Rendezvous is a two-piece band consisting of Itai Simon and Hagai Izenberg from
Israel.
["Coming Soon: Rendezvous"]
beatbiz.net. Retrieved 2010-02-01. While the two members consider the genre of their music to be
electronic pop
Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
(or "electropop"), their music is played live with analog instruments with touches of
jazz.
[“Six Questions About Rendezvous.”]
en.qoob.tv. Retrieved 2010-02-01.[Jones, Alma]
''The Top 10 Lists.'' tt10l.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
Rendezvous’ music has gained significant popularity on the Internet.
[ “Rendezvous: The New Electro.”]
ooizit.com. Retrieved 2010-02-01. On their YouTube channel, Rendezvous has accrued more than 1 million views, especially after the band uploaded videos of their recording sessions. Further, as of August 2011, the band's Facebook page has generated over 21,500 followers. Their EP was downloaded thousands of times and has earned good reviews from different music sites as well as from individual bloggers.
[Gomes, Heider]
“CD Review of Rendezvous – Rendezvous on Independent.”
Jazzreview.com Retrieved 2010-02-01.[Sorroche, Teya (2010-01-20]
“Going Rendezvous.”
��’Reviewer’s Notes: Reviews related to the online world.’’ bloggerreviews.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2010-02-01.[Jones, Alm]
“Rendezvous.”
neublack.com. Retrieved 2010-02-01. In June 2011, the band released "C Sharp", the first single off their debut album. The single was accompanied by 2 remixes by
Carl Cox and an animated music video produced by M-I-E studios, London. On September 7, 2011, Rendezvous released a video for the 2nd single from their debut album, "The Murf", animated by Scott Benson. The video reached nearly 100,000 views in just a week, and was well received around the world, getting rave reviews by sites such as Motiongrapher,
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
and others. "The Murf" single was also accompanied by 3 remixes by John Digweed, Loverush UK! and Timothy Allan.
Musical style
Rendezvous' music is a mix of electronica and jazz, and the result of a fusion of the two.
[“About Rendezvous.”]
jukeboxalive.com. Retrieved 2010-02-01. It can also fall in the experimental music category.
The jazz the band plays has been dubbed in music websites as acid jazz, psychedelic jazz and contemporary jazz.
Their psychedelic jazz style was inspired mostly by the songs of Pink Floyd,
a band Simon loved since childhood.
[ “Itai Simon’s Blurbs.”]
myspace.com/itaisimon. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
History
Formation
Rendezvous’ two members, Itai Simon and Hagai Izenberg, met at the
Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music
Rimon School of Music is a contemporary music school in Ramat Hasharon, Israel.
It is Israel's largest independent professional school for advanced study of jazz, R&B, bebop, rock, and pop music. Many of its graduates have become well-known music ...
in Israel, where they both took up music. The two met on their first day in Rimon. The name of the band, Rendezvous, was actually inspired by their gathering with other musicians after their fateful meeting in the said school. The band was then formed in 2003.
[Jones, Alm]
“Q & A with Rendezvous: Breaking Ground.”
muziboo.com. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
First releases
On 2004, Rendezvous got together with two friends, also musicians, and produced their first EP. Simon played bass while Izenberg handled Fender Rhodes keyboards. Their friend, Erez Bachar was the drummer, while their other friend who they just called 'Andrei', was the saxophonist.
The band recorded the live session, which they described as “almost entirely improvised on the spot,” during one session spanning one full night, on a non-working holiday, an Israeli memorial day. At that time, since all studios were closed, the musicians found an empty one that evening where they recorded their session in complete isolation.
After recording, they mastered the tracks at Eshel Studios in
Tel Aviv. The band then created a website where they uploaded their EP.
The website received thousands of visits and music downloads from all over the world.
[“About Rendezvousmusic.”]
ourstage.com. Retrieved 2010-02-01. These downloads made them soar to the top of underground band lists.
Radio stations in
London, the
United States and
Canada also began to play their music on the air, and many music blogs throughout the web and internet magazines featured their music and wrote about it.
As a sneak peek into their debut album, they uploaded videos of their different studio sessions, all filmed by the renowned Israeli filmmaker, Uzi Adam.
“Official Rendezvous’ Channel”
youtube.com Retrieved 2010-02-01.
Discography
Live Studio Session (EP) (2004)
C Sharp (Single) (2011)
The Murf (Single) (2011)
Another Round Please (Album) (2012)
Band members’ profiles
Hagai Izenberg was born on March 20, 1978. He started playing the organ when he was only 4 years old and was studying and composing music throughout his childhood.
Hagai studied in Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, where he met Itai. While choosing the piano as his major instrument, Hagai kept on looking for his own unique sounds which turned out to be vintage analog synthesizers.[“Hagai Izenberg's Blurbs.”]
myspace.com/ hagaizenberg. Retrieved 2010-02-01. He now plays Synthesizers for Rendezvous.
The other half of the band, Itai Simon, was born on December 9, 1979. He became interested in music when he was 10 years old and started playing the electric guitar until he reached age 17. From this point onwards, he played bass guitar, which he claimed was his “true calling.” Now, he plays bass for Rendezvous.
Simon was a member of other Israeli rock bands, namely: The Relics (1998), Utopia (1998–2001), Missing Points (2001–2004), The Butterfly Effect (2004–2006) and SugarPlumBaby (2005 to present). He also produces and arranges music and plays bass guitar for other different artists.
Simon teaches at two music schools in Israel: Ulpan Le Muzika - Giv'at Brenner, and Beit Ha'noar - Ra'anana.
References
External links and further reading
Official Rendezvous Site
Rendezvous on Reverb Nation
Rendezvous' Official YouTube channel
Rendezvous on Bandcamp
{{Authority control
Electronic music duos
Musical groups established in 2003
Israeli electronic music groups
Israeli musical duos