Bassist, composer, and bandleader Or Bareket is a leading figure of his generation on the New York and global scenes. He often plays a wide range of styles with artists like Joel Ross, Camila Meza, and Etienne Charles, while leading his quartet.
/AYIN/, his most recent release, is his fifth as a leader and third with his quartet, featuring Godwin Louis on saxophone, Savannah Harris on drums, Fabian Almazan on Piano and electronics, vocals by Rasha Nahas, and produced by vibraphonist Joel Ross.
One of the main themes of this work is Bareket's relationship with his ancestors. He is inspired by the internal dialogue he intentionally maintains with his deceased relatives as well as current conversations with living peers and the eventual words he will exchange with his future family.
Exploring these relationships prompted a reflection on what connects people across time and space. What characters sustain across generations, and if they are bound to change, how?
The artist’s role within this lineage is complex, but Bareket sees his work like that of an archivist. He says, “It’s an archivist, but what you're archiving with music that is an oral tradition, it's not exactly the same as having a written record of history. It's something else that is being archived, and I've been thinking a lot about the meaning and the role of this medium that we're operating in. The Black American music known as jazz. This music offers a way to preserve something even if it's not preservation of the concrete traditions and practices that someone comes from. It's a preservation of a certain spirit.”
That spirit, something that seems intangible and hard to describe except when felt through music, is ingrained in /AYIN/. Along with his bandmates, Bareket takes on the role of an archivist and more, reclaiming and reciting sounds, words, and relationships that have been forgotten. The title /AYIN/ is a symbol of that work. Both a word and letter, translating to “Eye” and “Fountain,” as a sound, Bareket says, “[/AYIN/] is pretty much gone from modern Hebrew. It's one of the glottal sounds that come from Abrahamic languages my grandparents spoke in this way. They expressed this sound properly.”
Through this album, Bareket offers listeners an intimate and beautiful musical effort to reclaim, recite, and restructure what has been lost.
/AYIN/ is available October 16th on Enja Records.
Or Bareket's quartet performs at New York City’s CloseUp on Saturday, October 17th at 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm and Sunday the 18th at 7:30 pm and 9:00 pm.
These performances will be followed by a Fall European Tour.
A special album release show will take place on the evening of Sunday, January 10th, 2027, at Joe's Pub in New York City.
You can find more information about /AYIN/, tickets, and the touring schedule HERE.
Emily Springer’s full conversation with Or Baraket is available HERE
