Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Alon Farber: Dreams I Dream

Alon Farber: Dreams I Dream

By Jack Bowers
June 20, 2025
View read count

Israeli-born, Berklee-educated saxophonist

Alon Farber

saxophone
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Alon Farber leads his able-bodied quartet, Hagiga, through its paces on Dreams I Dream, the ensemble's third recording for Origin Records and fifth overall since its inception in 2001.

Even though Farber's name is on the marquee and his imprint is on every number, this is a group enterprise in which pianist Katia Toobool, bassist Asif Hakimi and drummer

Yonatan Rosen

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Yonatan Rosen have vital roles to play, fashioning a durable comfort zone wherein Farber is free to stretch his improvisational wings. Indeed, the trio holds forth for the most part on Toobool's luminous composition (and touchstone), "An Old Friend," using Farber's alto sax as harmonic window dressing.

Farber wrote six of the studio date's seven remaining numbers, the exception being trombonist

Oded Meir

trombone

" data-original-title="" title="">Oded Meir's meditative "20 Years," on which Farber plays soprano sax, as he does on two more tracks (alto on the remaining five), while Toobool designs one of her several impressive solos. The groovy opener, "Cookies," was inspired, Farber writes, by

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk, the lissome "Mingus Dream," eloquently introduced by Hakimi's unaccompanied bass—was, obviously, inspired by

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus. The trim and colorful "Bartok Blues," he adds, "hails from a land Bela Bartok may or may not recognize." In any case, it is terrain that fits the quartet like a proverbial glove.

Farber also wrote the lovely "Theme for Einat" and brisk, Latin-flavored "Minorism," which closes the album on a bright and favorable note. Dreams I Dream is a better-than-average quartet session and a splendid showcase for Alon Farber's masterful Hagiga.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Cookies; Minor Trap; 20 Years; Mingus Dream; The Bartok Blues; An Old Friend; Theme for Einat; Minorism.

Personnel

Alon Farber

saxophone

Katia Toobool

piano

Assaf Hakimi

bass

Yonatan Rosen

drums

Album information

Title: Dreams I Dream | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Origin Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

The Surrounding Green
< Previous

The Music of Hoagy Carmichael, part ...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.