Sandman Project Features J. lamotta
The fiery groove band, Sandman Project, have come to deliver a knockout performance and to host, for the first time at the festival, J. Lamotta, who is returning after eight years in Berlin, to conquer the homeland. The Sandmans, a jaunty and bubbling ensemble of talents grouped in 2017 around guitarist Tal Sandman, soon became a joyous musical phenomenon. The band’s musical journey, which turns the globe into a playground of sound and rhythm, begins in West Africa, passes through Ethiopia, refuels in New York and ends in the Middle East. The result: a funky Afro-fusion groove that electrifies, guiding the audience between different rhythms and cultures.
With innovative arrangements, influenced by the sounds and motifs of world music and free jazz, the ensemble – trumpet player Tal Avraham, bassist Eli Or, drummer Noam Charchi and percussionist Zohar Jacob – delivers a potently spiced cocktail of original music that’s cheeky and chock-full of good vibes.
The Sandman Project has collaborated with a long line of excellent musicians from various fields, including Eyal Talmudi, Yael Dekelbaum, System Ali, Kutiman, Albert Beger, Anat Fort, Bint El Funk and Yuval Cohen. The launch of the band’s EP, Royal Family, released by the British label Batov Records, was overseen by Yossi Fine and Abatte Barihun.
They’re coming to the festival while working on a new album, which will be released later this year. In the meantime, they’re joining forces with J. Lamotta (aka, Rotem Alajem Asulin), an intriguing creator and performer with four albums under the German indie label, Jakarta Records, including: Suzume, (sparrow in Japanese), jazz with a touch of hip hop, which paved her the way to the Japanese music market. Now she’s here, just before her debut album in Hebrew and with singles that went straight into top playlists and are steadily climbing up digital charts. The style, weaving together light pop grading into electronic-oriental hip hop, is gradually evolving. The singing is soft and enveloping. The intriguing connection with the Sandman Project, happening here for the first time, promises to surprise.