Five Things You Should Know About Gadi Lehavi

1. He has risen from a piano prodigy to become a major new voice in jazz.
   Born in Tel Aviv in 1996, Lehavi was first attracted to the piano at six months of age and began playing as soon as he could reach the keys, picking out familiar tunes by ear and gravitating to classical and jazz as his tastes developed. He began formal classical piano lessons at the age of nine with Israeli classical virtuoso Michal Tal and began jazz studies at the Rimon School of Music in Ramat HaSharon at age 10 under pianists Rami Levin and Avi Adrian. A performance at the Red Sea Jazz Festival at 12 led to a trip to the U.S. the following year for an intensive five-week program at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he came to the attention of saxophone luminaries Dave Liebman and Ravi Coltrane, the latter of whom became a long-term collaborator whose creative partnership with Lehavi continues to the present day. A video of Liebman and the then-13-year-old pianist performing the standard “Autumn Leaves” gives an early glimpse of the young master during his formative years:
   
   
2. He is known to SFJAZZ audiences through his work with SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Ravi Coltrane.
   The story goes that a teenage Lehavi attended a concert at New York’s now sadly closed Jazz Standard and asked the club manager for the opportunity to play the club’s new piano – a request that was repeatedly rebuffed until the manager finally relented. Coltrane, who was sitting at the bar, moved closer to the bandstand to better hear the 13-year-old's remarkable playing, and struck up a conversation with Lehavi that led to a friendship and an eventual invitation to be part of the saxophonist’s upcoming projects.
   Lehavi made his SFJAZZ debut with Coltrane in April 2022 during the 2021-22 Season in concerts by his Cosmic Music project devoted to the saxophonist’s iconic parents, John and Alice Coltrane, with guitarist David Gilmore, bass great Lonnie Plaxico, and rising drumming phenom Elé Howell, the son of saxophonist Richard Howell. He returned in March 2023 for Coltrane’s first season as SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director.
   
   
3. He’s one of the most in-demand collaborators and bandmembers on the scene, and an esteemed educator.
   Lehavi made his recording debut on saxophonist Eli Degibri’s 2013 album Twelve at the tender age of 17, and in addition to his ongoing collaboration with Ravi Coltrane, has lent his dynamic pianism to recordings and performances with a range of modern masters including saxophonists Melissa Aldana and Richard Howell, drummer Ari Hoenig, bass legend Eddie Gomez, and guitarists Camila Meza and Kurt Rosenwinkel.
   Simultaneously, Lehavi leads a second career as an educator, teaching at New York’s New School’s College of Performing Arts as a faculty member alongside the likes of Dave Douglas, Reggie Workman, Mary Halvorson, Joanne Brackeen, and Julian Lage, among others.
   
   
4. He’s a rising bandleader and composer.
   The pianist has only recently stepped out as a bandleader with two groups that embrace and expand the beloved piano trio tradition – his trio with Portuguese bassist Romeu Tristão and Tel-Aviv born drummer Daniel Dor, and the collective GTO Trio he co-leads with a pair of fellow rising Israeli instrumentalists, bassist Tal Mashiach and drummer Ofri Nehemya.
   GTO has headlined the Blue Note in NYC and Israel’s Jerusalem Jazz Festival and toured Japan and Europe. Their debut album, the live session From the Road, was released in 2018 and contains a collection of advanced original compositions as well as an ingenious version of Paul Simon’s classic “Still Crazy After All These Years.”
   
   
5. His debut album is part of an ongoing series of distinguished recordings.
   Lehavi’s debut under his own name, Wishes, was released in 2019 by the Paris-based Newvelle Records label, whose series of limited edition, vinyl-only audiophile recordings are made with the utmost care and precision. Nouvelle’s albums are released seasonally and feature sessions by Ellis Marsalis, Irma Thomas, Eric Harland, Dave Liebman, Lionel Loueke, Ben Allison, John Patitucci, Kenny Werner, Rufus Reid, Jack DeJohnette, and others.
   Wishes captures a 2019 live performance that was part of the “musig im pflegidach” series curated by percussionist and concert producer Stephan Deltheim in Muri, Switzerland with bassist Romeu Tristão and drummer Daniel Dor, showcasing five original compositions.
   
   

Gadi Lehavi performs two solo piano concerts in the Joe Henderson Lab on 7/21 at 6pm and 7:30pm. Tickets and more information are available here.