Oded Tzur Quartet

Among the most distinctive musicians to have emerged from the fertile Israeli jazz scene, Oded Tzur has lived in New York for many years, where he has developed a saxophone style that runs counter to the macho tradition of the instrument, marked by extreme gentleness and great delicacy.

Shaped by the influence of Indian classical tradition and by his training with the renowned bansuri maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia, he brings to the setting of a pure jazz quartet a relationship with slowness, breath and contemplation, which gives his music a serene, refined quality, akin to a raga, in which meditation, the laments of the blues and the prayers of the synagogue seem to merge, as though at the dawn of a new spiritual world.

A unique whisper on the tenor saxophone – The Guardian. Described by All About Jazz as an exciting new giant of the saxophone, Oded Tzúr is recognised worldwide as a torchbearer of spiritual jazz.

His music is more than a conversation, says the New York City Jazz Record: it is an interactive prayer.

Based in New York, the Israeli-born saxophonist, composer and bandleader regards music as both an art and a spiritual quest, which has given rise to a body of work that has touched millions of listeners.

An ECM Records artist, Tzúr is distinguished by his use and development of microtonality on the saxophone.

First presented at the Trinity College of Music in London and, more recently, at the Juilliard School in New York, this decade-long project is the result of Tzúr's studies with the great Indian bansuri master Hariprasad Chaurasia.

The way the Indian flute moves seamlessly from one pitch to another prompted Tzúr to go beyond what was considered possible on his instrument. '