Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble - Songs of the Metropolis (2013)

Once upon a time and actually not that long ago, our cities conveyed some meaning, they were a unique reflection of ourselves: they were home to our thoughts, ideas and yearnings.
When we were young, our cities belonged to us: their colours were our shades, their smells our scents; but more than anything else, their sounds were our songs. Each city had a melody, a resonance, a bell, an instrument, a voice. This album is a pursuit of the sound of the city. It is an attempt to find that magic instant where melodic texture evokes familiar feelings, when a harmonic shift brings you home, when a crescendo conjures memories of a kiss, when a glissando flies the American to Paris.
Now, our planet weeps. Beauty is perhaps the last true form of spiritual resistance. The song is there to counter detachment and alienation. Let us start with the song of the metropolis, the songs of our cities.
Paris, in the name of love; Tel Aviv, the birth of the tragedy; Buenos Aires, for the pathos; Vienna, for the charm of sweetness; Manhattan, in loving memory of America; Scarborough, as opposed to London; Moscow, in honour of greatness; Berlin, as a farewell to productivity; Somewhere in Italy but not too far from home.

Tracklist:

1. Paris
2. Tel Aviv
3. Buenos Aires
4. Vienna
5. Manhattan
6. Scarborough
7. Moscow
8. Somewhere in Italy
9. Berlin

Personnel:

Gilad Atzmon - alto & soprano saxophone, clarinet, accordion, vocals;
Frank Harrison - piano, Fender Rhodes, harmonium, synthesizer, glockenspiel, vocals;
Yaron Stavi - bass, vocals;
Eddie Hick - drums, vocals.