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*Tony Pancella Plays Argov and Monk*

Pancella fell under the spell of Sasha Argov’s melodies already twenty years ago, and since then he dreamed of arranging them. Now it has finally happened.
December 7, 2025
⭐⭐⭐⭐½ / 5

Life is sometimes boring. You need changes. To break out of routine. To surprise yourself. About 14 years ago the pianist Stefano Bollani came here and surprised us—and probably himself—when he played wonderful interpretations of Sasha Argov. I wrote then: what a shame Sasha couldn’t hear Bollani’s version of “The Purple Dress,” with Nico Gori on clarinet singing his song. A true delight.

This week we also heard the Italian pianist Tony Pancella improvising on Argov’s songs in the first half of the evening at the Jaffa Music Center, with the second half dedicated to Thelonious Monk.

The Pancella Trio played new jazz arrangements written especially for this evening: old and beloved Italian songs alongside several of Sasha Argov’s marvelous compositions. Pancella was captivated by Argov’s melodies already twenty years ago and had dreamed of arranging them ever since. Now it finally happened.

Argov used extended chords, leading substitutions, modal progressions, and melodic quarter-tones—exactly the kind of material jazz musicians love to work with. There are chords in his songs that even recall standards from the 1940s. Argov’s melodies move freely between stepwise motion and large leaps, sometimes chromatic—a clear hallmark of songs that lend themselves to improvisation.

Did Argov himself intend jazz? Absolutely not. He came from the world of chanson, theater, cabaret, and the old Israeli romantic tradition. But in Israel of the 1950s–60s, there was no “jazz” as in the U.S. So his materials were written in the local musical language, yet with a natural jazz DNA. Sasha Argov is essentially an “Israeli jazz standard” waiting to be arranged. His harmonies invite improvisation. His melodies are built for jazz.

It’s no coincidence that creative Italian pianists like Bollani and Pancella agreed to play his music.

Pancella—whether playing in a classic quartet or in a duo with clarinet or trumpet—manages to balance an emphasis on rhythm, composition, and traditional harmony with live, dynamic, and sometimes experimental interaction. He plays not only in a trio, but also in quintets with winds, keyboards, trumpets, clarinets, etc., which shows musical flexibility and a desire to explore different shades of jazz.

He played Argov with improvisational and arranging skills, as if trying to reinterpret, change, and adapt his own style to the Israeli composer’s melodies. The result—including Italian songs and standards—was real jazz, thanks also to Amir David on drums (excellent!) and Dor Smukha on double bass.

The Monk section was more challenging, in song structures and harmonies, and here we got the star of the evening—Gregory Rivkin on trumpet, at a level of playing that places him among the top jazz trumpeters in the world. Monk himself was a pianist with a very distinctive style, and therefore the piano in the quartet carries a significant role in the harmonic and rhythmic character. The piano provides Monk’s central sound world: controlled dissonances, unexpected accents, and a lean yet sharp harmonic language. Although Monk usually worked with saxophonists, the trumpet fits his style well thanks to its ability to emphasize angular lines. That’s exactly what we got from Gregory Rivkin in pieces like “Pannonica,” “Ugly Beauty,” “Introspection,” and “Evidence,” presenting the melody in a deep tone with minimal vibrato.

*P.S.* The acoustic quality of the auditorium at the Jaffa Music Center is among the finest I’ve heard in Israel. Concert-hall acoustics are one of the most complex fields in sound engineering and architecture. The music in this hall sounds rich, natural, and clear, contributing to a warm, enveloping atmosphere.
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