Modern jazz coupled with a serene percussive force from biblical times. So skilled is Fresco at playing the frame drum that there are no limits to where the instrument can take him.
Aside from influences rooted in Arabic music, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, his sound also enters the sphere of modern jazz and contemporary modes – something we can attribute to his insatiable appetite for seekcentre stage. Fresco started out with the legendary Israeli-Arab group Bustan Abraham and has since gone on to record with musical giants such as Ross Daly, Philip Glass and Zakir Hussain. His debut album Tof Miriam was released last year to great acclaim. The tof miriam frame drum ranks among the oldest instruments of humankind, hailing from the time when the Israelites were emerging from Egyptian slavery. These days it is known by a number of names including the tar, raf, bendir and bodhran, however only the tof miriam can be traced back to a biblical story from three thousand years ago. As head of the drumming department at the Music Academy in Jerusalem, Fresco teaches his students a range of techniques including playing with his fingers, palms of the hand, small brooms and sticks. At Colours he will be accompanied by drummer Mark Mushayev, the outstanding jazz pianist
Tomer Bar and gifted flautist Christos Barbas.