist family and serving briefly in the first Lebanon War, Gilad had a dramatic turnaround; he quit the army, picked up his sax and exiled himself to London, declaring himself an enemy to the Israeli state. Since then he has produced some of the modern era’s greatest Jazz albums, and collaborated with Ian Drury, Paul McCartney and Sinead O’ Connor . In music he is a ‘feisty improviser’ as one critic put it, comparing him to the likes of Charlie parker. In his political and philosophical ideas, he is blunt and outspoken. His ideas on Israel and «Jewishness» have upset many people, to the extent that he has been labelled a holocaust denier and an anti-Semite. In Gilad’s life, music and politics are inseparable.

The film follows Gilad in the most flourishing time of his career, as he records albums with Robert Wyatt, the blockheads, and gigs with Nigel Kennedy; gets invited to TV programs and panel events all over the globe; pleases his supporters and admirers, while seriously pissing off his opponents to the point of receiving death threats and intimidation against the venues he plays and speaks in.

Framhevet bilde: Richard Kaby – http://www.flickr.com/photos/kabyric/132980207/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3007104