Revision 434776143 of "Gilad Atzmon" on enwiki

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{{Infobox Person
| name=Gilad Atzmon<br />{{lang|he|גלעד עצמון}}
|image=Gilad Atzmon.jpg
| image_size = 180px
| caption = Atzmon in concert, February 2007
| birth_name=Gilad Atzmon
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1963|6|9}}
| birth_place = [[Tel Aviv]], [[Israel]]
| residence = London
| nationality = [[Israel]]i and British<ref name="St%252E%2520Clair"/>
| known_for = Music, political activism
| education = [[Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance|Rubin Academy of Music]], [[University of Essex]]
| occupation = Musician
| website = [http://www.gilad.co.uk/ www.gilad.co.uk]
}}
'''Gilad Atzmon''' ({{lang-he|גלעד עצמון}}; born June 9, 1963) is an [[Israel]]i-born British [[jazz]] [[saxophone|saxophonist]], novelist, political activist and writer.<ref name="CryFreedom"/><ref name="gilchrist222"/><ref name=Lewis%252F><ref name="Rizzo">Mary Rizzo, [http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon06172005.html "Who's Afraid of Gilad Atzmon?"], [[CounterPunch]], June 17, 2005.</ref>

He is almost as big a fascist and anti-Semite as Rol.land Ran.ce



Atzmon's album ''Exile'' was BBC jazz album of the year in 2003.<ref name="JazzHot">Gilad Atzmon,[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3647173/How-jazz-got-hot-again.html How jazz got hot again], ''The Daily Telegraph'', October 13, 2005</ref> Playing over 100 dates a year,<ref name=Lewis%252F> he has been called "surely the hardest-gigging man in British jazz."<ref>John Bungey [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article5852689.ece "Gilad Atzmon: In Loving Memory of America",] ''The Times'', March 6, 2009</ref> His albums, of which he has recorded nine to date,<ref name=Lewis%252F> often explore the music of the Middle East and political themes. He has described himself as a "devoted political artist."<ref name="CryFreedom">Stuart Nicholson,[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200308/ai_n9275160  Cry freedom], [[The Spectator]]  August 9, 2003.</ref> He supports the [[Palestinian right of return]] and the [[one-state solution]] in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<ref name="Rizzo"/> 

His criticisms of [[Zionism]], [[Jewish identity]], and [[Judaism]], as well as his controversial views on [[The Holocaust]] and [[Jewish history]] have led to allegations of [[antisemitism]] from both [[Zionists]] and [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionists]].   A profile in ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2009 which described Atzmon as "one of London's finest saxophonists" stated: "It is Atzmon's blunt anti-Zionism rather than his music that has given him an international profile, particularly in the Arab world, where his essays are widely read."<ref name=Lewis%252F>

==Early life==
Atzmon was born a [[secular Jew]] in [[Tel Aviv]], and trained at the [[Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance|Rubin Academy of Music]] in [[Jerusalem]].<ref name="GMF-GA">{{cite web
|url=http://www.globalmusicfoundation.org/people.html#GA
|title=Gilad Atzmon
|accessdate=October 28, 2008
|work=People
|publisher=Global Music Foundation
}}
</ref> His service as a [[paramedic]] in the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] during [[1982 Lebanon War|the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon]] caused him to reach the conclusion that "I was part of a colonial state, the result of plundering and [[1948 Palestinian exodus| ethnic cleansing]]."<ref name="St%252E%2520Clair">{{cite web
|url=http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair07192003.html
|title=You Must Leave Home, Again: Gilad Atzmon's "A Guide to the Perplexed"
|accessdate=October 28, 2008
|last=St. Clair
|first=Jeffery
|authorlink=Jeffrey St. Clair
|date=July 19, 2003
|publisher=[[CounterPunch]]
}}
</ref><ref name="Lewis">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/mar/06/gilad-atzmon-israel-jazz-interview#history-byline "Manic beat preacher" interview with John Lewis], [[The Guardian]], March 6, 2009.</ref> He told an interviewer that it was there he first learned about Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, [[Israeli land and property laws |legislation to prevent their return]], and the wiping out of Palestinian villages. “We were indoctrinated into a denial of the Palestinian Cause. We were not aware of it.”<ref name=Panayides>Theo Panayides, [http://www.cyprus-mail.com/living/wandering-jazz-player/20100221 Wandering jazz player], [[Cyprus Mail]], February 21, 2010.</ref> 

He first became interested in British [[jazz]] when he discovered some in a British record shop in Jerusalem in the 1970s. He initially was inspired by the work of [[Ronnie Scott]] and [[Tubby Hayes]] and regarded London as "the Mecca of Jazz."<ref name="JazzHot"/> He also was influenced to become a jazz musician by the work of [[Charlie Parker]], in particular ''[[Charlie Parker with Strings]]'' recorded in 1949. Atzmon said of the album that he "loved the way the music is both beautiful and subversive – they way he basks in the strings but also fights against them."<ref name=Lewis%252F> He worked with top bands as a musical producer.<ref>Barnaby Smith, [http://www.tourdates.co.uk/LondonTourdates/issue-007/2007/10/05/222-Sax-With-An-Axe-To-Grind Sax With An Axe To Grind], [http://www.tourdates.co.uk/ London Tour Dates], October 5, 2007.</ref>

In 1994,<ref name="RainLore%2520bio">{{cite web
|url=http://www.rainloresworldofmusic.net/Artists/Artists_A-D/Atzmon_Gilad.html
|title=Profile – Gilad Atzmon
|accessdate=October 28, 2008
|date=March 21, 2003
|publisher=Rainlore's World of Music
}}
</ref> Atzmon emigrated from Israel to London, where he attended the [[University of Essex]]<ref>[http://www.essex.ac.uk/news/2007/nr20071214.htm University of Essex news release],
Dec 14, 2007 notes Atzmon is a "graduate."</ref> and earned a Masters degree in Philosophy.<ref name="CryFreedom"/> He has lived there since,<ref name="gilchrist222">{{cite news|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/39I-thought-music-could-heal.3804991.jp?CommentPage=1&CommentPageLength=1000|title='I thought music could heal the wounds of the past. I may have got that wrong'|last=Gilchrist|first=Jim|date=February 22, 2008|work=[[The Scotsman]]|accessdate=March 21, 2009}}</ref> becoming a British citizen in 2002.<ref name="St%252E%2520Clair"/>

==Music==
While Atzmon's main instrument is the [[alto saxophone]], he also plays [[soprano saxophone|soprano]], [[tenor saxophone|tenor]] and [[baritone saxophone]]s and [[clarinet]], [[Sol (instrument)|sol]], [[zurna]] and [[flute]].<ref name="GMF-GA" /> Atzmon's jazz style has been described as [[bebop]]/[[hard bop]], with forays into [[free jazz]] and [[Swing music|swing]], and seemingly inspired by [[John Coltrane]] and [[Miles Davis]].<ref name="RainLore%2520bio" /> Atzmon sometimes plays the alto and soprano sax simultaneously.<ref name="RainLore%2520bio" />

Atzmon's works have also explored the music of the Middle East, [[North Africa]], and [[Eastern Europe]].<ref name="Atzmonhomepage">{{cite web
|url=http://www.gilad.co.uk/index.html
|title=GILAD ATZMON – MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, PRODUCER, EDUCATOR, WRITER 
|accessdate=October 28, 2008
|last=Atzmon
|first=Gilad
|year=2007
|publisher=Gilad Atzmon
}}
</ref> Atzmon told ''The Guardian'' that he draws on [[Arabic music]] which he says cannot be notated like western music but must be internalised, which he calls "reverting to the primacy of the ear." Atzmon's musical method has been to play with notions of cultural identity, flirting with genres such as tango and klezmer as well as various Arabic, Balkan, Gypsy and Ladino folk forms. Atzmon's recordings deliberately differ from his live shows. "I don't think that anyone can sit in a house, at home, and listen to me play a full-on bebop solo. It's too intense. My albums need to be less manic."<ref name=Lewis%252F>

Atzmon has created the "[[Benny Hill]]-like alter ego – a fanatical Zionist" Artie Fishel, on the album ''Artie Fishel & the Promised Band'', which has been described as "musical anarchy."<ref name="BBC-AF">{{cite web
|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/grp2/
|title=Gilad Atzmon: Artie Fishel And The Promised Band
|accessdate=October 28, 2008
|last=Shackleton
|first=Kathryn 
|date=October 16, 2006
|publisher=[[BBC]]
}}
</ref> With traditional [[klezmer music]], dialogue, and jokes, the album features Atzmon on saxophone, [[John Turville]] on keys and electronics, [[Yaron Stavi]] on bass, and [[Asaf Sirkis]] on drums.<ref name="GA-AF">{{cite web
|url=http://www.gilad.co.uk/html%20files/artiefishel.htm
|title=ARTIE FISHEL & THE PROMISED BAND
|accessdate=October 28, 2008
|last=Atzmon
|first=Gilad
|year=2007
|publisher=Gilad Atzmon
|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080513104842/http://www.gilad.co.uk/html+files/artiefishel.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = May 13, 2008}}
</ref><ref>[http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/index.php/Magazine-Features/Features/Gilad-Atzmon-Not-strictly-kosher.html Gilad Atzmon, Not Strictly Kosher], [[Jazzwise]], January 17, 2007.</ref> Other artists include vocalist [[Guillermo Rozenthuler]], [[Koby Israelite]] on vocals and accordion, and [[Ovidiu Fratila]] on violin.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/mixingit/pip/lpuxw/ Mixing it feature], [[BBC]] Radio, October 6, 2006.</ref>

===Collaborations and groups===
Atzmon joined the veteran [[punk rock]] band [[Ian Dury and the Blockheads]] in 1998, and continued with The Blockheads after Dury's death.<ref>Stephen Robb, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6253257.stm The old Blockheads shows go on],
[[BBC News]], January 25, 2007.</ref> He has also recorded and performed with [[Shane McGowan]], [[Robbie Williams]], [[Sinéad O'Connor]], [[Robert Wyatt]] and [[Paul McCartney]].<ref name="GMF-GA" /><ref name="Atzmonhomepage" /> He has recorded two albums with Robert Wyatt, who describes him as "one of the few musical geniuses I've ever met".<ref name=Lewis%252F>

Atzmon has collaborated, recorded and performed with musicians from all around the world, including the Palestinian singer, [[Reem Kelani]], Tunisian singer and [[oud]] player [[Dhafer Youssef]], violinist [[Marcel Mamaliga]], accordion player [[Romano Viazzani]], bassist [[Yaron Stavi]], violinist and trumpet-violin player, [[Dumitru Ovidiu Fratila]], and [[Guillermo Rozenthuler]] on vocals.<ref name="RainLore%2520bio" />

Atzmon founded the '''Orient House Ensemble''' band in London in the 1990s and toured with them in 2007.<ref name="Atzmonhomepage" /> The band includes Asaf Sirkis on drums, Yaron Stavi on bass and Frank Harrison on keyboard.<ref name="Atzmonhomepage" /> It has produced five albums in eight years.<ref name=Shackleton>Kathryn Shackleton, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/5vp2/ Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble, Refuge], [[BBC]], October 1, 2007.</ref>

[[Robert Wyatt]], who has said that Atzmon combines "great artistry with a sense of the intrinsically non-racialist philosophy that's implicit in jazz,"<ref>Lester Paul, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/jun/26/best-band-rock-pop So who is top of the pops], [[The Guardian]], June 26, 2010.</ref> has collaborated with Atzmon and Ros Stephens on an album called '"For the Ghosts Within", released in October 2010 on [[Domino Records]].<ref>[http://www.themusicfix.co.uk/content/news-flash/11051/new-project-for-robert-wyatt.html News at the MusicFix], July 7, 2010.</ref><ref>Alex Hudson, [http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=145&csid2=844&fid1=47938  Robert Wyatt Unveils New Collaborative Album], [[Exclaim!]], July 8, 2010.</ref>

Atzmon produced and arranged 2 albums for British-American singer songwriter [[Sarah Gillespie]] <i>Stalking Juliet </i>(2009) and <i>In The Current Climate </i>(2011). Both albums were critically acclaimed. <ref name="Guardian">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/apr/10/sarah-gillespie-stalking-juliet-review John Fordham, Stalking Juliet review, The Guardian - 10 April 2009]</ref><ref name="Mail">[http://sarahgillespie.com/reviews/the-mail-on-sunday/ Mail on Sunday, In The Current Climate review - January 2011]</ref> Atzmon tours extensively as part of Sarah Gillespie's band, playing saxophone, clarinet and accordion. </i><ref name="Metro">[http://www.metro.co.uk/music/852007-jazz-your-cd-collection-up Robert Shaw, Guitarist Keeps Her Finger on the Pulse - 6 January 2011]</ref> 

Atzmon is on the creative panel of the [[Global Music Foundation]],<ref name="GMF-GA" /> a non-profit organization formed in December 2004 which runs residential educational and performance workshops and events in different countries around the world.<ref name="GMF">{{cite web
|url=http://www.globalmusicfoundation.org/about.html
|title=About GMF
|accessdate=October 28, 2008
|publisher=Global Music Foundation
}}
</ref> and also offers personal workshops to students.<ref name="Atzmon-Workshop">{{cite web
|url=http://www.gilad.co.uk/education.htm
|title=MUSIC EDUCATION 
|accessdate=October 28, 2008
|last=Atzmon
|first=Gilad
|year=2007
|publisher=Gilad Atzmon
}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
</ref>

===Reviews===
Atzmon and his ensemble have received favorable reviews from ''[[Hi-Fi World]], [[Financial Times]], [[The Scotsman]], [[The Guardian]], [[Birmingham Post]], [[The Sunday Times]]'' and ''[[The Independent]]''.<ref>[http://www.gilad.co.uk/ Gilad Atzmon web site].</ref> Reviews of his 2007 album ''Refuge'' included:
:''[[Manchester Evening News]]'': "The individuality of the music is extraordinary. No one is more willing to serve his music with raw political passion, and that curious [[cantor]]-like tone on clarinet is immediately arresting, like [[Artie Shaw]] writhing in his death throes."<ref>Alan Brownlee, [http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/music/world_music/s/1015/1015003_gilad_atzmon__the_orient_house_ensemble__refuge_enja.html Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble – Refuge (Enja)], [[Manchester Evening News]], August 30, 2007.</ref>
:''[[EjazzNews]]'': "For sheer improvisational fireworks, quirky humour and genre-defying invention, one will be hard-pressed to find a bandleader as unique as Gilad Atzmon." ("EjazzNews," September 2008)<ref>John Stevenson, [http://www.ejazznews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News%2526amp%253Bfile%253Darticle%2526amp%253Bsid%253D9791%2526amp%253Bmode%253Dthread%2526amp%253Border%253D0%2526amp%253Bthold%253D0 Gilad Atzmon liberates the Americans: Orient House Ensemble, Ronnie Scott’s London, August 30, 2008], EJazzNews.com, September 1, 2008.</ref>
:[[BBC]]: "...the OHE is finding its voice in an increasingly subtle blend of East and West, that’s brutal and beautiful."<ref name=Shackleton%252F>

In February 2009 ''[[The Guardian]]'' music critic [[John Fordham]] reviewed Atzmon's newest album ''In loving memory of America'' which Atzmon describes as "a memory of America I had cherished in my mind for many years". It includes five standards and six originals "inspired by the sumptuous harmonies and impassioned sax-playing of [[Charlie Parker|(Charlie) Parker]]'s late-40s recordings with classical strings".<ref>John Fordham, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/27/gilad-atzmon-loving-memory-america Gilad Atzmon: In Loving Memory of America], ''[[The Guardian]]'', February 27, 2009.</ref>

While the music journalist John Lewis praises much of Atzmon's work, he notes that "trenchant politics often sit uneasily alongside music, particularly when that music is instrumental." Lewis criticized his 2006 comedy klezmer project, ''Artie Fishel and the Promised Band'', as "a clumsy satire on what he regards as the artificial nature of Jewish identity politics."<ref name=Lewis%252F>

===Awards===
Atzmon was the recipient of the [[HMV]] Top Dog Award at the [[Birmingham International Jazz Festival]] in 1996–1998.<ref name="RainLore%2520bio" /> Gilad Atzmon's ''Exile'' was [[BBC]] jazz album of the year in 2003.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/entertainment/3107607.stm Jazz winners span generations], [[BBC]], July 30, 2003.</ref>

==Novels==
Atzmon's novels have been published in 22 languages. His first novel ''[[A Guide to the Perplexed]]'', published in 2001, is set in a future where by 2052 Israel has been replaced by a Palestinian state for 40 years. It largely reviews memoirs of the alienated Israeli Gunther Wunker’s rise to fame as a "peepologist," or voyeur. The perplexed are defined as "the unthinking Chosen" who "cling to clods of earth that don't belong to them." The novel excoriates what it describes as the commercialization of the Holocaust and "argues that the Holocaust is invoked as a kind of reflexive propaganda designed to shield the Zionist state from responsibility for any transgression against Palestinians."<ref name="St%252E%2520Clair"/> A reviewer for ''[[The Independent]]'' wrote that "Those who still thrill to the pages of Sixties underground "comix" may find some of this amusing, however laboured. Yet even those semi-sympathetic to its politics will find it cheap and "provocative" in the worst possible sense." He also wrote that the book has "just enough connection with reality to give it a certain unsettling power" but concludes "His writing, alas, represents a completely false start."<ref>Matthew Reisz [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/a-guide-to-the-perplexed-by-gilad-atzmon-trans-philip-simpson-609999.html A crude – and rude – assault on Israel misfires], ''The Independent'', December 7, 2002</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' observed it is "odd to mix knob gags with highly serious assertions" but thought it works because "Atzmon writes with so much style and his gags are so hilarious."<ref>Darren King [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/jan/25/featuresreviews.guardianreview16 Mr. Peepology], ''The Guardian'', January 25, 2003.</ref>

Atzmon's second novel, ''My One and Only Love'' was published in 2005, and features as a protagonist a trumpeter who chooses to play only one note (extremely well) as well as a spy who uncovers Nazi war criminals and locks them inside double bass cases which then tour permanently in the protagonist's orchestra's luggage.<ref>Sholto Byrnes [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/talking-jazz-529796.html "Talking Jazz",] ''The Independent'', March 25, 2005,</ref> The book also is comedic take on "Zionist espionage and intrigue" which explores "the personal conflict between being true to one’s heart and being loyal to The Jews".<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2004/10/01/gilad_event_feature.shtml BBC book launch announcement], BBC, June 3, 2005.</ref>

==Writings and activism==
{{POV-section|date=October 2009}}

Atzmon's political writings have been published in ''[[CounterPunch]]'',<ref>Examples of Gilad Atzmon in [[CounterPunch]]: [http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon08282003.html Collective Self-Deception: The Most Common Mistakes of Israelis], August 28, 2003; [http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon07102009.html The Left and Islam: Thinking Outside of the Secular Box], July 10–12, 2009.</ref>  ''[[Al-Arab]] online'',<ref>Atzmon articles published by ''Al-Arab online'' include [http://www.alarabonline.org/english/display.asp?fname=%255C2010%255C04%255C04-28%255Czopinionz%255C960%252Ehtm%2526amp%253Bdismode%253Dx%2526amp%253Bts%253D28-4-2010%25252015%253A35%253A26 Welcome to the Jewish Comedy Club], April 28, 2010 and [http://www.alarabonline.org/english/display.asp?fname=%255C2010%255C05%255C05-05%255Czculturez%255C970%252Ehtm%2526amp%253Bdismode%253Dx%2526amp%253Bts%253D5-5-2010%25252016%253A19%253A53 Not Much Time Remains for Israel- A Film Review], May 5, 2010.</ref> ''[[Uruknet]]'',<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://uruknet.info/?p=m31096&s1=h1 Purim Special, From Esther to AIPAC], Uruknet, March 3, 2007.</ref> ''[[Middle East Online]]'',<ref>Examples of Gilad Atzmon in ''Middle East Online:'' [http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/culture/?id=34492 Vengeance, Barbarism and Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds], September 22, 2009; [http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/Default.pl?id=35102 Autumn in Shanghai], October 20, 2009.</ref> ''[[The Palestine Telegraph]]'',<ref>Example of Gilad Atzmon in ''The Palestine Telegraph'': [http://www.paltelegraph.com/opinions/editorials/6325-israeli-ideology-and-world-peace Israeli Ideology and World Peace], June 7, 2010.</ref> ''[[Aljazeera Magazine]]''<ref>Examples of Gilad Atzmon in [[Aljazeera Magazine]]: [http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/39/Caught_between_sobbing_and_war_chants.html Caught between sobbing and war chants], July 30, 2008; [http://english.aljazeera.com/news/articles/39/Deception-spin-and-lies.html Deception, spin and lies], October 22, 2009.</ref> and [[Al-Jazeerah Information Center|Aljazeerah.info]].<ref>Examples of Gilad Atzmon in [[Al-Jazeerah Information Center|Aljazeerah.info]] include [http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2006%20Opinion%20Editorials/August/12%20o/Beyond%20Comparison%20By%20Gilad%20Atzmon.htm Beyond Comparison], August 12, 2006; [http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20Editorials/2010/May/24%20o%20b/Planet%20Chomsky%20Vs.%20Dershowitz%27s%20Orbit%20By%20Gilad%20Atzmon.htm Planet Chomsky Vs. Dershowitz's Orbit], May 24, 2010.</ref> (Note neither is connected with the [[Al Jazeera|Al Jazeerah]] news network).

Music journalists have commented on the link between Atzmon’s jazz and radical politics. [[Peter Bacon]] has written that Atzmon reminds us of "the strong link between jazz and the radical politics that are sometimes the only way to ensure its – and our – freedom."<ref>Peter Bacon, [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CULTURE%3A+Arts+reviews%3A+Activist+with+quotes+and+plenty+to+say%3B+Gilad...-a0127526728 Arts reviews: Activist with quotes and plenty to say; Gilad Atzmon CBSO Centre], Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd, 2005.</ref> [[Chris Searle]]'s book entitled ''Forward Groove: Jazz and the Real World from Louis Armstrong to Gilad Atzmon'', which chronicles the development of jazz alongside political protest movements, holds that "the torch continues to be carried by contemporary musicians such as Israeli-born alto saxman Gilad Atzmon who dreams of a free and united Palestine."<ref>Ian Soutar, [http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/arts/Former-head-chronicles-a-passion.4693307.jp Former head chronicles a passion for jazz and justice], ''[[Sheffield Telegraph]]'', November 14, 2008.</ref><ref>Chris Searle, [http://books.google.com/books?id=DLXXMgAACAAJ&hl=en&dq=Forward%20Groove:%20Jazz%20and%20the%20Real%20World%20from%20Louis%20Armstrong%20to%20Gilad%20Atzmon&ei=zAdSTPyyE4K88gbgpKWSBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA ''Forward Groove: Jazz and the Real World from Louis Armstrong to Gilad Atzmon''] Northway Publications, 2009, ISBN 0-9550908-7-3, 978-0-9550908-7-5</ref>  Atzmon’s activism has included conducting musical fundraisers,<ref>[[Socialist Worker#Socialist Worker - United Kingdom|Socialist Worker]] fundraising event announcements [http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=13334 here] and [http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=13323 here].</ref> contributing to activist publications,<ref>See [[Gilad Atzmon#Writing]] and Gilad Atzmon, [http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=809 "Gilad Atzmon: 'Zionism is my enemy'"], in the ''Socialist Worker'' (UK), June 5, 2004.</ref> and making speaking engagements<ref name=OxfordAnnounce>[http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=31208 Anti-Semitism to be debated in Oxford], [http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/ Middle East on Line], March 27, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/atzmon-and-siegel-in-rochester-and-geneva-by-dan-mcgowan.html Atzmon and Siegel in Rochester and Geneva], report by [[Dan McGowan]] on Gilad Atzmon web site, July 4, 2010.</ref> and television appearances.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG8LQQfcZHM Gilad Atzmon on Israeli Collective Madness], [[RT (TV network)|Russia Today]], June 10, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july142010/gilad-atzmon-tolerance.php Aspen Grassroots TV appearance] linked on Salem-News.com, July, 2010.</ref>

Atzmon has defined himself variously as a "secular Jew",<ref name="gilchrist222"/> a "proud self-hating Jew",<ref name=Panayides%252F><ref name="Gibson">Martin Gibson, [http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=10102 No choice but to speak out – Israeli musician ‘a proud self-hating Jew’], originally published in Gisborne Herald, January 23, 2009.</ref> an "ex-Jew"<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/a-new-jewish-goal-by-gilad-atzmon.html A New Jewish Goal], at his personal web site.</ref> and "a Hebrew-speaking Palestinian."<ref name="gilchrist222"/> Atzmon told interviewer [[Theo Panayides]] “I don’t write about politics, I write about ethics. I write about Identity. I write a lot about the [[Jewish Question]] – because I was born in the Jew-land, and my whole process in maturing into an adult was involved with the realisation that my people are living on stolen land.”<ref name=Panayides%252F>  Atzmon has said that his experience in the military of “my people destroying other people left a big scar” and led to his decision that he was deluded about Zionism. He has condemned “Jewishness” as "very much a supremacist, racist tendency". He states that "I don't have anything against Jews in particular and you won't find that in my writings."<ref name="gilchrist222"/> 

In articles he has compared Israeli actions to that of the [[Nazis]] and has described Israel's policy toward the Palestinians as [[genocide]].<ref name="Gibson"/> [[David Hirst (journalist)|David Hirst]], in his 2003 book ''The Gun and the Olive Branch,'' quotes Atzmon as saying America was “about to lose its sovereignty...becoming a remote colony of an apparently far greater state, the Jewish state.”<ref>David Hirst, ''The Gun and the Olive Branch: the roots of violence in the Middle East,'' Nation Books,  2003, [http://books.google.com/books?id=Oisa_1Dc69kC&pg=PA49&dq=gun+and+olive+branch+atzmon&hl=en&ei=ZgdFTM-YAsP98Abntc3aAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false p.  49]</ref> In 2009 [[Turkey|Turkish]] prime minister [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] cited Atzmon's written comment "Israeli barbarity is far beyond even ordinary cruelty" during a debate with Israeli president [[Shimon Peres]].<ref name="Lewis">John Lewis, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/mar/06/gilad-atzmon-israel-jazz-interview#history-byline "Manic beat preacher"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', March 6, 2009.</ref> In a 2010 opinion piece about the "moral courage of Israeli dissidents," [[John Pilger]] quoted Atzmon on justice for the Palestinians being "at the heart of the battle for a better world."<ref>[[John Pilger]], [http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2010/03/pilger-israel-rami-nurit Listen to the heroes of Israel], ''[[New Statesman]]'', February 25, 2010.</ref> 

Several of Atzmon's statements regarding [[Jews]] and [[Judaism]] have led to allegations of [[antisemitism]].  In 2004 the [[Board of Deputies of British Jews]] criticized Atzmon for saying, "I'm not going to say whether it is right or not to burn down a synagogue, I can see that it is a rational act."<ref name="ges2004">Curtis, Polly. [http://education.guardian.co.uk/racism/story/0,,1481647,00.html Soas faces action over alleged anti-semitism], ''The Guardian'', May 12, 2004.</ref> Atzmon responded in a letter to ''[[The Observer]]'' that "since Israel presents itself as the 'state of the Jewish people’ ... any form of anti-Jewish activity may be seen as political retaliation. This does not make it right."<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/apr/24/letters.theobserver Letters to the Editor], ''The Observer'', April 4, 2005</ref> 

In a 2005 opinion piece [[David Aaronovitch]] criticized Atzmon for writing in his essay "On Anti-Semitism" that "We must begin to take the accusation that the Jewish people are trying to control the world very seriously." and "American Jewry makes any debate on whether the '[[Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]' are an authentic document or rather a forged irrelevant. American Jews do control the world, by proxy. So far they are doing pretty well for themselves at least", saying Atzmon was "a silly boy advancing slightly dangerous arguments."<ref name="Aaronovitch">David Aaronovitch [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/david_aaronovitch/article538076.ece "How did the far Left manage to slip into bed with the Jew-hating Right?"] ''The Times'', June 28, 2005</ref><ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://web.archive.org/web/20051025201912/http://www.gilad.co.uk/html+files/onanti.html On Anti-Semitism], originally at his personal web site, December 20, 2003.</ref> Aaronovitch also criticized Atzmon for circulating an essay by Paul Eisen defending [[Holocaust denier]] [[Ernst Zundel]] and supporting many aspects of Zündel's Holocaust denial theories. Aaronovitch wrote that Atzmon said he had a "slightly different" view than Eisen, writing "the Holocaust like any other historical narrative is a dynamic process of realisation and interpretation."<ref name="Aaronovitch"/> Atzmon has said he does not deny the Holocaust or the “Nazi Judeocide” but insists “that both the Holocaust and World War II should be treated as historical events rather than as religious myth. . . . But then, even if we accept the Holocaust as the new Anglo-American liberal-democratic religion, we must allow people to be atheists.”<ref>Manuel Talens, [http://www.redress.btinternet.co.uk/gatzmon14.htm Beauty as a political weapon; Three in one: jazzman, writer and activist – A conversation with Gilad Atzmon], originally published in the Mexican monthly magazine Memoria, No.  202, December 2005.</ref>

In a 2006 opinion piece in ''[[The Guardian]]'', [[David Hirsh]] cites Atzmon's statement that, "I would suggest that perhaps we should face it once and for all: the Jews were responsible for the killing of Jesus" as an example of Atzmon's "openly anti-Jewish rhetoric."<ref>Hirsh, David. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/nov/30/anewmenacingcurrentisappe Openly embracing prejudice], ''The Guardian'', November 30, 2006. Hirsh also refers to the statement in [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/apr/03/nobodyhaseverclaimedthatc What charge?], "The Guardian", April 3, 2006.</ref><ref>Atzmon, Gilad. [http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/the-politics-of-anti-semitism-by-gilad-atzmon.html The Politics of Antisemitism], at his personal web site.</ref> In response to a question about this quote from [[Lenni Brenner]], Atzmon replied that he also had written "How is it that people living today feel accountable or chased for a crime committed by their great great ancestors almost 2,000 ago?" and that he meant "I find it astonishing that people today happen to be offended by such accusations."<ref>[http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon02152007.html "Are You a Christian?" "Do I Look Like the Pope?" – An Exchange Between Lenni Brenner & Gilad Atzmon], [[CounterPunch]], February 15, 2007.</ref>

In 2007 the [[Swedish Committee Against Anti-Semitism]] criticized the [[Swedish Social Democratic Party]] for inviting Atzmon to speak, saying he had worked to "legitimize the hatred of Jews.” The party defended its choice of speaker.<ref name=local327>[http://www.thelocal.se/6777/20070323/ Social Democrats invited known anti-Semite to seminar], [http://www.thelocal.se/ The Local], March 23, 2007</ref> In a 2009 opinion piece for [[The Guardian]], [[Nick Cohen]] critizised Atzmon's declaring that "Jewish ideology is driving our planet into a catastrophe" and "the Jewish tribal mindset – left, centre and right – sets Jews aside of humanity".<ref name="Cohen">Nick Cohen [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/14/james-von-brunn-far-right "The unlikely friends of the Holocaust memorial killer",] ''The Observer'', June 14, 2009</ref><ref>The first quote is contained in Martin Gibson, [http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=10102 No choice but to speak out – Israeli musician ‘a proud self-hating Jew’], originally published in Gisborn Herald, January 23, 2009 and the second in Gilad Atzmon, [http://peacepalestine.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/gilad-atzmon-anatomy-of-an-unresolved-conflict/ Anatomy of an Unresolved Conflict], published at PeacePalestine blog, May 8, 2008.</ref> In his blog for [[The Times]], [[Oliver Kamm]] charges Atzmon with antisemitism for his article "Truth, History and Integrity"<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/truth-history-and-integrity-by-gilad-atzmon.html Truth, History, and Integrity], at his personal web site.</ref> in which Atzmon writes "As it happened, it took me many years to understand that the Holocaust, the core belief of the contemporary Jewish faith, was not at all an historical narrative for historical narratives do not need the protection of the law and politicians."<ref>Oliver Kamm, [http://timesonline.typepad.com/oliver_kamm/2010/03/an-antisemites-progress.html An antisemite's progress], ''[[The Times]]'', March 26, 2010.</ref>

In [[Howard Jacobson]]'s 2010 [[Man Booker Prize]]-winning novel ''[[The Finkler Question]]'', the title character hears a description of an Israeli expatriate jazz musician and Holocaust denier. Reviewing the book for the [[Scholars for Peace in the Middle East]] web site, Edward Alexander writes, "the novel’s Holocaust-denying Israeli ''[[Yerida|yored]]'' drummer is in fact based upon one Gilad Atzmon, who is better known in England for endorsing the ideology of the ''Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' and describing the burning of British synagogues as a 'rational act' in retaliation for Israeli actions."<ref>Edward Alexander, [http://spme.net/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?ID=7444 Ashamed Jews: The Finkler Question], [http://spme.net Scholars For Peace in the Middle East Reviews and Recommendations], December, 2010.</ref>

Atzmon refers to charges of antisemitism as being a "common Zionist silencing apparatus."<ref>Barnaby Smith, [http://www.tourdates.co.uk/LondonTourdates/issue-007/2007/10/05/222-Sax-With-An-Axe-To-Grind Sax With An Axe To Grind], Interview with Gilad Atzmon in ''London Tour Dates'' magazine, October 5, 2006</ref> Noting that he is a secular Jew married to a Jewish woman and in a band with three Jews, he says: "I never attack Jews, I hardly criticise Judaism – I never criticise people for their beliefs. But I can criticise conduct."<ref name="gilchrist222"/>  He denies both that he is an antisemite and the very existence of antisemitism, stating that "'Anti-Semite' is an  [[floating signifier|empty signifier]], no one actually can be an Anti-Semite and this includes me of course. In short, you are either a racist which I am not or have an ideological disagreement with Zionism, which I have."<ref name=1001Lies>Gilad Atzmon, [http://gilad.co.uk/html%20files/1001lies.html 1001 Lies About Gilad Atzmon], at his personal web site.</ref> In 2009 Atzmon debated [[David Aaronovitch]] and [[Nick Cohen]] on the topic of “Anti-Semitism – Alive and Well in Europe?” at the 2009 [[Sunday Times]] Oxford Literary Festival.<ref name=OxfordAnnounce%252F><ref>Dina Oma, [http://www.emiratestribune.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=227617  What did we learn about anti-Semitism?], ''Emirates Tribune'', April 13, 2009.</ref><ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/9110-gilad-atzmon-aaronovitchs-tantrum-and-the-demolition-of-jewish-power.html Aaronovitch's Tantrum and the Demolition of Jewish Power], reprinted in Atlantic Free Press with links to audio, April 9, 2009.</ref><ref>David Aaronovitch, [http://www.thejc.com/comment/columnists/gilad-atzmons-discordant-notes/ Gilad Atzmon's discordant notes], ''[[The Jewish Chronicle]]'', April 23, 2009.</ref>

Atzmon has not toned down his statements, even though he admits it has lost him performance contracts, especially in the United States.<ref>Karen Abi-Ezzi “Music as a Discourse of Resistance: The Case of Gilad Atzmon,” Chapter 7 of Olivier Urbain, Editor, ''Music and conflict transformation: harmonies and dissonances in geopolitics,''  I.B.Tauris, 2008  [http://books.google.com/books?id=oMLkUmraBCAC&pg=PA101&dq=urbain+atzmon+contracts&hl=en&ei=2wpFTPf2C8P88Ab03uDKDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false p.  101].</ref> Atzmon has had conflicts with some anti-Zionists who have attempted to stop his performances.<ref name="Rizzo"/><ref name="Aaronovitch"/><ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/gilad-atzmon-lieberman-and-the-jewish-political-continuum.html Gilad Atzmon: Lieberman and the Jewish Political Continuum], at Gilad Atzmon's web site, October 10, 2010: "whilst we understand that Zionists insist on operating within a ‘Jews only’ club -- the Jewish anti Zionists are apparently not much different. For some reason, the Jewish opponents of Israel also insist on operating in what seem to be just more Judeo-centric tribal dissident political cells."</ref> And he has been defended by various writers and activists.<ref name=Rizzo%252F><ref>[[Oren Ben-Dor]], [http://www.counterpunch.org/bendor03152008.html 'The Silencing of Gilad Atzmon'], [[CounterPunch]], March 15, 2008. Ben-Dor wrote “I am firmly convinced that these vulgar attempts at silencing of Gilad and other courageous voices offends against supremely thoughtful, compassionate and egalitarian intellectual endeavours."</ref><ref>Chris Searle, [http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/86692 Review of the book ''Jazz Jews'' by Mike Gerber], [[Morning Star (UK newspaper)]], February 2010. Searle defended accusations against Atzmon’s "crude anti-zionist rhetoric,” writing “No jazz musicians have done more to honour, publicise and spread solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinians than Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble.”</ref>

==Discography==
*''The Tide Has Changed'' - Label: World Village - September 2010
*''"In loving memory of America"'' – Label: Enja – January 2009
*''Refuge'' – Label: Enja – October 2007
*''Artie Fishel and the Promised Band'' – Label: WMD – September 2006
*''MusiK'' – Label: Enja – October 2004
*''Exile'' – Label: Enja – March 2004
*''Nostalgico'' – Label: Enja – January 2001
*''Gilad Atzmon &The Orient House Ensemble'' – Label: Enja – 2000
*''Juizz Muzic''- Label: FruitBeard – 1999
*''Take it or Leave It'' – Label: Face Jazz – 1999
*''Spiel- Both Sides'' – Label: MCI – 1995
*''Spiel Acid Jazz Band''- Label: MCI – 1995
*''Spiel''- Label: In Acoustic&H.M. Acoustica – 1993

==Books==
*''[[A Guide to the Perplexed]]'', English translation by Philip Simpson. London : Serpent's Tail, 2002. ISBN 1-85242-826-0
*''My one and only love''. London : [[Saqi Books]], 2005. ISBN 0-86356-507-7 (pbk.). ISBN 978-0-86356-507-6 (pbk.)

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.gilad.co.uk/ Gilad Atzmon web site]
*Brain Lenzo, [http://www.eurasiareview.com/201007134971/gilad-atzmon-interviewed-each-village-is-a-reminder.html Gilad Atzmon Interviewed: Each Village is a Reminder], Eurasia Review, 2010-07-13. 
*[http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/eveningnews24/norwich-whats-on-guide/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=GoingOutMusic&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=WhatsOn&itemid=NOED26%20Nov%202009%2016%3A03%3A06%3A953 Interview: Gilad Atzmon] by Rob Garratt, Evening News 24, November 11, 2009.
*[http://www.archive.org/details/GiladAtzmonOnArabvoices.netJune2009 Gilad Atzmon interview on ArabVoices.net], [[KPFT]], June 2009 during visit to Houston, Texas.
*Ivan Hewett, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3667959/Gilad-Altzmon-High-flown-ecstasies-from-an-angry-man.html Gilad Altzmon: High-flown ecstasies from an angry man], [[The Daily Telegraph]], September 17, 2007.
*[http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=21321 Gilad Atzmon Interviewed by Mary Rizzo], Middle East Online, July, 2007.

<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
{{Persondata
|name=Atzmon%252C Gilad
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Israeli musician and political activist
|DATE OF BIRTH=June 9, 1963
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Tel Aviv]], [[Israel]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atzmon, Gilad}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Tel Aviv]]
[[Category:Bebop saxophonists]]
[[Category:Hard bop saxophonists]]
[[Category:Jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:Writers on Zionism]]
[[Category:Jewish anti-Zionism]]


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