MORE ABOUT PLAY SPACE

Omer Leshem's third studio album, Play Space, was recorded by his quintet. Alongside Leshem on tenor saxophone are some of New York's finest and most innovative musicians including pianist Moshe Elmakias, guitarist Nadav Remez, bassist Elam Friedlander, and drummer Ben Silashi. All members of the quintet are Israelis currently residing in New York City. Their performance demonstrates both their expertise in modern jazz playing and their passion towards their shared ethnic roots.

Play Space features Leshem’s original music. His nine compositions reveal a mixture of warmth and nostalgia together with energetic North African grooves, a touch of free jazz, and Middle Eastern influences. The combination between Leshem’s uniquely lyrical and multicultural compositions and the band members' ecstatic playing gives Play Space a highly distinct and fresh sound. 

After performing and refining their music for several years, Leshem finally decided to take the band to the studio. The album was recorded in June 2023 at the iconic Dreamland Studios, a remote church nestled within the forest just outside of Woodstock, NY. Play Space was recorded by engineer Ariel Shafir and  the music was mixed and mastered by the great Dave Darlington. 

Leshem, a renowned saxophonist and doctor of clinical psychology, has long been interested in the concept of “play”. In Play Space, he decided to pay an homage to the British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicot, who devoted his career to studying child play. This form of playing exists simultaneously in both reality and fantasy. The child’s imagination liberates “real” objects from the rules and limitations of physics. Leshem found striking resemblance between this sort of playing and music playing. As musicians engage in imaginative composition and improvisation, they find “real” notes to express their unrestricted musical imagination just as a child may find a mighty warship in a simple toy. Leshem’s simple and often catchy compositional style is inspired by, and aims to mimic, the freedom and innocence found in child play.

Play Space is Leshem’s most ambitious musical project thus far. He waited for a long time to gather the right musicians to perform his original compositions. The band’s outstanding music playing demonstrates incredible craftsmanship and deep understanding of his multilayered music. Leshem notes that he is “delighted to share Play Space with the world through a partnership with Ubuntu Music.”