Our D.J. station will host some of the best musical minds around, who will play albums and maybe tell some stories. On Wednesday Yaron Ouzana will take over. Ouzana, trombone player and compulsive record collector. Played with the Orchestra of Avi Lebovich, The Apples, Balkan Beat Box and many more. Organizes and visits many record fairs, likes digging especially in jazz, funk and black music vinyls. On Thursday Asaf James Bar-on will be on the station. James, a “radio artist”, who recites and improvises texts of his own and of others, with a record player and old records. James interacts with the audience and responds to them and to the music, all impromptu. We will close the festival on Friday with Barry Davis. Davis, a music journalist and critic, focusing on jazz, for the Jerusalem Post. Has a jazz program in the radio station “All for Peace.” Was the artistic director of the Jerusalem Jazz Festival in 2006. Loves Music.

From the East Village to Jerusalem: Jewish jazz-rock with Moroccan influences. Special Guest Ravid Kahalani joins Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, one of the most unique and intriguing musicians on New York’s jazz scene. Blumenkranz was commissioned to offer his interpretation of John Zorn’s Book, “Masada, Book of Angels,” drawing on his Sephardic roots.

This talented group of musicians, known as the Yuria-Voltzok Quintet, with deep and abiding connections from their childhood, has led to an intriguing and inspiring journey of musical discovery. The quintet's performance combines familiar pieces from the swing and jazz traditions, alongside original works with "familial" characteristics. Over the past 15 years, the members of this ensemble have performed worldwide. They recorded an unforgettable album with legendary trumpet player Eddie Henderson, and performed regularly with the late pianist and teacher Amit Golan Ensemble members: Yonatan Voltzok (trombone), Yonatan Riklis (piano), Gilad Abro (bass), Asaf Yuria (saxophone), and Yonatan Rosen (drums).

Edward Simon, the award-winning pianist from Venezuela, is considered one of the best and most highly appreciated artists on the international jazz scene – part of a new, "multilingual" generation of musicians, drawing on classical music, jazz, and Latino music. Simon's musical language deftly manipulates musical traditions, transforming them into a unique musical language. Simon's 1994 debut album, "Beauty Within," was a milestone for the Edward Simon Trio and has been performed on the world's greatest stages. Simon has since founded additional ensembles, including the Edward Simon Quartet, Ensemble Venezuela, and Afinidad. In more than two decades, Simon has recorded 13 albums, all receiving rave reviews, with two listed by the New York Times as one of the top ten jazz albums. A third album, "Unicity," was selected by Downbeat as 2007 Album of the Year. Simon participated as a guest musician in the production of over 50 albums, including the Grammy Award-winning album "Funk Tango" by Paquito D'Rivera. In 2010, Simon joined the all-stars collective SFJAZZ. Their latest album, "Wonders" (2014,) won the prestigious NAACP Prize. Simon's live performance album with John Petucci and Brian Blade was selected by All About Jazz as one of the best albums of 2013. Simon's latest album, "Venezuelan Suite," received four-and-a-half stars from the magazine Downbeat, and was selected as one of the best Latino albums of 2014 by the New York City Jazz Record. Simon's performance in Jerusalem will feature adaptations of Latino composers including Simon Diaz, Violetta Parra, Moisés Simons, and Martin Roj

When you arrive at the Museum, each evening surprises await you - but we won't reveal it all here. The Festival's artists will periodically abandon their comfort zone to a second stage for small and magical performances throughout the Museum. If you let curiosity lead the way, perhaps you will hear a favorite artist playing a solo in a unique space, or perhaps a first-time ever duet between international and local artists. Pure improvisation, no rehearsal, and musical moments that might never be heard again.

A fascinating encounter between three musicians working at different ends of the Israeli music scene – Assif Tsahar (tenor saxophone and mbira), Igor Krotogolov (electric bass) and Hagai Fershtman (drums). For more than two decades, Tsahar, one of the first free-jazz musicians in Israel, has performed and recorded with this style's best musicians – including William Parker, Rashied Ali, and Hamid Drake. Igor Krotogolov, who founded the ensembles Kruzenshtern I Parohod and the Toy Orchestra, is undoubtedly one of the most unique artists on the alternative music scene. The third side of this trio, the sought-after drummer Hagai Fershtman, works with a wide range of artists including Asaf Avidan, Riff Cohen and Avishai Cohen. The ensemble has released two albums under the label Auris Media, combining free improvisation and jazz with metal, punk, and ambient noise, expanding the limits of the jazz-saxophone-trio genre.

Ben Aylon's solo performance with African drums is a highly innovative and personal style developed by Aylon, enabling him to simultaneously play ten drums and percussion instruments, creating the experience of an entire tribe of percussionists. Aylon will play the unique set he has created out of a range of traditional West African drums, presenting his original adaptations of traditional African rhythms and compositions – music born from years of research in Senegal, where he studied with Doudou Ndiyae Rose, one of Africa’s greatest drummers.

The virtuoso guitar and electric bass player Munir Hossn has his roots in several cultures: his Lebanese family origins; his native Brazilian state Paraná, with its large multi-racial population; and Salvador, the capital of African-Brazilian culture. His first performance in Israel follows the release of his new album "Made in Nordeste," devoted to the sound of north-eastern Brazil where the encounter between colonial, native and African cultures shaped the contours of Brazilian culture. Hossn presents these roots through the prism of contemporary jazz and the unique music of a virtuoso ensemble featuring five musicians: Luis Guerra (piano), Tuur Moens (drums), João Frade (accordion), Joël Hierrezuelo (percussion). As a child performing onstag

These artists bring you American classics with a twist, based on their "Tea for Two" album. Oleatrchik, one of Israel's most versatile and valued musicians, and Degibri, one of the most prominent and influential jazz musicians in both the local and the international arena, bridge American jazz classics and the Hebrew language. Among the featured songs are "Tea for Two," "Me of All," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and additional songs translated by Oleartchik into contemporary Hebrew. Degibri produced, adapted, and orchestrated the music with a first-class group of performers. In addition to Oleartchik, the group includes prominent Israeli jazz musicians including Gadi Lahav, Barak Mori, and Evyatar Salibnik. The performance features songs from the new album alongside Oleartchik's 1999 jazz album. Alon Oleartchik: Vocals and translations / Eli Degibri: Saxophones, musical production, adaptation, orchestration of string instruments Guest singer: Paula Walstein

The Ziryab Trio grew out of the legendary band Bustan Abraham and includes three of the most prominent voices in Israel – Teisir Elias (oud) Nassim Dakwar (violin), and Zohar Fresco (percussion). The trio is named after the gifted musician-singer-composer Harun al-Rashid who performed in the ninth century in Baghdad. The group specializes in the deep study of 19th and 20th century Arabic and Turkish music and the trio's first album revived the pioneering works of great composers such as Riad al-Sonbati, Tambour Jamil Bay, and Mohammed al-Ksabg'i. Elias, Dakwar and Fresco perform in various ensembles in Israel and around the world, but their performance as a trio is rare. Their Jerusalem Jazz Festival performance, against the background of the Museum's collection of Hanukkah lamps, ensures a unique, inspiring and enjoyable experience.

Four musicians led by percussionist and singer Joca Perpignan combine Brazilian popular music with influences from around the globe – samba, baião, maracatu, and bossa nova as well as sounds from West Africa, Morocco, the USA and the Middle East. In addition to Perpignan, Joca Group members include Rony Iwryn (percussion and vocals), Mark Kakon (guitar, oud, and vocals) and Yorai Oron (bass). Joca Perpignan was born in Rio de Janeiro, and immigrated to Israel in 1987. He is a founding member of the Tucan Trio, and a regular participant in the Idan Raichel Project. He teaches rhythm to the Mayumana group and has collaborated with well known Israeli artists including Matti Caspi, Yoni Rechter, Mira Awad, Din Din Aviv, and the legendary Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos. His album "Manco Balanco" was listed by Haaretz as one of the ten best albums of 2014.

There comes a time to let loose, take off your tie, grab a beer and get into the vibe at the Yellow Submarine Music Center. After our time in the Museum, the festival's musicians will continue to perform. improvising with experimental pieces in the best jazz tradition. Our friends, Beit Ha'amudim, the place responsible for bringing the cool vocal jazz scene to Tel Aviv, has partnered with us, for they know how to provide a warm atmosphere that jazz musicians so desperately need to create, play and invent. On Wednesday, December 2, the Brazilian and African galleries will join the stage jamming it up, and on Thursday, December 3, we will go psychedelic with Minimalism and Electronic jamming. Israeli musicians and international guests will perform together, creating a special meeting point. Here is the place we get creative. Organized shuttle transportation will be

Grammy award-winning saxophonist David Sanchez, will conduct a master class and offer attendees insight about his work, his life and his music. Sanchez will grace us with samples of his work and will offer students and participants the opportunity to take an active part in this unique workshop.

We invite you to participate in a unique experience as ten acclaimed dancers and musicians wander and jam through the Museum’s “A Brief History of Humankind” Gallery. "Playground" is a performance based on the chemistry and spontaneous communication between five musicians and five dancers. The musicians combine textures, melodies and rhythms inspired by jazz, avant-garde, rock, cabaret, and electronic music, while dancers create a real-time choreography that unites influences from the fields of modern dance, contact improvisation, theater, and free-style. Musicians and dancers are constantly interacting, planned and improvised, giving rise to a sophisticated dialogue whose multiple participants form a rich interwoven patterns of movement and sound. The Playground Collective was founded in 2011 by dancer Inbal Shahar and musicians Arthur Krasnobaev and Itamar Gross. They have regularly perform in the Tel Aviv club, “The Zone,” constantly creating and garnering increased attention from Israeli dance and music aficionados.

Israeli pianist Yonathan Avishai creates innovative, minimalist music combined with original traditional elements. Accompanied by Yoni Zelnik (contrabass) and Donald Kontomanou (drums), he arrives in Israel from France following the release of his new album Modern Time, which garnered rave reviews. The prestigious French magazine Citizen Jazz praised "the obvious enjoyment felt by the musicians," and "the intricate, refined, and surprise-filled music, which is simultaneously made astonishingly simple."

Uniting Jewish jazz-rock with Moroccan influences, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz is one of the most unique and intriguing musicians on New York’s jazz scene. He was commissioned to offer his interpretation of John Zorn’s Book, “Masada, Book of Angels,” drawing on his Sephardic roots. Released under the label "Tzadik," it will be performed for the first time at the Jerusalem Jazz Festival after worldwide performances. An ensemble of four outstanding musicians imbue Zorn's radical Jewish style with an intense, rhythmic, tribal Moroccan vibe guaranteed to appeal to both jazz and rock lovers. Playing a gimbri – a bass-like Moroccan string instrument, Shanir will perform with virtuoso guitar players Eyal Maoz and Aram Bajakian, and drummer Kenny Grohowski. Together they create “ritualistic Jewish Rock for the 21st century”, blending genres and subverting definitions in the best of Zorn’s tradition. Shanir, who was born in Brooklyn in 1975 to parents of Polish and Egyptian origin, experimented with his first instruments - pots, pans, and a three-stringed guitar - at age 2. Since 1999, he has worked on more than 25 releases under the “Tzadik” label, producing and creating adaptations for numerous groups including "The Gathering," "Hope and Destruction," "Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes," among others.

Emahoy Tsegue Mariam Guebrou is a Jerusalem legend, a nun ensconced within the walls of the Ethiopian Church. She was first exposed to the Israeli public in 2013, thanks to Dunietz and the Jerusalem Culture Season that initiated the publication of a music-sheet book featuring nine decades of her musical work, alongside the nun's fascinating biography. For the last two years, Dunietz has been performing worldwide with recitals of Emahoy Tsegue's compelling music that moves along the axis between classical Western music and Ethiopian music. Dunietz now brings this magical performance to the Jerusalem Jazz Festival, where she will host Uzi Feinerman (guitar) and the singer Hiwot Mekonnen.

The vocal Jazz Trio from New York in an intimate gallery performance, accompanied by Bass and Piano. Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner and Melissa Stylianou, three virtuoso singers with rare voices, present an original contemporary take on 1930s American swing and jazz music. A performance filled with effortless charm, humor, and new harmonies is based on the classical repertoire of the legendary Boswell Sisters from New Orleans, the Andrews

The post-rock band LayerZ grew out of the Israeli jazz scene and is inspired by a variety of sources - hip hop, electronic music, modern jazz, and impressionism. Blurring the lines between the seemingly contradictory worlds of rock, jazz, and trance, the ensemble has collaborated with a wide range of musicians such as Marina Maximilian Blumin, Scuzzy, Avishai Cohen, and many others. In honor of the Jerusalem Jazz Festival, LayerZ will host The Playground Collective, featuring five dancers and five musicians, the first event of its kind, performed in the Museum’s Israeli Art gallery, with the audience seated in a 360-degree circle around the performers. Music by LayerZ will combine original compositions and improvisations, and will continue with the gradual inclusion of all ten members of Playground, culminating in a total of 12 performers.

The Caribbean, Africa and jazz come together as David Sanchez Returns to Israel. Grammy-Award winning saxophonist Sanchez arrives with a new performance that interweaves the colors and textures of the Caribbean, the rhythms of Africa, and the soul of jazz. Sanchez's musical quest centers on the sounds of Haiti, Carriacou (an island in the Grenadines), and his native Puerto Rico – alongside the West-African drum rhythms of Yuba, Calinda, and Sica. Seen through the eyes of a contemporary jazz musician, Sanchez has said, "I always knew there was a connection between their musical traditions and the music I grew up listening to in Puerto Rico, but the commonalities still amaze me." Sanchez, who had the privilege of playing with Dizzy Gillespie (!), expanded the limits of traditional jazz with Latino and Afro-Caribbean traditions and sounds. The well-known jazz critic Howard Reich saluted Sanchez's talent early on: "technically, tonally and creatively, he seems to have it all. His sound is never less than plush, his pitch is unerring, his rapid-fire playing is ravishing." Sanchez's debut album, "The Departure," gained critical acclaim when it was released in 1995. His following albums were all nominated for Grammy A

Plaistow fuses different and unexpected musical worlds to create a minimalist acoustic groove. This trio's creative process involves the use of electronic instruments ranging from drum machines to samplers that are gradually replaced by acoustic instruments – resulting in a language where human maintains a dialogue with machine, ingeniously challenging stylistic divisions. “No mathematics, no complicated array of notes. It’s not conceptual.” Established in 2007, the trio’s music is influenced by electronic music prodigies such as Plastikman and Squarepusher, avant-garde composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass, Jamaican dub producer Mad Professor, Palestinian oud player Nizar Rohana, classical composer Berlioz, and many others

This bass, drums and saxophone trio, a new project initiated by saxophone player Matan Chapnizky with Ran Levi (bass) and Adam Cohen (drums), is influenced by the minimalist simplicity and clear division of roles characteristic of British rock, and by the rhythms and vitality of West African music. Additional influences include Radiohead, trumpet player Avishai Cohen, the Yemen Blues ensemble, and Omer Avital. In New York, Chapnizky was a member of various groups with base player Omer Avital, and was privileged to perform with jazz stars Mark

The Israeli jazz family that conquered the world's most prestigious stages is returning to Israel for a single performance. Siblings Yuval, Avishai, and Anat, The 3 Cohens, arrive for an unplugged performance dedicated to their latest album, "Tightrope," released in 2013. The music of this excellent wind-instrument ensemble reflects the album’s title, a spontaneous and risk-filled tightrope act that maintains a delicate melodic balance between listening and playing, integration and separateness. The trio will host the accomplished musicians Yonatan Avishai (piano) and Barak Mori (Contrabass), with whom they have played, as friends and colleagues, for close to three decades. In the early 1990s, Yonatan Avishai played (with Yuval Cohen) at the Eilat Jazz Festival. He later played (with Avishai Cohen) in the legendary ensemble Third World Love, and has performed regularly worldwide with the 3 Cohen Sextet, the group's larger ensemble. At the Jerusalem Jazz Fest

This new ensemble features Ofer Ganor (guitar), his twin brother Eyal Ganor (contrabass), and Jess Koren (saxophone). Together, they take familiar classics on a tour of the jazz world, with its numerous styles and approaches. Ofer studied, recorded, and played with legendary jazz musicians Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, James Moody, and others. His brother Eyal, an accomplished contrabass player inspired by both classical music and jazz, has played in classical orchestras worldwide, including the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony, the Jerusalem Symphony, and the Tel Aviv Soloists. The two brothers are joined by the eminent jazz musician Jess Koren, who first arrived in Israel with his saxophone in 1967, becoming an integral part of the Tel Aviv jazz scene and the legendary Barbarim Club. His deep, velvety, highly creative music resonates with the influences of Dexter Gordon, Clifford Jordan, and other jazz legends with whom he has played over the years.

Internationally renowned saxophonist David Sanchez has expanded the boundaries of traditional jazz to include the sounds and traditions of Latin and Afro-Caribbean music. Jazz critic Howard Reich recognized Sanchez's talent in his youth, hailing him as a musician with technical and tonal creativity, an artist who has "has everything - his sound is equally plush and accurate and his rapid fire pace is spectacular." Sanchez rose to acclaim in 1995 with his first album, The Departure, which won rave reviews across the spectrum. Subsequent albums were nominated Grammy Awards, and in 2004, after three nominations, he took home the coveted Grammy for his album Coral. Sanchez returns to his Puerto Rican roots with an intimate performance in the Israeli Art Gallery, bringing new creations, mixing tradition, modernity and Latin jazz, improvising and expanding from his 2008 album Cultural Survival album.

Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner and Melissa Stylianou, three virtuoso singers with rare voices, present an original contemporary take on 1930s American swing and jazz music. A performance filled with effortless charm, humor, and new harmonies is based on the classical repertoire of the legendary Boswell Sisters from New Orleans, the Andrews Sister, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mercer, Gershwin, and other jazz legends. Duchess’ first album, released earlier this year under the label "Anzic," garnered rave reviews, with prestigious magazine Downbeat calling the trio "a beacon of jovial esprit."

Traditional Brazilian choro was developed earlier than samba and bossa nova and is considered an encounter point between classical melodies and Afro-Brazilian rhythms. In recent years, choro has grown increasingly popular and is currently invading the streets and clubs of Brazil, slowly making its way to Israel. This unique ensemble, the fruit of a collaboration between Israeli and Brazilian musicians, specializes in the choro music of Rio de Janeiro. Their unique sound combines traditional choro with jazz, ethnic influences, and Israeli music. Group members play unique instruments such as the pandeiro (hand-held drum), a 7-string guitar (Sete), and a four-string guitar (cavaquinho). The ensemble, which has been performing since 2008 in clubs and at festivals in Israel and abroad, and has collaborated with artists including Alon Oleartchik, Roni Dalumi, Anat Cohen and Ginga (Brazil).