- How your cooperation has started?

Assif Tsahar and Taatsuya Nakatani: We met through Bassist Peter Kowlad, he introduced us to each other. He came from Wuppertal and both of us live in New York but he made sure we got to know each other that is the kind of person Kowld was. We started a project of playing on the street every sunday out side at copper square, come rain or come shine any weather (almost :) After a year we put out our first CD come sunday and we put out 2 more since and every CD we play a tune by Duke Ellington - come sunday , Solitude (with a string quartet), "I got it bad".

- How would you describe your music?

ATTN: Tatsuya is a very unique player with a unique approach to the playing percussion he really is doing things no one is doing and that set the tone for our music it makes me (Assif play different.) Tatsuya play the percussion through their sounds a piano of bells gongs bows and scratches a piano of percussive vibrations. He makes his own Bows he has technics that absolutely unique to him and an approach that comes a lot out of his japanies heritage where time in music flows differently less like a clock more like a wave. That colors everything I do in a very different color but we are playing for so many years together that it is a telepathic interactions we know each other movements and it makes us very free because at any moment we can do anything and know that other will follow.

- Your cooperation is 13 years old. How New York's music has changed during this time? How at all jazz music has changed?

ATTN: New York has changed a lot, the world has changed and these changes like everything become magnified in New York. So how ever you feel about the changes you see around you in the world music culture it gets magnified in New York by A LOT. There are a lot a lot of creative artist and musicians working but the environment as a whole is definitely a lot more difficult. That only makes what we are doing more important . The internet is the information age so they say, but there is no information there because there is no connection there our music is about connecting people and moving them in there mind and heart make them think and be creative.

- This is the first time you come to Mediawave. Do you have any idea about the environment? What is the concept of your performance here?

ATTN: Well I was before not at the festival but in Győr played for the organization with Hamid Drake about 12 years ago. It is such a special memory that i am very excited to be coming back and to the festival as I know what a special event it is and what a beautiful spirit it holds. 

Assif Tsahar and Taatsuya Nakatani
30th APRIL 24:00 Ékes Concert Room