Gilad Hekselman

On April 22, 2026, at the Sunset Sunside in Paris, Gilad Hekselman made his guitar heard at the intersection of contemporary jazz and post-bop. Born in Israel and based in New York, the musician has developed a language in which the clarity of melodic lines coexists with shifting harmonies, nourished by colors drawn from indie rock, folk and more ethereal textures. Equally a composer and an improviser, he favors clearly written forms that he opens to the moment, allowing breath to circulate between theme and variations. His precise, highly articulated playing places phrasing at the center, with close attention to dynamics and the ensemble’s breathing. One can trace the stages of this development through a discography that charts his evolution without abrupt breaks: SplitLife, Words Unspoken, Hearts Wide Open, This Just In, Homes, Ask for Chaos, Far Star. On stage, Hekselman transposes this trajectory into a direct narrative, where listening and collective interplay shape the framework, whether he performs in a trio—a key formation in his career—or in the larger line-ups of the New York scene.