Alon Oleartchik

Alon Oleartchik was born in Warsaw Poland in 1950 and immigrated to Israel at the age of six Following in the footsteps of his father Edward Oleartchik a wellknown songwriter in Poland young Alon was given an early training in classical piano Known in later years as a remarkable bass player Oleartchik masters a variety of instruments including piano and guitar He developed his interest in jazz as the bass player for Platina Israels first jazz band with original music which toured in America and performed in the Newport Jazz Festival in 1972 Before studying composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston Massachusetts in the late 1970s Alon was a cofounder writer and singer in Kaveret Israels most famous and popular rock group to date After graduation from Berklee Oleartchik remained in America inspired by and active in New Yorks Lower East Side avant garde jazz experience where he played and recorded with among others Iris Lord Eddie Jobson ZincThe Green Album and Alfonia Tims the Flying Tigers Future Funk uncut Returning to Israel in 1984 for a reunion concert of Kaveret he went under contract with NMC and began his career as a solo recording artist In his first album he was credited with breaking the mainstream stereotypes by introducing MiddleEastern rhythms and modes In 1991 Oleartchik was awarded the Composer of the Year award by Acum The Society of Authors Composers of Israel Oleartchik has written film scores music scores for theater radio TV commercials has been the musical producer of many other recording artists including Noa and Amal Mourcus and occasionally contributes to the Rimon School of Music jazz an affiliate of Berklee College of Music with workshops on song writing Over the last several years he has sung with the Tel Aviv Big Band These concerts led to the Oleartchik Jazz double album of 1999 with Avishay Cohen and Eli DejibriEven with 8 solo albums to his credit Oleartchiks commitment and enthusiasm for exploring the unfamiliar remains the same