ABOUT THE BAND
Hagiga in Hebrew means “celebration” and in our music we celebrate the cultural divergence of our Israeli heritage. Hagiga is inspired by the variety of musical flavors and colors of the “Israeli soundtrack”. Our compositions cross musical genres and are influenced by Swing, Moroccan, Funk and Brazilian backgrounds. It is this unique "celebration” of original Israeli jazz that is Hagiga .
Alon Farber Hagiga was founded in 2001 by Alon Farber and Dani Benedikt, and have since then released four albums: "Exposure" and "Optimistic View" were released by Fresh Sound Records (Barcelona). Nathan Halaway from jazzreviews.com named Hagiga "one of the finer groups that the Fresh Sound label has produced". "New Directions", released by QFTF (Berlin), prompted internationally acclaimed saxophonist Eli Degibri to note: "Taking their time, the band captivates the listener through a deliberate, fascinating and wondrous journey."
In September 2021 Hagiga's new album "Reflecting on Freedom" was released on one of the leading jazz labels in the world, "Origin Record"
Hagiga has performed at local and international jazz festivals, and venues, including the Paris Jazz Festival, Copenhagen Jazz festival, Red Sea Jazz Festival, Jerusalem International Jazz Festival, OCT-LOFT Festival (Shenzen, China), Tel Aviv International Jazz festivalF The B-flat (Berlin), and Israeli International showcases. Over the years Hagiga has collaborated with amazingly talented and important artists such as Omri Mor, Eli Degibri, Anat Cohen, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, Ofer Ganor, Omer Klein, Amit Friedman, Amos Hoffman and many others.
Alon Farber, the band leader, studied Jazz composition at Berklee College of Music, Boston, and is a recipient of the Israeli Prime Minister's Award for Jazz Composers (2016) and the Wayne Shorter Award for Composers (1998). He is one of the founders of the "Israeli Jazz Orchestra" in which he plays lead saxophone, and also serves as associate arranger and composer
"No other way to put it: The Alon Farber Hagiga Sextet is a fantastic find!"
Group Members
Alon Farber
Alto & Soprano Saxophone
Yehonatan Cohen
Tenor Saxophone, Flute & Clarinet
Oded Meir
Trombone
Katia Tubul
Piano
Assaf Hakimi
Upright Bass & Electric Bass
Roy Oliel
Drums
Article Quotes
Yair Spiegel
"No wonder that "Hagiga" exists for such a long time. The music is original, fascinating, arranged and orchestrated on the highest level. The music is inspired by Israeli and Middle Eastern genres, but the general sound is very unique, contemporary, kicking and not flattering to the Israeli ear"
Thesideman.co.il
Jay Deshpande
"No other way to put it: The Alon Farber Hagiga Sextet is a fantastic find… Hagiga has developed a tasteful interplay while melding disparate musical traditions from around the world"
Allaboutjazz.com
David Franklin
"Filled with delightful surprises, Alon Farber's Exposure offers fresh takes on a variety of idioms"
JazzTimes.com
Eli Degibri
"New Directions is a well-crafted CD led by Saxophonist Alon Farber and drummer Dani Benedikt whose writing is original and smart, balanced and most importantly, thoughtfully aware of each one of the individual band members. Taking their time, the band captivates the listener through a deliberate, interesting and wondrous journey"
Linear notes to the CD