Ori Kaplan & Lihu Melamed - Reverie LP [Batov]

Format: LP in printed sleeve.
CAT: BTR134LP

Reverie is the first full-length collaboration between Ori Kaplan and Lihu Melamed: a cinematic, soul-infused album that drifts between modal jazz, film scores, and psychedelic rock, released by Batov Records.

Saxophonist and producer Ori Kaplan is primarily known as a founding member of Balkan Beat Box, for his work with Gogol Bordello, and, more recently, Shotnez, while Melamed brings deep studio experience forged over years as an engineer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Together, they create a record that feels both ancient and immediate: music that evokes old biblical films, sun-drenched spaghetti western soundtracks, and 70s jazz explorations, without losing a playful, spontaneous, and deeply human character.

There's a strong cinematic current running through Reverie. Picture Charlton Heston wandering through an Old Testament epic; Ennio Morricone scoring a desert horizon; Nino Rota composing for Fellini's Rome; or Pasolini filming in Ethiopia. Minor-key strings, modal structures, and unhurried grooves sit alongside echoes of Mingus and Yusef Lateef, while Ori’s baritone saxophone and flutes guide the listener through shifting scenes and moods.

Melamed’s influence pushes the sound in another direction: the spirit of 70s rock and psychedelia—The Doors, Woodstock, King Crimson—with organs, guitars, and a sense of scale that balances Kaplan's love of folk traditions, heavy percussion, Klezmer modes, and Middle Eastern textures. The result is a careful blend of composition and instinct, where structure often gives way to feeling.

The two met during recording sessions for Balkan Beat Box, with Melamed working as an engineer on the band’s sixth album. Kaplan quickly understood that Melamed was more than a technician—a fluid musician on piano, guitar, bass, and vocals, with an intuitive sense of arrangement. Despite a fifteen-year age difference, they shared a musical language grounded in curiosity and trust. Reverie captures that connection: a record molded by craft, yet alive with risk and spontaneity.

Throughout the album’s core pieces, those ideas are brought into sharp focus. The single "Merveille" moves in a softly breathing 5/4, laid out so naturally that its asymmetry is barely perceived. It opens with a romantic mandolin motif—like a suitor serenading at sunset—and drifts into flutes of almost Baroque character, or naive 70s French film score. Kaplan’s baritone saxophone floats rather than leads, with an unhurried, human pulse.

"The Stroll" introduces a deeper rhythmic pulse, with Kaplan’s flute setting a patient, almost ceremonial tone. As it builds, strings and brass drift in and out of the mix, adding weight and drama without over-saturating the space. When it became clear the piece was missing an essential element, Kaplan called his longtime Balkan Beat Box and Shotnez collaborator, Tamir Muskat, who approached the session almost like a director. He recorded a single full-length drum take in his studio, and it all clicked immediately, resulting in something hypnotic, solid, and quietly powerful.

"Nuna" opens with a slightly wobbly guitar and keyboard intro, setting an off-kilter tone before a brass melody takes prominence. Kaplan threads the arrangement with saxophone and flute, anchoring the piece before a featured trombone appears, drawing it closer to his work in Shotnez. There's a modal, big-band feel, with echoes of Mulatu Astatke, while a New Orleans-flavored drum groove propels the movement. Towards the end, trombone and saxophone engage in a conversational duel that sets the track in its own distinctive pulse.

"Shangri-La" is the album’s bright spot: Latin-flavored, Santana-esque, playful, and warm. Kaplan’s children and partner Pepí contribute a light, wordless chorus, giving it a familial character that mirrors its spirit: joyful, unpretentious, and made for the sheer pleasure of it. Imagine Last Tango in Paris gently colliding with Oye Como Va.

On "Amber," Melamed pulls the sound into more electronic territory, combining programmed drums with big-band nostalgia. Originating from sessions with Itamar Ziegler—Kaplan’s Brooklyn neighbor and longtime Balkan Beat Box bassist—the track incorporates Ziegler’s unmistakable bass presence, bridging vintage warmth and contemporary production.

Throughout Reverie, flutes play a central role—sometimes delicate, sometimes ritualistic—acting as a thread that weaves the album’s multiple references into a single journey. It's a record that rewards immersion: music that unfolds like a film or a half-remembered dream.

Reverie is not about nostalgia, but about continuity: the passing of musical language from one generation to the next, reshaped by experience, curiosity, and trust. A debut album that sounds lived-in, expansive, and quietly self-assured.