Uriel Herman, jazz pianist and composer, has been performing worldwide both with his quartet and as a soloist. His sound draws from his classical piano upbringing with a mastery of complex Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies.
In July 2023, Uriel will be releasing his third solo album, Different Eyes, with the British label Ubuntu Music. “We all have one pair of eyes but there are countless layers of seeing. We can see or choose to look. Our memories and dreams are painted in different colours every time we visit them and therefore each moment gives a singular meaning to looking in and out. ‘Different Eyes’ is an intimate portrait that begins in my childhood streets of Jerusalem and goes all the way to a lullaby that I sing to my son.”
In the past 10 years Uriel is touring non stop with his band and as a soloist performing in major festivals and venues. Amongst them, The Forbidden City Concert Hall (Beijing, CN), CCB (Lisbon, PT) , Centro Cultural Kirchner (Buenos Aires, AR), Stanford University (CA, US), Jarasum Jazz Festival (Jarasum, KR), Taichung Jazz Festival (Taichung, TW), Festival Jazz Sous Les Pommiers (Coutances, FR) Festival Eclats d’Email Jazz (Limoges, FR), Nuit de sud Festival (Venve, FR), Jazz a Cauderan Festival (Bordeaux), Jazz Aux Carrés Festival (Annecy, FR), Limoges Opera House (Limoges, FR), Duc de Lombards (Paris, FR), Bimhuis (Amsterdam, NL) Amersfoort Jazz Festival (Amersfoort, NL), Jazzinec Festival (Trutnov, CZ), Folkové prázdniny (Namest, CZ), Jazzmeile Thüringen (Weimar, DE), Jenaer Philharmonie (Jena, DE), Green Hours Festival (Bucarest, RO), Windcraft Music Festival (Cyprus), Red Sea Jazz Festival (Eilat, IL), Tel Aviv Jazz Festival (Tel Aviv, IL) and many others.
“Many musicians can create the obvious. Only few can make every gesture, every note, every moment and every choice not only brilliant, but as if it were the only possibility. Tonight, Uriel Herman’s quartet smashed the gigantic door behind Brian Blade and his brothers and sisters of the obvious.” Alexandre Fournet (France)
In January 2019 Uriel released his most recent title, “Face to Face” with prominent French label, Laborie Jazz. The album is composed of Uriel’s original music and unique arrangements to songs by David Bowie and Mordechai Zeira.
“In Face to Face, Herman throws himself into an oriental cauldron and “hears” in a colorful virtuosity. Uriel’s version of Bowie’s The Man who Sold the World is one of the best covers in the history of broadly understood entertainment music!“. Marcin Puławski (Laboratorium Muzycznych, Poland)
The Uriel Herman Quartet was created following the recording of Uriel’s first album “Awake”.
“This singular and modern approach to music, reinforced by the passion and dexterity of the musicians who accompany it, makes Uriel Herman one of the most exciting pianists in the Jazz scene today and a unavoidable discovery.“ France Musique
In the beginning of 2017 Uriel compose a rhapsody for Jazz Quartet & Orchestra: White Night. This piece is the end product of a long journey Herman started in the jungles of Costa Rica as he underwent a shamanic ceremony with his father. For Herman, this was a life changing moment, sending him into a deep writing and composing process which led to this 21 minute Rhapsody.
“Classical music and classical playing are still very close to my heart, but what was missing was the freedom, the freedom to break free from the form, the freedom to improvise, to express…Those spaces that interest me on the stage are the musical domains where you have no idea what it will sound like. Music is the art of time…It takes place within time…It must change and be dynamic,” declares Herman.
