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LP
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BTR 134LP
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Reverie is the first full-length collaboration between Ori Kaplan and Lihu Melamed -- a cinematic, soul-soaked LP that drifts between modal jazz, cinematic scores and psychedelic rock, released on Batov Records. Saxophonist and producer Ori Kaplan is best known as a founding member of Balkan Beat Box, for his work with Gogol Bordello and more recently, Shotnez, while Melamed brings a deep studio craft honed over years as an engineer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Together, they create a record that feels both ancient and immediate: music that evokes old biblical films, sun-bleached Western soundtracks and '70s jazz explorations, while remaining playful, spontaneous and deeply human. There's a strong cinematic undercurrent throughout Reverie. Think Charles Heston wandering through an Old Testament epic; Ennio Morricone soundtracking a desert horizon; Nino Rota scoring Fellini's Rome; or Pasolini filming in Ethiopia. Minor-key strings, modal structures and unhurried grooves sit alongside echoes of Mingus and Yusef Lateef, with Ori's baritone sax and flutes guiding the listener through shifting scenes and moods. Melamed's influence pulls in another direction: the spirit of '70s rock and psychedelia -- The Doors, Woodstock, King Crimson -- with organs, guitars and a sense of scale that balances Kaplan's love of folk traditions, heavy percussion, Klezmer modes and Middle Eastern textures. The result is a careful blend of composition and instinct, where structure is often nudged aside in favor of feel. Throughout Reverie, flutes play a central role -- sometimes delicate, sometimes ritualistic -- acting as a thread that binds the album's many references into a single journey. It's a record that rewards immersion: music that unfolds like a film, or a half-remembered dream. Reverie is not about nostalgia, but about continuity -- the passing of musical language from one generation to another, reshaped by experience, curiosity and trust. A debut LP that sounds lived-in, expansive and quietly confident. Featuring Tamir Muskat and Itamar Ziegler.
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