Ben Freidkin - River Man (Nick Drake)

Performed at my final recital at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
Meital Waldmann | Vocals
Rosa Lea Salamon | Bass
Shai Jaschek | Guitar
Moshe Elmakias | Piano
Ben Freidkin | Drums
Filming & Editing by Bar Chen
Mixing by Shalev Grados & Sapir Wolloch

[@garywhite43]

Stellar performances by everyone in the ensemble. And *very* sensitive, flowing treatment of the ethereal, smoky Drake song; one of his greatest. And the Sonor kit and the cymbals sound amazing!

[@Pokefa28]

really enjoyed this interpretation and everyone's enthusiasm while performing

[@mitchgrant403]

Hi Ben! I thought that was a brilliant interpretation of River Man! Everyone sounded great, and the solos were quite good, especially with your attentive and very complimentary support on drums. I've been a drummer for many years, and I always appreciate players that really listen to each other and stay "in the moment". Your interplay with the group was spot on and everything fit perfectly. Bravo!

[@violawein4517]

בראבו לבן פרידקין! נותן כבוד לכל כלי, תומך בו על באמת ויחד עם זה נותן לנו להבין כמה הוא שווה. ושווה הרבה!

[@gordonschenck1672]

Love that this version made me think of Dave Brubeck, Joni Mitchell, George Benson, Return to Forever, Lyle Mays, Pat Metheny, Dave Holland.

[@MrZipdang]

Wow, really took that beautiful song totally new! Brilliant drumming!

[@arsenelupin6784]

Longtemps ,longtemps,après que les poètes ont disparu,leurs chansons courent encore dans les rues.............

[@denismugerin]

Arbre fruitier, personne ne te connaît, à part la pluie et l'air.

[@carlosalvares9213]

So beautiful 💜🎵🎶👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@curiousnomad]

Nice ride cymbal, touch, and feel!

[@mayday8982]

I love this interpretation of my favorite Nick Drake song!! It's so well done, and all of the little details are so tasteful! thank you for this

[@philmckenna5709]

It just needs Paul Whitehouse "blowin'" a clarinet solo... Niiiicce!

[@reiniervannek]

You shouldn't approach this performance as an ordinary cover song. River Man has been used as a "theme" just like for example classical musicians did with certain theme's ( Miguel Llobet's Folia (Variations on a Theme of Sor" Op.15)) Beautifully excecuted!

[@tommes55]

Real good music needs space between the notes, needs breathing, needs surprising moments and... of course, talented and educated musicians to perform this stuff... Like here... 👍👍👍😁

[@dillonflynn4554]

I appreciated the bass and drummers restraint so I wish the pianist and guitarist followed.

[@saulocunha4374]

Where is the acoustic guitar?

[@denismugerin]

Play me a river.

[@lucguenette7534]

she is there for so many minutes to do a wondefull job, esti....

[@sugarysnax2958]

cameraman is in a hot air balloon. The 2 minute intro was about a minute and a half too long.

[@greennipplesmellowcorp]

find somewhere else to pee, then.

[@andycarpenter3650]

Started so well but then felt like the musicians egos took it too far away from the original which, given Nick Ds shy persona, is contrary to the original tone. Felt sorry for the singer who basically got butted out half way through.

[@mitchgrant403]

The singer did her part, and did it well. There was no "butting out". That's called "the arrangement". I thought the solos were very, very good, and I also think they stayed fairly true to the original mood of the song. As jazz musicians, you should be encouraged to explore the possibilities in a composition, not be hamstrung by the "persona" of the composer. The group did that very well.

[@lindahandley5267]

This is a nice band and singer, but this rendition of Riverman is far too jazzy for my taste and it doesn't sound like Nick's beautiful song. I would have never known it was the same song.

[@TheCcormier2]

5 minutes and 20 seconds in and I’m wondering what the singer is even doing here.

[@dannyboybh]

Although the execution was good, I found this version a little disrespectful. It completely deviates from the feeling of the original song.

[@tullfarley4962]

Enjoyed it but felt the progressive jazz guitar and piano solos weren’t in the spirit of the peaceful, lazy, lulling mood of the song. Great singing though.

[@timyarrow8844]

Interesting, but musically I didn't care for it and don't think it worked. This cover felt like an unrecognizable massacre of an otherwise superbly crafted and masterfully wrought original poem about melancholy.

[@ledaswan5990]

Kind of massacred that tune. The guitar is so overplayed. Oh well,they probably know how to play jazz, I hope.

[@philmckenna5709]

You can always trust a bunch of jazzers to fuck up a perfectly good tune 😜