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OPEN ARMS (NEW ALBUM RELEASED JANUARY 12, 2024) READ PRESS RELEASE –> HERE
With Open Arms, Etkin flipped the traditional tape-then-tour model, using his tours to create new music with mbira masters in Zimbabwe, Roma musicians in Czech Republic, innovative composers in Brazil and France and traditional musicians in Turkey. His upcoming album features these on-location recordings alongside reimagined versions with his band. The live band is enhanced with electronics as the musicians improvisationally trigger layers of samples from the original recordings creating ever-changing textures and grooves. This fresh combination of deeply traditional sounds with innovative improvisations tells a spellbinding story of an opening and connected world, rooted in its cultures yet intent on forging a bold path forward.
Biography
Oran Etkin has been described as “Ebullient” by the New York Times, and voted #1 rising star clarinetist in DownBeat Magazine’s Critic’s Poll. French newspaper Libération chose his Paris concert as one of the top 6 musical events of the year, calling it "A concert of weightlessness, class, spark, inspiration and sharing. Magic uninterrupted… for such is the music of Etkin: sensitive to the exchange with the audience.”
Indeed creating connection is at the core of all of Etkin’s musical endeavors. With his Open Arms Project, Etkin flipped the traditional record-then-tour model. Before the pandemic, Etkin took time off during his tours to create new music with traditional mbira musicians in Zimbabwe, Roma musicians in Czech Republic, legendary songwriters in Rio de Janeiro and innovative composers in São Paulo. As the world closed down, Etkin began releasing Open Arms singles and music videos of each of these collaborations, recorded on-location before the closures. Now on tour, Etkin’s band deconstructs and recomposes fresh music based on the melodies, rhythms and motifs that he recorded around the world. Incorporating electronics derived from stems of the original recordings, the live show tells a story of an opening and connected world, rooted in its traditions, yet forging a fresh path forward.
In Etkin’s Timbalooloo concerts for children, a different kind of connection is formed, that transcends generational boundaries. Instruments come to life and speak through their music. Etkin’s friend Clara Net (his clarinet) comes to the concert in her bed, and then calls for her mother, Big Mama Tuba, who answers with a rumble from the back of the audience. Together they take the children on a journey through different musical cultures and traditions. Timbalooloo, which was featured on a Grammy Award Winning album, has been embraced by thousands of parents including Naomi Watts, Live Schreiber, Martha Stewart, Ken Burns and Edie Falco, all of whom enrolled their children or grand- children in Etkin's Timbalooloo educational program. Harvey Keitel remarked "our son was talking about Herbie Hancock, Mozart, Samba and African music - and he knew the difference!" When Herbie Hancock heard about all the children learning his music through Timbalooloo, he invited Etkin's band to perform in Paris for UNESCO's International Jazz Day. The new Timbalooloo album, “Finding Friends Far From Home” was recorded on location in Zimbabwe, Czech Republic, Turkey & China and tells a tale of instruments forming deep friendships across borders.
With “What’s New, Reimagining Benny Goodman” Etkin pays a contemporary and personal homage to Benny Goodman’s 1935 quartet with Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa, which was America’s first interracial popular music band. While continuing to tour this project in its quartet formation (with Matt Wilson, Sullivan Fortner and Steve Nelson), Etkin also debuted a new production exploring the classical and jazz sides of Benny Goodman. In November 2022, this production premiered with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, performing the Aaron Copland Clarinet Concerto (originally commissioned by Goodman), followed by a set of Reimagining Benny Goodman with new arrangements for jazz quartet plus string orchestra. The production is available in chamber-music setting as well.
Whether standing in front of an orchestra or sitting crosslegged on the floor surrounded by a gaggle of children, Etkin’s work is about imagination, expression, playfulness and emotion. It draws its strength from the conviction that the the true power of music lies not just in the individual's pursuit of technical mastery but in the joyful and soulful creation of community.
