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	ASAF SIRKIS Keeping The Spirit Moving Drummer, bandleader and composer, Asaf Sirkis, has some strong opinions on how jazz is defined, and the limitations that this can potentially inflict on musicians and listeners alike. He explains all to NickLea. Over the last five years, drummer, Asaf Sirkis has steadily built a reputation not simply as one of the finest on the UK scene but also has one of the most versatile and adventurous. Whether playing in a straight ahead combo, steering Gilad Atzmon?s Orient House Ensemble, or driving his own trio Inner Noise he brings a commitment and musicality to his playing that transcends simple categorisation. Sirkis has strong views on the music that he plays, and when interviewed was always willing to most eloquently and intelligently to share his opinions in a manner that is as compelling to listen to as his playing. So how did the story begin? ?There was always music at home? explained Asaf. ?My father would put on lots of classical music, and my brother was playing the piano and later he became an Opera singer. When I was ten I really wanted to play bass guitar but some guy in the music conservatory told me that I?ll have to study classical guitar for 4 years before I can get my hands on a bass?weird isn?t it? That wasn?t good because I was in a hurry!! Then gradually I started hitting things around the house as if they were drums. A year later my dad bought me a drum kit and I started taking drum lessons and 2 months later I was playing in school bands.? Even at this early stage Asaf was committed to playing music wherever and whenever possible, as he recalls ?It was a great time! I was in a few bands and we used to hang out all weekends, play and record each others music on cassettes? that?s how I got into what you can call jazz.? However, as well as jazz, Sirkis had a healthy interest in many other types of music which remains intact to this day. ?Oh definitely, as a kid I really liked the Mussorgsky, Beatles, Police, then I got in to Yes, Genesis, Weather Report, Allan Holdsworth, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Olivier Messiaen, John Coltrane? he says enthusiastically. ?And as time has elapsed you can add guitarists John Scofield, John McLaughlin and Terje Rypdal, along with Sun Ra, Maurisce Durufle and Bach who have all influenced my playing.? What, no drummers, I enquire? ?Of course? laughs Asaf ?where do I start? Well there?s Jack DeJohnette, Tony Williams and in this country Gary Husband.? In his formative years in Israel, Asaf continued his musical studies also finding time to play in as many bands as possible, and as is the case for musicians all over the world, trying to make a living. As has become his wont, he did not just confinie himself to any one musical genre although jazz did play a part in his musical activities at this time. ?Jazz is in an odd word? explains the drummer, ?I think that the way this word is understood here very differently than in Israel. I was always interested in any kind of creative music but yes, I guess I can say that I was playing some Jazz related musics. But actually, most of the time in Israel I spent trying to make a living playing in weddings, klezmer or folk bands ? there was no way I could survive playing only the music I wanted to play and it was only when I came to London that I started to play ?Jazz? as ?we? understand it, professionally.? ?There was a jazz scene happening in Israel? continues Asaf. Whether it was healthy or nor is another matter altogether. It was healthy in the sense that you had to be really determined and to work hard to get something going. Those people I use to play with in Israel like Harold Rubin and Albert Beger are my heroes; they never stopped, always created something else despite the intolerant environment. You could hear that extreme determination and faith in their music. I think that?s part of the reason why the emphasis in Israel is on the expressive/emotional factor rather than the language thing. There is a strong sense of urgency in everything.? Despite the inherent difficulties in playing the music he loved in his native country, it was in Israel that he recorded his first album as leader, and also formed the first edition of the Inner Noise'. ?Yes, I recorded a piano trio album called One Step Closer. The strange thing was that immediately after we recorded the album I woke up the next morning and felt as if somebody else had woken up, a completely different person.?it was then that I started writing music for the church organ. I was hearing a lot of Messiaen?s Organ music at the time. Then I thought it would be good to have guitar and drums in it too ? guitar is one of my favourite instruments! But where do you find a church organ in Israel? ? I don?t know!! The first Inner Noise band in Israel was a quartet with bass, drums, guitar & keyboards. We did few gigs all of which where a complete disaster ? we played one night in this arts centre, the room was well attended and after the first song has finished there was nobody there! On another occasion the police were trying to stop us from playing in the middle of a gig.? This frustration in finding not just the opportunity to play, but to play the music he loved with such a negative reaction was one of the reasons that Asaf decided a move was necessary. As Asaf recalls ?I left Israel mainly because I couldn?t find how to play my music or the music I liked to play and make a living? also because of the general atmosphere in Israel which I found not very tolerant. Serving in the Israeli army for 3 years didn?t get my music anywhere either. In 1998 I left with Gabriela (my wife) and moved to Holland and stayed there for a bit, and then went to France (Paris) for a few months and finally to London (April 99). It was a time of many changes; it was great to start all over again ? to be no one. I learned so much from that.? ?Upon moving to London the plan was to get a band of my own and start gigging with it at some stage. I was sure from the very start that London would be a good place for me. When I came here for a visit previously I was blown away by the amount of music and gigs going on! One day I was walking in Hyde Park when I saw these weird radical people shouting religious texts passionately. I thought ? WOW!! That is it!! But the first two years or so in London where tough, I didn?t have a car so I had to carry the drums on tubes and busses but gigs started to come in, I bought a car and gradually I was able to live more comfortably.? For the last five years Asaf has been seen across the UK and Europe touring with Gilad Atzmon?s Orient House Ensemble. An exciting band with which Atzmon has used to great personal effect in getting across his unique vision of jazz and 20th century music, Gilad has also done much to introduce UK audiences to a wide cross section of musical dialects and styles. I asked Asaf if this was very much the way that he approached his own music, utilising music from his own cultural heritage with jazz and western classical music? ?The essence of music or the non-identity in it is the most interesting for me. Not the language or the style. Yes, I do have my influences and I did grow up in Israel but I never felt a need to introduce that to people as I never really felt as if I?m part of that. Really, I do not see myself as an ?Israeli?, ?Middle Eastern?, ?jazz drummer?, etc? What I?d like to point out through music is utterly simple - I am a human being and it is only when Identity stops that music can begin.? And it is this overall concept that has driven Sirkis to reform the Inner Noise in the UK with keyboad player, Steve Lodder and guitarist Mike Outram. In full flow this band must generate some excitement live, and suggested to Asaf that probably raised a few eye brows in using the church organ in the way they did on the debut CD. Asaf laughs ?Yes, eye brows where risen. I like that album (?Inner Noise?); I still listen to it from time to time. It was difficult to find venues that had a church organ to play that music. We did one gig at St. Cypriot?s church in London which was great!! And perhaps we?ll do some more church gigs in the future but realistically what happens is that Steve is using a special keyboard set-up with bass pedals (church organ like). We ended up doing that on almost all the gigs.? The use of the keyboards is also evident on the bands new album, We Are Falling which is released this month. ?After playing like that for a while we kind of got a sound together and then I thought ? this is it!? explains Asaf ?This is how we approached the new album as well. I thought ?Let?s do it as if we?re playing live!?, and I?m really happy we did that ? it really captures our live sound. ?As far as the compositions go, the first album is a kind of scream; the music was composed in Israel. I was young and angry. Recording that music was like trying to build a big wall of sound and smashing it at the same time?I think that in the new CD there is a reduction of concepts and ideas, there is more peace in it and the result is more organic. It?s more of a band album.? So with the release of We Are Falling is this a the beginning of a new stage in the drummers career, moving more into the limelight to take care of business and lead his own band on a permanent basis? ?Yes - it?s always so great to play with Steve and Mike. They are such great and inspired musicians. Steve is one of the most unique and natural musician I ever played with, he is a true improviser! And Mike is such a powerful guitarist, his understanding of the music is so deep! This forthcoming tour to promote the CD is just wonderful for me! And I?d like to do that more and more. I?d like to bring this band to the centre of my work and to dedicate more time for getting it there. I?ve also started writing some new music now?lets see where that takes us? For more information visit www.asafsirkis.co.uk.
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