Artist Interview: Lior Milliger Quartet

Tell us about yourself and your music

I am an Israeli born improvising musician – I play the saxophone and compose music. I studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music Jazz performance and composition with Vyacheslav Ganelin and Albert Beger, and explored contemporary music thru all genres – be it classical, electronic, free jazz, experimental, progressive and more.
I was always interested in improvised music – taking something from scrap and create something – a story, a journey, an experience… and this is my approach to my music.

Talk to us more about your latest release

My latest recording, “Processing Statements” is yet to be released, but it is coming soon, and there’s a lot to expect to… Check it out on my website www.liormilliger.com

What inspired you to write this release?

I was always interested in experimenting compositional ideas thru improvisation.
I was lucky to move to NYC in 2015 and meet lots of interesting musicians and play my music with them. I had a gig that I decided to take it one step further, and while rehearsing with Santiago Leibson (Piano), Javier Moreno (Bass) and Rodrigo Recabarren (Drums) something magical happened and I decided to take it to a studio and record it.

Any plans to release a video?

There are some youtubes available of this music – links attached

Any plans to hit the road?

I am now building my next set of performances in NYC and hopefully tours would come later on.

As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?

I am bringing myself to the music. The concept of simple statements that goes thru processes is something that I didn’t hear much. Its less conventional and straight ahead, it doesn’t work on any known frame or form and the distinction is within the music. I am always looking for interesting and new music to listen to, and being the biggest critic of myself, I try to create the new and interesting music I am looking to listen to.

Who have you been listening to lately?

I am listening a lot to Keith Jarrett trio live recordings, to late Coltrane albums, AACM artists such as Anthony Braxton, Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake (which became a friendly face here in NY) and William Parker’s projects

Tell us about your passions

I take a deep interest in Philosophy and Kaballah. The energies that surround us and inspire us are the same in different aspects, and I try to expand my spiritual knowledge and grasp and to spread it out to people in deeds.