Club Levontin 7 delights the crowds with its varied music – Israeli Culture
It’s no secret that cultural engagement is not one of the most state-supported ways of life in these parts. The people with the experienced hands on the state coffers tend to rank the arts low in the hierarchy of financial support. Nevertheless, Israeli artists of all kinds continue to produce entertaining and compelling quality products.
This is due not least to the existence of the music venue Levontin 7, which opened 18 years ago at the address of the same name near the southern end of Allenby Street in Tel Aviv.
For the past three years, Asif Tsahar, now sole owner and managing director, has held anniversary events at the Tel Aviv Museum, starting in the evening and continuing into the early hours of the morning. Before moving to the prestigious location in 2022, Tsahar had hosted a variety of shows exclusively at the club on one day a year, spread throughout the month of July.
This year’s 18th birthday party follows the program, with a line-up of artists representing a broad cross-section of the Israeli music scene set to perform at Levontin over the next two or three weeks. But the real highlight is this Thursday at the museum: retro musician Uzi Navon will open the event with a blast from the past that includes more than just a variation or two of 1970s Israeli pop. This will be followed by a show on the main stage, headlined by 40-year-old ethnically inclined rocker Aviv Guedj and his band.
Thursday’s event includes a variety of performances taking place in the museum’s auditorium and other spaces, and visitors can move from one performance to the next at their leisure.
Tsahar, who also makes his living as an international jazz saxophonist with a left-leaning leaning, says that while he is more than happy that the club is still active, the upcoming program is not a celebration in itself. In keeping with these difficult times, the festival is more about the therapeutic effect of music than celebration. “We are keeping our activities going and we are continuing to work. We are doing everything we can so that when things return to normal – if they do – we have something to return to.” He could say that again. We desperately need an occasional musical boost to get us through these tough times.
The history of the venue
Over the past 18 years, Levontin 7 has done more than any other venue in the country to cater to the indie crowd with quality food and some rock, pop and Tsahar’s popular avant-garde jazz thrown into the mix of the venue’s basement. The club came about when Tsahar returned from an extended stay in New York and joined jazz pianist Daniel Sarid and classical conductor Ilan Volkov to put on the show. Sarid and Volkov eventually left the club to pursue other musical ventures, but Tsahar has managed to keep the ship afloat through thick and thin. And he doesn’t plan on giving up anytime soon.
“People think that what we do is a luxury and belongs to the fringes of society, that it is not important and just culture,” he notes. “But ultimately that is the goal, the meaning of life. Besides (physical) survival, we need an interest; we need beauty in life, a life with value. That is the fundamental difference between humans and animals.”
It’s fair to say that the Israeli jazz scene would be poorer without Levontin 7 – especially when it comes to the more adventurous, less shackled improvisational pieces. “This scene has really grown in recent years here and elsewhere,” says Tsahar. “There’s a strong community here now. I just went to New York to play there and took Asaf Shehori with me. He’s a great bass player.”
Shehori will also be joining the night shift at the museum when he performs at the Henry Grimes Memorial BBQ gig, named after the legendary bassist who was a leading figure in the free jazz scene in the US in the 1960s, only to disappear from the scene for over three decades. He was discovered working as an elevator operator in 2002, after which he resumed his career, much to the delight of the international jazz community, working non-stop until his passing in 2020 at the age of 84.
As with the Jerusalem Jazz Festival, which has been held at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for the past ten years, Tsahar believes that musical performances in Tel Aviv benefit from the artistic environment. “It’s a great opportunity for people to come to the museum. They can experience all the galleries, where there are stages and musicians play in harmony with the art exhibitions.”
Hopefully Thursday’s event will have a positive knock-on effect everywhere. “It’s a wonderful museum and like everyone else, they’re going through a difficult time right now,” Tsahar says. “They also have to think about how to reinvent themselves and how to preserve art in Israel.”
This is indeed a huge challenge, but the Levontin-7 collaboration may point the way to a new, fruitful line of work.
MEANWHILE, there’s plenty to discover at the club from July 11 through the end of the month. The museum lineup includes some pop and rock stars like Efrat Gosh, Daniella Spektor and Hila Ruach, and Mizrahi-experienced feel-good band The Smachot teams up with singer-songwriter Nofar Batat.
Tsahar may not want to go all out in the museum out of respect for the tough times we’re going through, but he hasn’t skimped on variety or quality. Arabic-speaking hip-hopper Tapash will no doubt make a splash, while Buttering Trio looks to push the funk ante as high as possible. Vocal artist Yifeat Ziv should take the artistic offering a step further beyond the mainstream boundaries, while the UIUIUI duo take no prisoners, delivering their high-energy show with a spontaneous mix of noise, electronica, saxophone, drums and plenty of vocal acrobatics.
Long live Levontin 7.
Tickets and further information: https://levontin7.com/
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