Yosef Gutman Levitt & Peter Broderick: River of Eden
Soul Song Records

Yosef Gutman Levitt has collaborated, separately, on earlier releases with guitarists Lionel Loueke, Gilad Hekselman, and Itay Sher, but his latest suggests the bassist might have found his most perfect partner in Peter Broderick, the well-regarded multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter who's released solo material on Hush Records, Erased Tapes, Bella Union, and others. An ex-member of the Danish band Efterklang, Broderick, originally based in Oregon and now Ireland, plays violin, his primary instrument, on the luminous River of Eden, though he also enhances the material with painterly effects. Joining the duo are pianist Yonathan Avishai, cellist Yoed Nir, and nylon-string guitarist Sher.

The brief Levitt presented to Broderick—the Soul Song label's mission statement, as it were—aptly captures the album character: “To create music that's intimate, improvisational, with a profound honesty, stripping away anything that's not needed.” Music of humility, soul, and grace, in other words, things River of Eden has in abundance. A pitch of such kind would have appealed immediately to Broderick, whose own music stirs the senses with authenticity. Accepting the invitation, he traveled to Jerusalem to record in Gutman's studio, with the bassist playing double bass and five-string acoustic bass guitar and the two accompanied by the aforesaid trio. The interplay between the five is conversational, heartfelt, and responsive, a valuable document of musicians engaging together in pursuit of something magical and ineffable.

Levitt has a gift for crafting simple themes and melodies of intense potency, but Broderick's no slouch on that count either. Of the twelve pieces, some were written by him, others by Levitt, and some culled from improvisations that were shaped into songs. Crafted by the bassist with producer Gilad Ronen, three nigunim, or traditional Jewish vocal melodies without words, also appear. Intimations of the project's intimate and contemplative tone are conveyed by the song titles “Gratitude,” “Renewal,” and “Reflection.”

Consistent with its title, “The Open Door” plays like a gentle invitation to enter into the album's delicate world. Sounds emerge in a hush and slowly crystallize into a serene, shimmering meditation speckled with piano, string plucks, and bowed figures. Suitably enchanted, the listener's then beguiled by folk themes in “Nigun Al Achat,” with Broderick's violin sweetly singing the dancing melodies and the others' instruments blossoming alongside. Written following a solo jaunt around Jerusalem, his “The Old City” exemplifies a wistful innocence that makes its melodies all the more endearing, and as lovely is “Gratitude” for the beauty of its sincere expression.

Throughout the recording, the players collectively coax music of disarming beauty into being, each participant attending closely to the others and finessing the music as it materializes in real-time. As contemplative as the album generally is, it also makes room for lively expression, as seen in the dance-driven joy of “Nigun Ana Avda” and in the marching pulse animating “Nigun Eshet Chayil (Woman of Valor).” The uplifting “Renewal” speaks to the positives that accrue from the collaboration when it spotlights the splendour of Broderick's violin and Levitt's five-string bass in equal measure. Revisiting the spirit of the opening track, “Wave of Forgiveness” takes us out on a similarly peaceful wave.

Reflecting on his experience working with Levitt, Broderick said, “I have a belief in music as this ultra-powerful thing with the potential to transcend the biggest crises and conflicts that we have as humans.” Would that every earth citizen shared his view. Filled with music of grace, dignity, and majesty, the harmonious statement that is of River of Eden gives one not just pause but hope too.

February 2025