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ARTIE FISHEL | |
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Artie was born in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv in 1950. His German parents settled in the new Israel in 1949 travelling from America where they had emigrated to escape the Nazis in 1938. Artie was a bright boy with a passion for music. He idolised his uncle Shimon a Jazz Zaxophonist living in New York. Artie began piano lessons at the age of 4 and as soon as his hands had grown large enough his father bought him his first Schwartzephon, or Jewish misery stick. Artie dreamed of playing the Zaxophone like his uncle Shimon, but his father put his foot down saying "no son of mine is going to be playing any instrument invented by an Adolphe". In 1961 at the age of 11 Artie won a scholarship to study in America at Professor Ruben Schnorrers Klezmer Conservatoire in Boston. Artie threw himself into his studies, attending class and practicing every hour he could. It was during this first year of study that Artie began to formulate the controversial idea that Jazz music, far from being an Afro-American construct, could actually trace its roots in Jewish Music. He knew that in the early days playing Jazz music was not seen as a suitable occupation for a good Jewish boy. He could imagine many Jewish musicians of the time having to disguise themselves to avoid the scorn of their community. It seemed quite logical to Artie that some of these musicians would have "blacked up" in order to remain undetected. Indeed in the southern states at that time it was illegal for white and black musicians to share the same stage. All this, fuelled with the tales he had heard of the exploits of his uncle Shimon and his Jewish musician friends, reinforced Artie’s controversial viewpoint. Halfway through his first year Artie auditioned for a place in the college’s prestigious big band "The klezmer Kings of Schving". Even in his first year Artie was by far one of the most gifted improvisers at the Conservatoire, so it was no surprise when he was offered the position of first Schwartzephon. |
ARTIE IN ENGLAND | |
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During the summer vacation in 1962 the Klezmer Kings were booked to do a tour of the British Isles, where they played to enthusiastic audiences in dance halls up and down the country. Before returning to the States the Conservatoire had arranged a recording session for the band at London’s Abbey Road studios. During the recording session Artie came to the attention of up and coming record producer George Martin. He was impressed by the young lad as he soloed on many of the tracks. Towards the end of the session, finding there was tape left in the machine, he asked Artie if he would like to cut a track that would showcase Artie’s Schwartzephon playing. There was nothing suitable in the band pad but Artie said he had written a tune as part of his arranging classes that might fit the bill. He showed it to Martin and together they whipped it into shape ,Martin suggested adding a string section. Once in the can Martin knew they had a winner on their hands and so it was that in August that year that the haunting Schwartzephon ballad "Stranger On the Shoah" was released in Britain, as a single. It went straight into the top ten reaching No.3. The proceeds from this recording enabled Artie to buy his first Zaxophone. The following year Artie had arranged to stay with his uncle Shimon in New York during the summer vacation. That summer Artie was introduced to one of Shimon’s sidemen from the early days of BeBop, Archie Schlepp. Archie told Artie that he was looking for an Alto player for his band to do a tour that summer and invited Artie to audition. Archie was impressed with the boy’s abilities and offered him the gig. For the next five weeks they toured the western side of the U.S. from Boston to Florida. At the end of the tour the band went into the studio to record new material worked up during the tour. So it was that in November of that year the seminal "Giant Schleppes" album was released. |
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UNCLE SHIMONShimon "Soupy" Fishel (so called because of his near addiction to chicken soup), emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1938. Already an accomplished musician his passion was for the Jazz music that he had listened to on the radio and on the 78 records his friends had been sent by their relatives in the States. He started working in various Big Bands, mainly in the New York and Boston areas, where he built up a good reputation and was frequently hired for tours by some of the best bands of the time .Shimon eventually moved to playing in smaller bands as this gave him more freedom to improvise. In the summer of 1945 Shimon put his own band together to play gigs in and around New York.One day in July the band was booked to play New York’s "Golden Bagel" club, during lengthy and heated negotiations over the bands fee, Artie talked the clubs owner Manny Putz into paying the band 1cent per note. In the early hours of the following morning a stunned and bewildered audience staggered out into the New York night. Never before had they heard so many Jazz standards played at such breakneck speeds, never before had they heard so many solos with so many notes. Later that morning Putz filed for bankruptcy, little knowing that he had been the unwilling Midwife at the birth of Be Bop. | |
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JACO PASTRAMIArtie first met Jaco Pastrami as a 12 year old street urchin living rough on the streets of Tel Aviv. Jaco loved music and would hang around the back door of Artie’s house listening to the band rehearsing. Artie took a shine to the young boy and soon had him running errands and helping to set up the equipment. He was allowed to sit in and watch the band rehearse and eventually Artie let the lad move into his garage.One day as Artie was passing a local pawnbrokers shop he noticed a beat up old double bass in the window. After a session of furious haggling with the proprietor "Uncle" Moyshe, he bought the bass at a knockdown price and took it home for young Jaco. Unfortunately Jaco, being malnourished and small for his age, was far too small even to reach the neck of the instrument. Ever resourceful, Jaco used the tools in Artie’s garage to cut a door in the back of the bass, thus giving him access to the inside of the instrument. He then fitted it out as his own private sleeping quarters, even hooking up to the mains so he could read in bed. And this is where he lived for the next couple of years until eventually puberty and an improved diet meant he put on such a spurt of growth that he could no longer fit in the bass. However, there was a plus side as he now found that by piling up a few orange crates and standing on the top he was able to reach the top of the neck of the bass. Aided by Artie he began to practice scales in first position......the rest is history. THE AIRPORT INCIDENTOne incident that reached the attention of the world’s media took place in July 1980 at Tel Aviv airport. Artie an the band had flown into Israel from the States to take part in what was to be the first outdoor Jazz concert to take place in Jerusalem in front of the Wailing Wall. During a routine baggage search, customs found a half eaten bacon sandwich in Peter Foreskin’s hand luggage. He was immediately detained by customs and then passed over into police custody. He was then subjected to a lengthy interrogation, during which he was accused of being a member of the outlawed D.L.O. or Dietary Liberation Organisation, a militant dissident Jewish organisation dedicated to the revision of the strict dietary laws as laid down in the Torah. Groups of these vociferous agitators could be seen demonstrating outside kosher butchers and the local offices of the Beth Din, waving placards, their rallying cries of "Oy Oy Saveloy" ringing through the streets.Of course Foreskin denied all this, but the Police offered him a choice, either he had to go into re-hab, or be deported on the next plane for the U.S. Not relishing the prospect of going "cold porky" he opted for deportation. This left Artie minus one drummer. A replacement was soon found in the shape of the young but talented Yousef Circus, who would later become the regular drummer with Jihad Axeman and the Palestinian Funkatirs. |
ARTIE IN SOUTH AFRICA | |
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In the spring of 1986 Artie found himself on a Cultural Exchange visit to South Africa. This was made possible by the special luvvie duvvie relationship between the two governments. This mainly consisted of the Israeli government paying the South African government lots and lots of lovely Dollars in exchange for military equipment, like armoured personnel vehicles and C.S. gas cannons and the like. As soon as he stepped down off the plane Artie felt a strange feeling of belonging. He was taken around the country and introduced to many, exclusively, white musicians. He eventually ended up in Bloemfontein where he was met two of South Africa’s’ most respected musicians, the bass player Sammy "Sjambok" De Groot and Terrance "Toots" Terreblanche, a virtuoso of the Apartodeon, an Afrikaans variant of the piano accordion, characterised by having the black notes and white notes at opposite ends of the keyboard. Artie followed them and their band "Big Boss" as they toured the country. Artie loved their Polkas and the ballads telling of the heroes of the Great Trek where the early Boer settlers crossed the country in covered wagons, claiming the land as their "birthright" and driving the indigenous peoples out before them. After some thought, Artie hit on an idea and he got the band to record some outline tracks of their songs, he would then take the tapes back to the U.S. where he was next to tour, and then record his band putting the inimitable Artie stamp on the music. So it was that the now legendary "Disgraceland" album was released in the autumn of 86.It caused an overnight sensation, selling widely in both the U.S. and Europe. The record industry, never slow to recognise a band wagon when it saw one, built a whole new music genre around the album and the new craze for "World Music" enabled the industry to make millions out of poorly paid musicians in every country on the planet. |
ARTIE IN ENGLAND (again)In the autumn of 1989 Artie returned to England. Always being one to promote and encourage young up and coming talent he went on tour with a group of ultra orthodox Jewish musicians from Jerusalem. They played a unique blend of Modern Jazz, Hip Hop and Rap. They exhibited considerable stage presence, dressed as they were in black suits and wide brimmed black hats, their ringlets swaying to the beat of the music. This new fusion seemed to capture the spirit of the upbeat times amongst the largely young audience and many British bands followed in their wake thus sparking the popular style known as "Hasid Jazz".ARTIE TODAYAnd so today Artie is being brought before a new audience thanks to the sterling work of musician, philosopher, novelist and political activist Gilad Atzmon. Ever one to recognise a sound commercial opportunity, Mr. Atzmon saw the success that Ry Cooder was having with the Buena Vista Social Club, a group of retired ageing Cuban musicians , and decided to scour the retirement homes and job centre queues of his native Israel and so now he presents to us....... | |
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ARTIE FISHEL AND THE PROMISED BANDSUGGESTED LISTENING | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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