release date: 20.06.2025 on Fresh Sound New Talent Records
The New York-based Saxophonist/Composer Hillai Govreen releases the new recording “Every Other Now“. It is the first one I heard since the little track called Face Down In The Dirt, recorded live at Ornithology by Jimmy Katz. The other two, also present on the Bandcamp platform, are Duo recordings with pianist Nitsan Kolko. Those two, Allusions & Passing Through, released just a few months apart from each other, go back to 2021 and already show Govreens’ talents towards building melody-based atmospheric moods.
About the Recording
Something in my heart leapt the first time I heard this music performed live. I was willing to respond to the new sound right away. I noticed others recognised that “this is new”. They sat on the edge of their seats, all keen on staying with it, giddy with anticipation that something great is about to go down. Listening, you catch a hint, a foreshadow from some “wild notes.” You hear someone say “oh shit, look out now.” Then the atmosphere on stage gets heavy, as someone begins to “stretch.”
A thread- bare existence, often unavoidable, often deemed the “artist way” lends uncertainty to life. I, myself, am most certainly uncertain. It’s common ground for many of us. Uncertainty brings doubts and emotions into the foreground, where, it may become “grist for the mill.” The starving artist archetype is our best emotional check on modern works- “keeping it real”, as they say. I want to feel the “real” when I listen to music. Lacking soul and spontaneity, being precise and perfectly rational, all the time, is simply “Square.”
The music presented here is quite “real.” It is streetwise and intuitive. Its imagery is fashioned by bare passion and powerful imagination. To musicians, playing standards, though challenging, may become not “real.” An original song is like your own child. Interpreting standards is like someone else’s kids. You may play with someone else’s kids, but your own, you teach. Your own is an extension of who you are, an expression of your philosophy. “A lot is lost for the sake of originality” is the most common criticism.
But, what if, nothing is lost? What if, honest research was conducted, like “burnin’ the midnight oil”, “paying all your dues”, well then, I say, something special is about to happen, so, “get ready”, “hold on to your hats”, cause “here it comes”
– Mitch Borden
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About Hillai Govreen
Hillai Govreen is a clarinetist, saxophonist and composer based in New York. Hillai’s upcoming album Every Other Now is a collaboration with bassist/composer Ben Meigners, and features some notable names of the NY music scene such as Steve Cardenas (guitar), Eric McPherson (drums), Café Da Silva (percussion) among others. The album is set to be released in June 2025 under the Fresh Sound label.
Her previous album “Allusions” (2021) is a duet with pianist Nitsan Kolko. Their duet feature spontaneous musical dialogue and alludes to various ancient fables. In addition, Hillai arranged music for a nonet consisting of strings and woodwinds.
Hillai Govreen has collaborated with a wide range of international musicians, including George Cables, Allison Miller, Arturo O’Farrill, Anat Cohen, George Colligan, Steve Cardenas and Harold Rubin. She has toured across India, Europe, Israel, and the U.S. and has performed at notable New York venues such as Dizzy’s Club, Smalls, Mezzrow, Birdland, National Sawdust, and Ornithology. Hillai is an endorsing artist for P. Mauriat clarinets and saxophones.
She graduated with honors from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in 2020, where she studied with renowned musicians including Anat Cohen, Chris Cheek, Tony Malaby, Billy Harper, Steve Cardenas, and Reggie Workman.
Born and raised in Israel, Hillai Govreen developed a passion for music early on. She started learning classical piano at the age of 6, and at 12, she took up the clarinet, studying under Professor Michael Gurfinkel.
During high school, Hillai was awarded musical scholarships from the American Israel Cultural Foundation for four consecutive years and played first clarinet in the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. She was also honored as an “Outstanding Musician” and received a full scholarship to study at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin.