One night stands, in jazz terms – as in life – can be exciting, but they don't always pack much staying power. So, when you take a senior member of the American jazz community of the stature and well-earned vintage of trumpeter Dave Douglas and marry him, for a double header at the Jerusalem Jazz Festival, with Israeli act Alon Farber's Hagiga, you never know what you might end up with.

 

In the event, the gigs at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in June 2023, were a blast. That dynamism and go-for-broke vibe come across in the new release from Farber's sextet, most of whose members have been doing sterling onstage and studio work together for some time.

 

Reedman Farber has been leading the group from the front for over 20 years now. He always runs a tight ship, while allowing plenty of room for individual joyous self-expression. Hence the interface with Douglas stood every chance of producing some magic. And magic those Jerusalem dates truly were.

 

With Farber's big band pedigree, largely as a founder member of the Israel Jazz Orchestra which, incidentally, has been going as long as Hagiga, you were always going to get a taste of slick close-knit layered sonics driven by a thirst for adventure.

 

Douglas is well and truly on board for the ride. Over four decades of eclectic envelope pushing across an expansive sweep of combos, material, genres and styles make him an ideal nip-and-tuck partner for transient tête-å-têtes of this nature. That goes for performing Douglas's charts, Persistence of Memory – a nugget from the prolific trumpeter's third album from 1995, and In Our Lifetime - and Spring Ahead, his eighth release just two years later, which open and close the track list.

 

The Jerusalem reading of the latter finds Douglas in vibrant and unabashed joie de vivre mode, as he was a throughout the gig, with the band happily following in his slipstream. Farbalak is a real cooker, with Douglas and Farber dovetailing like veteran sparring partners, and the rest of the gang in joyous simpatico step.

 

Minuet for Maya. Which first appeared on Hagiga's New Directions 2016 release, takes us into gentler climes with some lush bluesy underscoring, particularly courtesy of Farber's old pal trombonist Oded Meir. Katia Toobool, an accomplished jazz cat, makes her recording debut with the gang here providing silky coloring on piano, while drummer Roy Oliel proffers his deftly crafted percussive thoughts. Farber clearly has a sense of humor, and the number somehow segues into slightly understated pandemonium at the close.

 

The title track showcases Douglas's chops to the full as he soars for sonic stratospheres and unfurls his formidable sonic bag of tricks across the full spectrum of textures and colors. Tenorist Yehonatan Cohen also packs a punch or two on the number, and long-serving bassist Assaf Hakimi completes the rhythm section with rock solid perception and not a little inventiveness.

 

The Magician captures Hagiga – yes – on a magical date with a consummate lineup, an abundance of firepower and plenty of stellar standout performances.