How did your major musical influences came about and can you tell us a bit about them?

In high-school, I majored in Music (and Physics). One of my music teachers taught us the History of Black American Music. In that class he played us some old recordings of what we nowadays call Gospel. I immediately fell in love with the music and started digging into more artists such as Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. But then came Ella Fitzgerald. I heard her scat and my jaw dropped. Since then I was eager to learn how to improvise and sing Jazz. Nowadays I continue exploring any type of music that inspires me.

How did your life journey bring you to New York where you live now? What do you experience as the two main differences between these places to live, both from a human and musician perspective?

Growing up in Israel is wonderful. It is a beautiful place, with amazing food, weather and all the musicians you meet and play with are incredible. It is also a very small country and the audience that appreciates the type of music I do is very limited. Before moving to Israel I lived and studied in Dublin, and got to meet and collaborate with many musicians from all over the world. I loved that experience so much! When I finished my studies I felt that I want to continue collaborating with musicians from different backgrounds, and that’s when I moved to NYC. Collaborating with people from all over the world doesn’t only mean that you get to explore new rhythms and sounds, but also different languages, food, cultures and traditions. Personally, I feel that the more I travel around the world, meeting and playing with people, the more the different forms to communicate within the music are developing.

You released two albums so far: ‘Broken Lines’ in 2016 and ‘Change Of Light’ in 2019.Can you tell us something about the process of making them, your band and how would you describe both the similarities and differences between the two?

I started writing music during my third year in music school in Israel. When I moved to Dublin I felt more courageous and open to writing music. By the time I got to New York I had a bunch of songs in my “drawer”. At the same time, all my dearest friends and my favorite musicians were studying in Berklee, Boston. So I figured that would be the best opportunity to create my first album – ‘Broken Lines’. I feel that as people and musicians, we always develop. ‘Change of Light’ is just another development and side of me – Sivan. That’s why I chose to call it ‘Change of Light’. Because it’s me showing you another side (light) of myself. As for arranging, I’ve always heard the sounds of horns. That’s why my band consists of seven people: voice, piano, bass, drums, trumpet, alto sax and tenor sax. This sound feels very natural to me and that’s why it is present in both albums.