Tal Gur-Straight Alto and soprano saxophone Eyal Maoz- Electric guitar Sam Trapchak- Double bass Nick Anderson-Drums Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Jim Clouse at Park West Studios, Brooklyn NY, December 2013-January 2014. My musical personality began to develop while I was listening and watching takeoffs and landings of aircrafts in an air force base where I grew up in the heart of the pastoral valley of Yizre’el. I started to play the recorder, and probably the aspects of exhaling/creating sound and the music I have heard at home pulled me toward the saxophone. After moving out to a small town near by, I began playing the saxophone and soon I was drawn strongly to the world of improvisation, free expression and poetry. Gradually I taught myself to play the piano, guitar, bass and drums and started to write and compose songs. After military service I studied sound in Tel-Aviv and later on I moved to Jerusalem to study at the music academy. Over time I developed an identity of a soloist who plays different styles such as jazz, folk, rock, balkan and I performed on many stages in Israel, Europe and the United States with groups such as MarshDondurma (The international jazz festival Eilat 2010, Tel-Aviv jazz festival 2008, Israel Festival 2008, Rijeka jazz festival in Croatia, 2008), Judy Lewis quartet (three residencies at the Pizza Express jazz club, Soho, London 2004-2005, Tel-Aviv jazz festival 2006), What Cheer? Brigade (Newport folk festival 2011). I took part in albums production, theatre, festivals with Israeli artist such as Shlomo Gronich, Dan Toren, Shaanan Street, Efrat Gosh to name a few. At the same time I continued to search my original creation and in 2007 I have released my first album, “air portrait” which is an instrumental music journey in landscapes of memories, a working through model that is seeking for mental insights. The ongoing urge to understand my inner world and the connection to music brought me to pursue a Masters degree in music therapy from Bar Ilan University. Upon my graduation I moved to the United States and the last two years I recorded an album of poets songs I have been exposed to throughout the years. These songs called me to invent music for them, probably because I identify strongly with their message about the existence of the individual in this world, the nature, the relationship between people. The last few years been also an exploration of the world of photography and video. Recently I was graduated from The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU, where I practiced in a music centered – music therapy approach. I reside in NYC and work as a music therapist around the city.