Issi Rozen is an Israeli-born

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

guitarist currently residing in

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri * Brookline, New Hampshire * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookline, Vermont See ...

, Massachusetts. He has been recognized for mixing traditional middle-eastern and straight jazz elements into his music. In 2002, Rozen began teaching guitar and music theory at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Early life

Issi Rozen was born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

on April 20, 1967 and moved to Tel-Aviv during his childhood. As Rozen recalls in an All About Jazz interview, "my earliest musical memories are the lullabies my mother used to sing. They were mostly in minor keys as are most traditional Israeli songs." He began playing guitar at age 10, and as a teenager, Rozen was practicing several hours a day. In 1991, after completing his service in the Israeli Defense Forces, Rozen moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music.

Musical career

After finishing his studies at Berklee, Rozen settled in the Boston suburb of Brookline. In 1998, he released his first album, ''Red Sea'' under

Brownstone Records __NOTOC__ Over the course of his career James Brown owned and operated several different record labels, which he used primarily to release his own productions of artists associated with his revue. Try Me Brown founded his first label, Try Me Recor ...

. A year later, Rozen released ''Homeland Blues'' under the same label, which was named one of the top 20 CDs by WBEZ radio in Chicago. In 2003 he released his third album titled ''Dark Beauty'' on his own label, New Step Music. Clearly influenced by jazz guitarists

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

and Jim Hall, Rozen also uses musical components from his native Israel. The opening track on ''Dark Beauty'', "Sheharhoret" (Dark Beauty in Hebrew) is a traditional Hebrew song sung primarily by

Mizrahi ''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' ( he, מזרחי) has two meanings. In the literal Hebrew meaning ''Eastern'', it may refer to: *Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East * Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberian P ...

Jews. On the same album, Rozen cover's an obscure

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

tune, "Segment". This hybrid of different genres has given Rozen critical acclaim. The other eight tracks on the album are Rozen's own pieces.

Awards and honors

* 1999 ''

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

'' Best Jazz Performer * 2000 WBEZ Radio Top 20 CDs in 2000 ("Homeland Blues")

Discography

* ''Red Sea'' (Brownstone, 1998) * ''Homeland Blues'' (Brownstone, 1999) * ''Dark Beauty'' (Artist One Stop, 2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozen, Issi 1967 births Living people Israeli jazz musicians Jazz guitarists Musicians from Boston Berklee College of Music faculty People from Haifa Guitarists from Massachusetts American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians