Edward Simon: Award-winning Pianist

Feast and Miracles Gallery

Guests: Yonathan Avishai and Yuval Cohen

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 Rojas. Simon will also host the accomplished saxophone player Yuval Cohen and the pianist Yonatan Avishai (Third World Love).

Photo Credit: Scott Chernis

Length of Performance: 60 min.