The whole concert of saxophonist Jay Seven from Israel. Israeli saxophonist J.Seven: there are kind people in Vladivostok and a lot of Japanese cars. I mean, it's not really about love.

Text | Yuri KUZMIN

Photo | J.Seven Archive

A well-known Israeli musician, saxophonist, performing under the pseudonym J.Seven, can be called a man-orchestra.
He is a multi-instrumentalist, virtuoso performing musical works on saxophone, Spanish guitar, recorder and percussion instruments. His creative biography includes solo concerts, as well as performances as part of a variety symphony orchestra and music shows around the world. J.Seven told our magazine about how his musical career has developed and how creativity is combined with business.

Eugene, to be honest: before the interview, I looked all over the Internet to find your real name, and did not find it. Why such a conspiracy and how can it be observed? What does J.Seven mean by the way?

J.Seven is my stage name, in Russian, you correctly noticed, my name is Zhenya. That is, if you write my name in English letters, it starts with the letter J, and Seven in English means seven, because I was born in the 7th month, in the 7th maternity hospital, in the 75th year, I was brought up in 177 th kindergarten, in the 87th year he began to study music, that is, as you can see, sevens are everywhere. I didn’t put my surname on the Internet on purpose, so you didn’t find it there, I prefer to keep secrets about my life and biography at least in some way.

- And why?

I would like the audience to identify me with my pseudonym. Still, you rarely meet an artist with that name in the former Soviet space, but in the West such names exist. And I would like to remain incognito so that there is a certain mystery for the viewer: who is J.Seven after all?

- Tell us about your musical path. Where did you study, what instruments did you specialize in?

In 1987, I began to study music with a private teacher, his name is Sergey Seryakov, he taught me to play the drums. I came to his group to play the guitar, but since the drummer left the group, he offered me this option. He says if you want, take his place. I thought and agreed.

How old were you in 1987?

I was 12 years old when I started making music. At the age of 17 he entered the circus variety college, graduated as a drummer and saxophonist. In the Soviet Union, as a rule, they offered to take a related instrument, and the whole college laughed at me: how is the saxophone - a related instrument to drums, in principle, this cannot be. And I said: think what you want, but this is my decision. Everyone laughed but agreed.

And thank God: I worked as a drummer with stars in the Soviet Union, and when I came to Israel in 2000, I started working with local stars. I remembered that I had a second, additional education, and began to build a solo career as a saxophonist. And since at one time I learned to play the guitar from a teacher, also private, I use the saxophone, the guitar, and the recorder at concerts, but with the flute it's another story.

- What was the reason for your departure to Israel? By the way, where is your house and how much time do you spend in it?

Unfortunately, I don’t spend much time at home, because I’m constantly on tour, that is, you come for a week, two, three maximum and leave again. The house is located in Haifa, in northern Israel.

Departure to Israel was connected with certain spiritual convictions. The Bible says: God will gather his Jewish people in the Promised Land.

And I probably heard the voice of God - I believe in God. I can't say that I'm a religious person, I just believe in the existence of God, who created the Earth and everything that fills it. He did not create a nation, he created people, and then people were already divided into nationalities.

That is, it was still done out of spiritual convictions, and not in the pursuit of material wealth or as an escape from anti-Semitism?

No, just where I lived, the Jews were treated very well, especially during perestroika.

- And if you now had a choice - to stay or go, what decision would you make?

I would have left anyway, I even regret that I did not do it sooner. I came to Israel at the age of 24, it was the beginning of 2000.

- Were the expectations justified?

Expectations were certainly justified. To be honest, I can't even compare the former Soviet Union with the West, with Western culture, and Israel is, in general, a Western state. There is a different system, different laws, different bureaucracy (although it is also present), but all this is at a significantly higher level than in the former Soviet space. There are, of course, its drawbacks, but there are also big pluses.

- How did your musical career develop in Israel? Why did you decide to start solo performances?

In principle, there was nothing unusual in this decision. Everything happened in this sequence: I came to Israel, graduated from an ulpan (a Hebrew study studio), after which I began to look for a job, found it and started working as a drummer with local stars like Beni Silman. This is Israeli music, the music of the Mediterranean. For quite a long time, 5–7 years, he worked with the stars of Israel as a drummer and percussionist (percussion is when people play African folk percussion instruments with their hands).

And then an idea came to my mind: after all, I play the saxophone, why not try to make a solo career, start performing with concerts? The music that I perform today is not on the concert market, so I decided to make just such a concert program and build my career as a saxophonist.

A solo career gives more freedom of creativity, self-expression, but at the same time it also implies responsibility with all the ensuing consequences. If difficulties suddenly arise, you can no longer shift the solution of complex issues to anyone, you are responsible for everything yourself. But does someone help you in organizing concerts, is there an impresario or a partner in organizing concerts abroad?

Yes, of course, because you cannot cope with this task yourself. Incidentally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the one who first brought me to Russia, to Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg. There is such Ilya Belov, director of the production center "Mir Show" in Chelyabinsk, and I am very grateful to this person. Then there were Tver, Veliky Novgorod, by the way, I visited these cities twice, and, despite the fact that I am not a media person, as you say, thank God, I have full houses everywhere.

People love this music, now they have already begun to love it in my performance, and there are more and more tours both in Russia and abroad. Of course, it is impossible without partners: there must be people who organize concerts - managers, promoters, administrators.

You started your musical career as a drummer, then became a saxophonist, moreover, a real virtuoso of this instrument. My family and I were at your concert in Sochi, we had a lot of fun and saw that you also perform with an acoustic guitar and a flute. Still, what is the main tool for you and how did the other tools appear in your career?

Thank you, it's nice to hear that you enjoyed visiting my concert in Sochi. I can’t say that some instrument is the main one. I like to play drums, saxophone and guitar. But, I think, today the saxophone has become the main instrument. I play, and my soul sings.

- Do you have to play drums as part of a team?

Well, why, and sometimes some numbers can be performed solo, but basically, of course, I play solo drums during a concert accompanied by musicians. Regarding the other instruments that have appeared in my life: once in my distant childhood I learned to play the classical guitar, and then somehow I included several numbers with the Spanish guitar in the concert program so that the viewer, so to speak, would not be bored all the time listen to one saxophone. Those who love the guitar can listen to the guitar, those who love the flute can hear the flute at my concerts.

The flute is a completely different story: I got the flute quite by accident, I got it from my nephew. This flute was originally intended for students of a music school. I just liked the sound of this instrument, and I say to my nephew: "Let me buy it from you." And today this instrument sounds at my concerts.

I want to emphasize that this is not the flute that artists and musicians usually play, but a block flute. As a rule, such an instrument was made of wood, but my flute is made of ebonite. I perform pieces such as Gheorghe Zamfira's The Lonely Shepherd (best known for the James Last Orchestra).

- Your concerts are held under the slogan "This is not jazz, this is the music of love." Why not jazz, by the way?

The fact is that not all people love and understand jazz. I believe that jazz is more music for the musicians themselves. Ordinary people who are not professionally connected with music still prefer lighter, more melodic music, in the style of Joe Dassin, Stevie Wonder, Ennio Morricone, that is, what is closer and more understandable to their ears, soul, culture, and upbringing. In jazz, musicians demonstrate to a greater extent the skill of playing the instrument, their virtuosity, and the ability to improvise.

True, we must pay tribute, there are professionals, wonderful jazz musicians who do it so creatively that you will hear.

- What do you mean by "music of love"?

The music of love returns a person, in my opinion, to his youthful years, when such masterpieces as the melody of Fausto Papetti from the film "Emmanuelle", the song of Joe Dassin "If it weren't for you" sounded. This is music that really literally speaks of love. That's why I called my concerts "Music of Love". Basically, I play exactly the kind of music that touches a person’s soul, listening to which a person remembers his youth, his first love, a kiss near the entrance under a lantern ... It’s possible without a lantern, at dusk, it’s even more romantic (laughs).

- What is love for you?

It is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. Love is when a person is ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of another, to overcome any difficulties, obstacles. For me, this is what love is about, because when I loved, I made sacrifices and for the sake of a loved one I was ready to get a star from the sky.

What composers do you like to perform the most? What is on your mind?

Naturally, those whom I have already listed - Joe Dassin, Fausto Papetti, of course, one cannot pass by the world masterpieces of George Zamfira, Kenny G.

Well, in general, all those whom I perform at my concerts, as well as other composers who write music in similar styles and musical directions.

- What about Jewish compositions?

If an artist is from Israel, everyone, of course, expects some Jewish works from him. Lately, however, I have included Khava Nagila and Tum Balalaika in my concert program; I have not played them before.

- “Hava nagila”, as far as I know, is translated as “let's rejoice”.

Yes, let's have fun, rejoice together.

So it's not really about love.

Yes, this is a joyful song, but there must be some funny, interesting, invigorating pieces, because listening to only calm music all the time is also probably a little tiring. And then joy and love are very much connected with each other.

- Are there any other performers performing in a genre similar to yours?

Oh sure. Kenny G, Dave Koz. But it is rather smooth jazz (smooth jazz - Amer.), today such a new direction in music has appeared. Smooth jazz is something between jazz and romance.

- Where are they from?

These are, so to speak, Russian Americans, guys from Russia, but raised in America. By mentality, by linguistic affiliation, they cannot be called Russian people, but by blood they are former Russians.

Solo concert activity suggests that the musician is still quite strongly involved in the economic side of his business. Is concert activity for you a business or more of an art? Sorry for the indiscreet questions.

The question is very correct, the question is sober. Of course, show business is a business. But still, it is both art, and the satisfaction of spiritual aspirations, and creativity. To do this business, you need creativity. Someone invented, someone wrote, someone created. I am currently a performer, but I also have my own works that I play on the guitar, flute and saxophone, and I think that not only for me, but for most performers, these aspects are combined, one is inseparable from the other - show and business.

Of course, world stars have a whole staff of producers, directors, etc. And what about the percentage of your working time falls on organizational and production activities?

When I first started my concert activity, it was quite difficult, but now I already have administrators. In principle, running this business on your own when you enter the concert market simply won’t work, because it’s physically impossible to contact someone all the time, send contracts, sign something. Therefore, I work with administrators both in Russia and in the West.

- Do you yourself take part in this activity?

Now it is already indirect, if only they turn to me for some kind of signatures, agreement of contracts, etc.

- I don't ask how many dollars or shekels you get, but still the business is profitable, does it allow you to live?

Well, of course, it allows you to live, and allows you to live with dignity, let's say so.

What advice would you give to musicians who want to start a solo career?

First of all, there is no need to be afraid. By the way, I would like to note the following point: when I was going to enter the concert market, no one believed that it could be done. The musicians who work with me today on the same stage did not even want to hear about it, did not want to talk about this topic.

Because the music that I play today is generally the music of the past. But in the end it turned out that people know her, remember her, love her and get great pleasure from her.

I want to advise young guys who are afraid that they will not succeed, that something will not grow together somewhere: you need to take yourself into hands, see the path to the goal you want to achieve, and start knocking on all doors. And some door has to open, it cannot be that all the doors are locked.

J.SEVEN (ISRAEL) - artist saxophonist. Performing musical compositions on saxophone, Spanish guitar, recorder and drums.
A popular Israeli saxophonist performing under the pseudonym J.Seven (Jay Seven), a professional with two musical educations, who, with his talent, painstaking work and virtuosic manner of performance, has gained wide popularity and, by right, is among the performers whose concerts evoke genuine the interest of all music lovers. J.Seven is a musician, saxophonist artist, who, in addition to owning the saxophone, which is his "priority" instrument, also plays the Spanish guitar, recorder and drums. Unlike many musicians, J.Seven is distinguished by his active manner, artistry and extraordinary behavior on stage. Despite the fact that he has one of the most difficult instruments in his hands, he moves, enters the hall, “communicates” with the audience, and even jumps and dances while playing the saxophone!
J.Seven is a multi-instrumentalist musician who, in addition to owning the saxophone, which is his "priority" instrument, also plays the Spanish guitar, block flute and drums. Unlike many musicians, J.Seven is distinguished by his active manner, artistry and extraordinary behavior on stage. Today J.Seven is known not only in Israel, but is also a welcome guest on the stages of many countries of the world. The concert "Music of Love" with the artist J.Seven will not leave indifferent even the most demanding connoisseur of music and, undoubtedly, will bring real pleasure to everyone who comes to meet with real Music.J.Seven site for organizing a concert to order a corporate performance. The official site of J.Seven where you can get acquainted with the work, and by the specified contact numbers on the site, you can invite J.Seven to a concert for a wedding or order J.Seven to perform for an anniversary. Photos and videos of J.Seven on the site. The fee and how much is the performance of J.Seven for the holiday, call the phone number on the site.

A concert of saxophonist J. Seven (Israel) took place in Krasnoyarsk. Probably, he should be considered first of all as a popularizer of many melodies from the “golden” world fund, although the musician has already been elevated to the rank of a multi-instrumentalist…

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From saxophone to knife

J. Seven performed (I immediately remember the famous brand of juice!) on the stage of the Opera and Ballet Theater on a weekday, but managed to gather a full house. By the way, just a few minutes before I went to the concert, I read in the book of one historiographer of Russian rock music that in the 1960s and 1970s, when the official press was not), firstly, the saxophone was considered a symbol of the decaying and decaying west. Secondly, a strange idea was stubbornly carried out, they say, from this musical instrument to a knife is not far away. Of course, there is no more logic in this than in the well-known formula: “Today he plays jazz, and tomorrow he will sell his homeland” ...

The saxophonist went on stage dressed quite modestly: a jacket, jeans, a baseball cap hiding his eyes. He greeted the audience in several languages ​​and, promising to reveal the secret of his pseudonym in the second part of the concert, set to work. He was alone on the stage, blowing sounds from the saxophone over the "backing track", and behind him flashed the "animation" - frames of the video installation. At the same time, on one of the Internet sites it appears that the musician can perform with an ensemble of six people, among which there is a vocalist. And this is right, because people are not yet very accustomed to the “naked” instrumental…

Hit conveyor

Almost the entire program consisted of romantic melodies, heartfelt love songs… “The music of love returns a person, in my opinion, to his youthful years, when such masterpieces as the melody of Fausto Papetti from the film “Emmanuelle”, the song by Joe Dassin “If it were not for you” sounded. This is music that really literally speaks of love. That's why I called my concerts "Music of Love". Basically, I play exactly the kind of music that touches a person’s soul, listening to which a person remembers his youth, his first love, a kiss near the entrance under the lamp, ”I once explained J. Seven in one of his rather rare interviews.

What melodies sounded at the concert in Krasnoyarsk do you remember more than others?

I think that during the performance of the world hit from "Titanic" My Heart Will Go On, the musician's saxophone melted the remnants of ice in the hearts of the representatives of the beautiful half of humanity. Moreover, a clip of Canadian singer Celine Dion (the first performer of this masterpiece) played in the background on the video installation - with frames from James Cameron's film.

It is worth noting that J. Seven, who immediately warned that it was allowed to do almost everything at his concerts (and he himself, despite the saxophone, could come into fairly close contact with the audience), almost immediately went to get acquainted with the hall. To begin with, I “mastered” the first row, and then went deeper and deeper over and over again, so even in the gallery they could clearly see the musician who was truly a virtuoso at the instrument - probably could have blown the necessary notes out of him, even standing on his head.

And he very organically “driven” with his saxophone into several imperishable melodies from the repertoire of Joe Dassin. One of the saddest and probably the most famousEt si tu n'existais pas, was a resounding success 40 years ago, in March 1976, whenfirst released as a single. The composition, written by Toto Cutugno, has been known since Soviet times and in the Russian version - under the name"If I did not have you".

But in the "saxophone" part of the concert, the main thing was the hit of Steve WonderI Just Called to Say I Love You . Here the artist could not resist and, after another run around the hall, he began to sing into the microphone. Also, twice he invited Krasnoyarsk residents (and, mostly, Krasnoyarsk women) to the stage. The girls came out first, who then danced on both sides of the musician while he performed the next number of his program. But at the same time, J. Seven managed to pay attention not only to the saxophone, but also to the spontaneously formed “corps de ballet”.

The next time the musician began to call out the pairs - although not immediately, but there were a sufficient number of them. And here it was not without dancing (this time slow) ...

Later J.Seven revealed the secret of his stage name. It turned out that the musician, who was born and raised in Russia, is called Evgeny or Zhenya (although he tries not to show his last name anywhere) - hence J., but Seven, as you know, is seven in English. It is with this lucky figure that the musician has a lot to do. As he explains himself, he was born in July - that is, in the 7th month, it happened in the 7th maternity hospital, then he went to the 177th kindergarten, in 1987 he began to study music, etc.

Guitar and flute

Soon the artist put down the saxophone and picked up the Spanish guitar, performing a few more heartfelt melodies. True, the new instrument "tied" him to the stage, making it impossible to move freely around the hall.

Well, it all ended with the soloist of the musician on the block flute - however, it was noticeable that he knew it still worse than the saxophone. The main hit of this part of the concert was the famous composition "A lonely shepherd". It became very popular all over the world after it was performed by the James Last Orchestra in the late 1970s - it is known that the composer originally wrote it for his unreleased album "Music for films without films", but the solo part was given specially invited Romanian pan flutist Gheorghe Zamfiru. It turned out to be a world hit, which was later not used as soon as it was used. The same Zamfir included "Shepherd" in all his concerts ... "The music that I play today is generally the music of the past. But in the end it turned out that people know her, remember her, love her and get great pleasure from her, ”J.Seven once admitted.

Toward the end of the concert, the people in the hall got a little excited. I remember, for example, one lady who danced solo for a long time in the aisle - to the left of the stage. The musician immediately noticed this and kept her company, but, of course, not to the detriment of playing music ...

It is known that in Russia J.Seven has already performed in Chelyabinsk, Tver, Veliky Novgorod. And shortly before Krasnoyarsk, I looked into Yekaterinburg - a gala concert dedicated to International Women's Day was held in the House of Officers of the Central Military District, where various artists were listed, including Artyom Katorgin, a participant in the Voice show.

But, as for Siberia, as the musician himself admitted, he began its development from Krasnoyarsk.

And further. According to reports, a few days later the romantic saxophone was already being listened to in Belarusian Mogilev. In principle, J.Seven can today go even to the Papuans cut off from civilization: the language of music is universal and does not require translation, and all the compositions performed have long passed the test of time ...

Strokes for a portrait

He started playing music at the age of 12. At the age of 17 he entered the circus variety college, graduating as a drummer and saxophonist.

In Russia he worked as a drummer with various stars. In early 2000, he left for Israel, where he began to collaborate with local musicians not only as a drummer, but also as a percussionist.

Later he decided to pursue a solo career - as a saxophonist. “When I was going to enter the concert market, no one believed that this could be done. The musicians who work with me today on the same stage did not even want to hear about it, did not want to talk about this topic. And since at one time I learned to play the guitar from a teacher, also a private one, I use the saxophone, the guitar, and the recorder at concerts, ”J.Seven explained in an interview.

Kaliningrad Regional Philharmonic. E.F. Svetlanova / st.B. Khmelnitsky, 61a

Tickets: 500-1000 - r

Contacts: 64-52-94 Age limit: 12+

description:

A popular Israeli saxophonist, performing under the pseudonym J.Seven (Jay Seven), a professional with two musical educations, has rightfully won wide recognition in many countries with his talent and fantastic manner of performance.

This musician is a multi-instrumentalist, in addition to owning the saxophone, which is his "priority" instrument, he also plays the Spanish guitar, recorder and drums.

Plus, J.Seven is incredibly artistic, he has an active, dynamic demeanor on stage. Despite the fact that he has one of the most complex instruments in his hands, he moves easily, goes out into the hall, interactively “communicates” with the audience and even dances while playing! So from each of his concerts he also makes a bright beautiful show. And most importantly, it can create a real atmosphere of romance, because this brilliant saxophonist plays the Music of Love - a golden collection of world masterpieces: Stevie Wonder, Joe Dassin, Enio Morricone and many other equally beautiful ones.

Jay Seven will perform all this as a soloist in our Philharmonic Hall with Kaliningrad creative teams: the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and the Baltic Band jazz ensemble conducted by M. Sirkachik. The concert program "From Israel with Love" will be held as part of the International Arts Festival "Amber Necklace".

Performance cost

The price is flexible depending on the scale of the event, the place of performance, the wishes and interests of the customer.

Description

J. Seven is an extraordinary performer who can create a real atmosphere of romance during the show - the saxophonist plays the music of love. The uniqueness of his talent is that the artist, in addition to the saxophone, wonderfully owns the Spanish guitar, drums and recorder. The concert will feature a golden collection of world masterpieces: Stevie Wonder, Joe Dassin, Fausto Papetti and much more. You can enjoy the hoarse voice of the saxophone and return to your youth for two hours, remember your first love.

Repertoire

Golden collection of world masterpieces
- Concerts of romantic saxophone music

Program duration

from 1 hour 45 minutes before 2 hours

Compound

solo artist
(Performance as part of a team is possible:
Ronald Lis - keyboards
Saar Anak - bass guitar
Evgeniy Ninburg - rhythm solo guitar
Stas Zilberman - drums
Mikhail Ostrover - violin
Anastasia Kazakova - vocals