Asaf Harris on I Thought I Was Ready

Saxophonist Asaf Harris is a musician of many talents: having undertaken studies in a wide range of additional instruments such as the Egyptian ney, Indian bansuri and the piano, his skill lies in his ability to combine different musical languages in order to create a new one of his own. After graduating the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City, he was awarded the John Coltrane Award in 2020 and since then has released his debut album Walk Of The Ducks in 2022, as well as playing prestigious jazz venues around the world.

A few weeks ago, Asaf joined me to discuss his latest album I Thought I Was Ready, where he explained the meaning behind such a significant album title, how a Paul McCartney concert sparked his love for music, and the way his sound continues to evolve through the exploration of different instruments and genres from around the globe...

When was the moment that you realised music was for you?

I have a pretty special story about this – it’s actually about The Beatles. Like many musicians, it always comes back to them and their songwriting. In 2008 there was a Paul McCartney concert in Tel Aviv, and though I liked to sing and was pretty musical, I wasn’t quite under the spell yet. Two weeks before the show, I learnt how to play a simple chord song on guitar, and then I went to see Paul McCartney. I was just astonished by the whole thing: the show, the energy of the crowd – I hadn’t been to many concerts before, only smaller ones at my piano class. So it was a crazy moment.

About a month after the concert, I joined a music programme where I played the saxophone, and that’s when I was introduced to jazz. Since then, it’s all I’ve wanted to do. I’ve learnt how to play a whole range of instruments, including piano and a whole basket of flutes that I play. I get a lot of inspiration from playing other instruments, especially from the flutes that I’m learning, like the Egyptian ney and the Indian bansuri. 

Do you find that playing these different instruments is what helps to curate your own unique sound – and that playing jazz lends itself to crossover genres and different cultural traditions?

That’s a big question, because I consider jazz to be such a wide term. But I think in the past few years, since I’ve become interested in different types of classical Arabic music from Syria and Egypt, and a bit of Indian music too, I discovered that improvisational music has actually existed for thousands of years. 

I come from a background in jazz, but my father is a filmmaker, so I also compose some film music too. I think that gives a cinematic feel to the emotions I try to capture in my music. So I combined all of those things together, and I’m proud to say that I’ve developed my own improvisational language from that. 

Would you say that’s something that’s taken time to develop fully?

Yes, it definitely took some time. When I was in college at the New School in New York, I was all about going back and playing more of those traditional forms of jazz. I studied with Billy Harper, and Abraham Barton – a modern saxophonist – who was like a walking and talking book with all the knowledge of the tradition. When I finished college it was COVID; I came back to Tel Aviv, and arranged all the compositions for my first album. It was then that I realised that for most of my compositions, the core of them isn’t swing. I actually had a swing composition for this album and removed it before recording – I just felt it wasn’t really what I wanted to say anymore; I want to develop my own thing. And I think that, in jazz, after you learn the tradition, you realise that every star of the genre is an entrepreneur. It’s not about playing exactly how everyone else played; you need to bring yourself. Charlie Parker was the King of Bebop, but he invented bebop. No one played like him before that. 

Now we have people studying Charlie Parker, people that want to play exactly like Charlie Parker – but Parker said a lot. And if you’re saying something that’s already been said, then personally that doesn’t feel like the point of composing and creating music to me. Look at Miles Davis – he’s the biggest example for the twentieth century of being that type of entrepreneur: he was involved in all the genres from bebop until fusion jazz and punk jazz. 

Looking to your upcoming album: where does the title come from? 

Well, the album title is the first track, but it's actually the oldest composition on the album. It was composed even before I released my debut. I wrote it out of excitement towards a big event in my life in New York, and then after the event, that’s when I actually named the composition ‘I Thought I Was Ready’. Before that event, it felt as though I was ready for it, but I wasn’t. I think the piece is full of excitement, and the melody seems childish in a way – full of hope. But that was always going to be the first track. 

Do you think the other tracks feel slightly different in that sense? That you’re bringing a more mature voice to them?

Maybe – it’s hard to tell from my point of view. Every composition has its own story and I try to connect them. There are some that didn’t make it into the album, and these are the ones that connect together into one piece. 

I know you’ve mentioned McCartney and The Beatles, but do you have any musical inspirations that inspire you, or this music on the album?

Of course, and it’s always changing. I always have a new fascination with another big musician. Studying the Arabic music that I was talking about, there’s one musician that I really like called Mahmoud Effat, who is also known as the King of Ney in Egypt. During the twentieth century he played the ney like no one ever had played it before – very virtuosic and inventing all these amazing ideas. 

In terms of the saxophone, I really enjoy listening to Joe Lovano and Joe Henderson. I’m really drawn to the softer approach that they have, and I’m interested in finding my next sound through them and the Arabic music. Actually, there’s another project of mine called KOMRADIN, and our second album has just been released. In this project, we play some compositions from Syria and Egypt taken from the turn of the twentieth century. So this improvisational language that combines jazz and Arabic music is coming out in that project especially. 

You’ve described the album as being inspired by personal memories. Can you share a little more about that?

I mentioned my cinematic approach before – when I compose, I try to take an experience or a memory. This album is more about memories, whereas the first was more about experiences. ‘Langar Grove’ is inspired by a little forest next to my childhood home. I had a lot of first experiences there: first kiss, first cigarette – we would make a fire at night and sit with friends when I was sixteen, and it was a happy place. Saying that, it was also a very dark place: especially when I walked there at night. I was trying to compose a soundtrack really, and that was my approach. If you listen to it, it’s very slow with lots of voices and a repeated melody, and a drum solo the entire time. There’s lots happening. Ultimately that’s what I try to do when I compose, to capture the emotion and to let the music talk. 

Talk to me about the ensemble. Are they long-term collaborators?

I think this band has played together for eight or nine years already. We all studied at the Israeli Conservatory in Tel Aviv, and met when we were around the age of sixteen. By the time I was twenty-one, I had this impulse that I just needed my music to be played. So I got arranging, booked us a show, and since then we’ve played together. 

Right now, we’re all over the world: Guy Moskovich was playing with the Avishai Cohen Trio until recently, and David Sirkis is living in New York. Omri Ever Hadani is a good friend of mine, and is now playing as a classical musician with the Israel Philharmonic. We've also recorded two soundtracks for two of my father’s movies, so we’ve done a lot throughout the years. I think that you can hear that in how we play, that we have this intimacy and this close relationship. 

What do you hope listeners will take away from the album?

I hope it will take them to another place – I think that’s what great art has always been about. It encourages you to get out of your own world and take you to one full of different emotions. When you watch a movie or look at a painting, you hope it will take you to another dimension and maybe tell you things about yourself, too. I think that’s what I hope people will experience when they listen to this. 

Anything coming up for you? 

So we’re launching the album this month with two shows: one in Tel Aviv and one in Jerusalem. I’m hoping to play some shows in London in the near future, so that’s my next step!

Available on Asaf Harris Music in association with ECN Music from Friday 30th January 2026.