By Eyal Hareuveni
Israeli tenor sax player and composer Albert Beger took his time before
responding to the Israeli collective trauma of October 7, 2023. His
eighteenth album, Astral Visit, begins with the simply titled piece,
“October 7”. This piece processes the trauma of endless loss, pain, and
grief into a most compassionate, spiritual statement. You can sense the
whole emotional turmoil in the charged performance of Beger Quartet – the
intense piano solo of Milton Michaeli, the propulsive drive of double bass
player Asaf Shchori and drummer Nitzan Birnbaum, and Beger himself, who
channels the lament into a powerful, deeply emotional, and life-affirming
plea, celebrating life over apocalyptic, death-seeking vision.
Astral Visit is Beger’s eighteenth album and his most spiritual album to
date. Its title immediately evokes the spiritual music of John and Alice
Coltrane, but Beger has his own vision. The second piece is called “C
major,” and it is a playful, fast, and acrobatic rhythmic piece that flirts
with Ornette Coleman’s harmolodics and highlights Beger’s profound
camaraderie with his longtime comrades Michaleli and Shchori, as well as the
new drummer Birnbaum. The following title piece begins with the sound of
exotic bells before cementing Beger’s deep connection to the astral
meditations of the Coltrane’s, but, surprisingly, Beger thinks of this simple
piece as his own perfect melody, just like Coleman’s “Lonely Woman”. He
beautifully articulates the melodic theme with a commanding, soulful sax
solo.
“Nobody Dies” was composed before Oct. 7 but relates to the horrors of this
day. This piece rides on a hypnotic pulse, and Beger chants a quote from the
Indian Vedantas and the mystical Jewish Kabbalah, “They say nobody ever
dies, therefore nobody ever born”. Michaeli is the main soloist,
transforming Beger’s opening, concise solo and the rhythmic pattern into a
magnificent, astral tour de force, before Beger takes the lead again and
brings this piece into a cathartic, liberating climax. The album ends with
the ballad “Healing Song”, which was written during the COVID-19 pandemic
and laments Beger’s departed friends, but, obviously, became more and more
relevant. It is a gentle song, shining with its optimistic light. A
beautiful conclusion for a great album.