Detailed Information on Publication Record

David Doruzka's lecture will explore innovations in rhythm and meter that were brought to contemporary jazz by musicians such as Shai Maestro, Omer Avital and Ziv Ravitz through their incorporation of rhythmic concepts found in traditional Middle-Eastern and North- African music. The lecture will feature a brief summary of the use of odd meters throughout the history of jazz music and then it will focus on the development in this area in the 21 st century. Emphasis will be put on rhythmic concepts found in Arabic, North-African and Middle-Eastern music and the basics of these concepts will be explained and analyzed. Then through analysis of compositions by Shai Maestro and others, it will be demonstrated how contemporary jazz musicians use these traditional concepts in their improvisations and compositions. David Doruzka will also demonstrate the use of these phenomenons in his own compositions. An in-depth analysis of the music using lead sheets of the pieces will show how to come up with new ways of creating polyrhythmic and polymetric layers within a contemporary jazz compositional form, while keeping integrity in a conventional jazz instrumental ensemble. The lecture will include musical examples and also guidelines how to practise these musical ideas, develop them and incorporate them into one's compositional and improvisational style.