ABOUT
“Gottlieb is one of those singers, like Rokia Traore or Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, whose voice can convey great power and soul, even when singing in a language unfamiliar to listeners”
Jon Garelick, Jazziz magazine
Described as an “intoxicating vocalist” (Vancouver Sun), with an “individually rigorous tone” (Ben Ratliff, New York NY Times), vocalist and composer Ayelet Rose Gottlieb has a new project in the works, celebrating the female connection to the moon—an acoustic lunar exploration. Montreal-based, Jerusalem-born, Gottlieb creates music of sophisticated simplicity, a “meeting of 1950s with 2050s” (Midwest Record). Rooted in improvisation and jazz, she blends Middle-Eastern traditions with wide open abstractions.
Here, in an evocative song-cycle “13 Lunar Meditations: Summoning the Witches,” Ayelet sets writings and found-texts from 20+ women and girls, written and collected especially for this global project. She is joined by sage vocalist Jay Clayton (Steve Reich, Vocal Summit), conductor DB Boyko leading a choir of improvising vocalists, and a stellar band, featuring guitarist Aram Bajakian (Lou Reed, John Zorn, Diana Krall) and Turkish violinist Eylem Basaldi (Snarky Puppy, Sandaraa)
Ayelet has performed John Zorn’s music at the Metropolitan Museum and improvised with vocal master Bobby McFerrin at Carnegie Hall. She sang lullabies for all ages with pianist Anat Fort in “Two More Dreams”, and connected her eastern and western roots in “Roadsides”, combining the sound of the Oud with that of the classical guitar and jazz piano. With ten albums under her belt, her original compositions and arrangements have been featured in International Jazz festivals including Vancouver (Canada), Re:Voice (London, UK), Banlieues Bleues (Paris, France), Musica Sacra (Quito, Ecuador), WinterJazzFest (NYC) and Tel-Aviv (Israel).
Ayelet nourishes her music from the rivers of life, touching on topics like nature, motherhood and rituals of mourning. Poetry sparks her inspiration – from erotic Biblical texts, to contemporaries such as Forugh Farrokhzad (Iran) Naomi Shihab Nye (Palestine/USA) and Almog Behar (Israel).
Her quartet Pneuma, features three clarinet virtuosos – François Houle, James Falzone and Michael Winograd. Their debut album “Who Has Seen the Wind?” was released in 2019 on Songlines Recordings.
