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“There was a great and mighty wind, tearing the mountains and shattering rocks, but The Great Spirit was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but The Great Spirit was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but The Great Spirit was not in the fire. And after the fire came a voice of thin silence.”
Kings 19:11-12
Shiv’a is Hebrew for “seven”. It is also the name of the week-long ritual that follows the death of a
loved one. A week in which the family gathers to mourn while friends bring food and provide constant company and comfort. The idea, as I understand it, is to take a long breath after death to allow it to sink in. To grasp the void that has been created. To mourn fully and wholly before continuing with the daily tasks.
Shiv’a was composed following the death of three dear friends in 2007: two friends who I have known since high-school - Asher Green and Erik Posner, and my close collaborator, drummer Take Toriyama, who recorded with me in “Mayim Rabim” and “Upto Here | From Here” (an album that was released after his death, on which you can hear Take’s voice at the end of the track “Life Is A Structure That Is. Accept It!”). It was composed while I was living between three cities- Wellington, New Zealand and its
wild birds and great ocean; New York, USA, with its fast pulse, close friends, loud sounds and crammed streets; and Jerusalem, Israel, where my ancestors’ wisdom resides, where the stones hum, where my soul stems from. In the process of dealing with this chain of losses, with my feet off the ground and the earth moving under me, music served, as always, as my anchor… This piece was the pipe through which it moved.
In the process of working on this composition, I heard of the Japanese buddhist belief that it takes 49 days for the spirit to journey on, following the death of the body, with seven rituals held every seven days during the process. This concept brought forth a dream of a blanket with 49 bells, moved by the wind, representing the spirit. Sculptor Michelle Jaffe made this blanket, which is used throughout the composition. Another sound that is repeated through Shiv’a and stems from the Japanese funeral ritual is the gong. This resonant sound was played time and time again at Take’s funeral in New York, and remained with me for months after. Working on Shiv’a helped me accept death, as i begun to hear the Great Spirit within the voice of thin silence.
Ayelet
2015
credits
released February 15, 2016
All music by Ayelet Rose Gottlieb except:
“Ties” by Take Toriyama
“PM” by Ayelet Rose Gottlieb & Anat Fort
Performers:
Satoshi Takeishi - Percussion
ETHEL:
Cornelius Dufallo - Violin
Jennifer Choi - Violin
Ralph Farris - Viola
Dorothy Lawson - Cello
Ayelet Rose Gottlieb - Voice (tracks 8, 9, 10, 11)
Anat Fort - Piano (tracks 9, 10, 11)
Sean Conly - Contrabass (track 10, 11)
Recorded & Mixed by Brian Montgomery, Sear Sound, New York, NY
Mastering: Mike Marciano, Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY
Cover design: www.engagedsn.com
Front Cover Art: Noa Charuvi, Babel, 2009, Oil on canvas, 72x96 inches
Sleeve Photo: Robbin Valentine, Take’s Bells, 2005, Photograph
Mahsan Yashan / An Old Toolshed:
Words: Yehuda Amichai
Ayelet Rose Gottlieb איילת רוז גוטליבMontreal, Québec
Jerusalem-born, Montreal-based composer and vocalist Ayelet Rose Gottlieb is an explorer of sound and seeker of musical
adventures. Singing in Hebrew, English and wordlessly, Ayelet “blends Middle-Eastern traditions with wide-open abstractions” (the Vancouver Sun.)...more
A truly psychedelic jazz record, “Bloom Anubis” ventures out into uncharted territory, with ominous tones & sci-fi synths. Bandcamp New & Notable May 15, 2021