Western East (The)

The Western East by Yossi Hamami
Edited by Lior Eitan
Includes parts for Bass Flute, alternate part for Alto Flute, and Harp  score

Israeli composer Yosef (Yossi) Hamami (b.1972) creates bridges and break down fences between different genres of music: Eastern and Western, popular and classical. His music points towards a new pluralistic musical reality.   Hamami began his musical career as a bassist in rock and fusion groups. In 1992, he was one of the founders of the famous Israeli “Monica Sex” rock band, whose albums received several platinum awards. In 2000 he founded another rock band, “TimeZone.”

Flutist Lior Eitan:  I met Yossi Hamami for the first time in 2000 at a concert that combined a rock band with a classical ensemble. In a chance conversation between us, I told me him that I own a bass flute. As a bass guitar player, he showed a lot of interest in the rare instrument. A number of meetings between us in which I demonstrated the bass flute inspired him to write The Western East for bass flute and harp, which was premiered in May 2002 at Kibbutz Negba by myself and harpist Yulia Rubinsky. In its three movements, the work combines elements from the worlds of classical music, jazz, and Eastern music. When we considered publishing the work in 2012, we decided to add a version for alto flute.