Avi Rafael

Ever since I played my first note on the saxophone, I always tried to reach for my ideal sound that will have the perfect blend of bright and dark. After looking for years, I found the one piece that would help me get there! To me, Theo’s Gaia 3 has all the depth of a great vintage link but with just the right amount of brightness and contemporary edge. Now all that’s left is to let the magic happen!

Avi Rafael is a California based jazz saxophonist and composer. Rafael currently lives in Los Angeles CA, performing, arranging, composing, and teaching. Avi was born and raised in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Growing up in a musical family, he was exposed to music at a very early age and started playing at the age of 6. He picked up the clarinet at the age of 8 years old, and later on switched to saxophone. Rafael has studied and successfully graduated from the Jazz Institute program of Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music. During his studies at Rimon, Rafael got to learn from and play with some of the best musicians in the country, all of which are considered to be milestones of the Israeli jazz scene. Among them were Mordy Ferber, Matan Chapnizky, Ronen Shmueli, Yonatan Voltzok, Amikam Kimelman, Guri Agmon, Hagai Amir, and many more… After he completed his studies at Rimon, Avi received a prestigious scholarship at Berklee College of Music and moved to Boston. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and received his B.M. degree from Berklee in 2018. During his time in Boston, Rafael had the chance to study and also shared a stage with numerous local legends like George Garzone, Tia Fuller, Dino Govoni, Ayn Inserto, Terence Blanchard and Phil Wilson, to name a few. Rafael has been performing with both his own original music ensembles and also with renowned Israeli musicians since around 2009, touring all around the country and abroad, and performing in the most prestigious music venues including the Grey, Levontin 7, Ozen-Bar, Tmuna Theater, The Zone, Beit Hayotzer, Shablul, Doris – Afikim, Havana Club Tel-Aviv, Beraleh, Zappa Herzelia & Tel-Aviv, Reading 3, Bar Giora, Heichal HaTarbut Tel-Aviv\Ashkelon\Petach Tikva, etc… Other than performing with his own projects including the Avi Rafael Fusion Program, Avi Rafael Quartet and more, Rafael had performed, toured and collaborated with Heathens, Just the Way You Are led by David Krivoshey, Misha Segal, Moments Band Int– both in Israel and Europe, and performed with esteemed artists like Enrico Macias, Mordy Ferber, Alon Oleartchik, Billy Cobham, Tom Oren, Billy Buss, Yogev Gabay and more…