There is something magical about Yaron Herman's life story. He was born 1981 in Tel Aviv and started out on a promising career as a basketball player, but that was cut short by a serious injury that ended his sporting ambitions. He only decided to take up playing the piano at the age of 16. His enthusiasm and talent meant that he quickly became the pianist that everyone was talking about with admiration and astonishment. Today Yaron Herman has become one of the most popular and most regarded pianists of his generation. His music transcends all genre boundaries. With his love of adventure he blurs all borders between jazz, pop and classical and manages to draw his audience into a world full of innovation, joy and seemingly inexhaustible energy.

With his new opus Alter Ego – a surprising, intimate album – Yaron reveals an inner journey, and also a process which stems from long musical reflection. For the first time, Yaron has expressed such emotions on record with a quartet. Alongside him, on saxophone, is Emile Parisien, another brilliant ambassador for his generation, one that bubbles freely without any complexes; on double bass is Stéphane Kerecki, a loyal friend and peerless bassist who regularly plays on tour with Yaron. Finally, there's also his "long-time brother", Ziv Ravitz, an Israeli drummer who completes the line-up marvellously.

"I've been very lucky in my professional career. Everything has gone so quickly: concerts, travelling abroad… But at the same time as this image of me was forging itself – 'Yaron, the new kid on the block' – I felt the need to go back to other roots at the foundation of my music. I just translated what I had in my heart using my fingertips: a flux, music, that little voice which, when I'm improvising, rises up out of my soul. 'Alter Ego' is my attempt at being as sincere and wise as that voice… The compositions on this record represent key moments in my life, emotions of joy or sadness that I want to share." (Yaron Herman)

Flagey, Winterjazz