The Avi Benjamin Trio
PRESS
«Benjamin, Saravaisky and Mamonov related to all these with a very un-Israeli combination of seriousness and humor. They took them apart with an impish grin but were scrupulous about very high musical standards.»
Ben Shalev, Haaretz
«The new performance is certainly something we are not accustomed to hearing in our everyday musical repertoire which is, how shall I say, rather routine,or even dull.»
Eitan Elhadad, Zman Tel Aviv
English
BABYLON
THE AVI BENJAMIN TRIO
Avi Benjamin – musical director, piano, melodica and vocal, Igor Mamonov – vocals, bass, percussion, Eliyahu Saravaisky – guitars, bass, vocal, Michael Vaisburd — sound design, Dima Elyashev — technical management, Roni Ninio — artistic consultant, Einat Besser — production
About the project
Avi Benjamin, musician, leads a trio of musicians on a musical journey – a fusion of styles,
different periods and languages. Classical works of Shostakovich, Bach, Purcell, baroque,
renaissance composers on the one hand, and on the other, jazz in the style of Errol Garner and
Stan Getz, folk songs from Corsica, Siberia, the Jewish Shtetl and even rock music, Bossa nova
and hip hop.
On this musical journey Avi looked for the essence: humor, happiness, sadness. He found them in a Gregorian Choral from the 7th Century, in Bollywood’s “Itchikidana” and in a rock guitar solo in a work by Purcell from the 17th Century - a peak piece, full of pathos. All these, and others are original musical arrangements of iconic works.
The trio “go wild” musically and theatrically while maintaining the connection with the musical essence - allowing the audience to feel the connection between genres and periods – a complete emotional and aesthetic experience. The trio members display diverse abilities, uniqueness and virtuosity in playing on different instruments and singing.
A unique performance, original and surprising arrangements and a direct engagement with the audience of all ages.
MAMON
AVI
ILYA
Ilya Saravaisky
Born in Tolyatti, Russia. Came to Israel in 1995 and joined several rock bands as a guitarist and musical arranger.
Produced video clips for Tel Aviv rock groups and Gesher Theatre where he also played music in various productions. Works as a lighting designer for musical productions.
Igor Mamonov
Born in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. Sang in several professional choirs in Russia (The Red Army
Choir) and Germany. Played and sang in different rock groups in Europe.
From 2009 – 2012 was the solo singer for Embrace-band in Germany. Since 2012 lives in Israel and participates in
Gesher Theatre productions as a singer and musician.
Avi Benjamin
Born in Tallinn, Estonia. Has written music for more than 100 theatre plays, films and television all
over the world including Russia, France, Estonia, Germany and Israel.
Was the house composer
for the Gesher Theatre for more than 20 years and composed the music for most of its productions. Few years ago he produced his first solo project – “Soundtracks for movies that
don’t yet exist”.
