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On the second night of the jazz festival we spent more time meeting with people and less observing the shows. Still hoping to find international tourists at this international festival, when I finally did hear Portuguese spoken between two women, I was delighted. Prey, at last! Real tourists to interview! But then... they spoke to a third party who approached - in perfect Hebrew, with the daughter's containing no accent at all! The mother had immigrated from Brazil and the girl was born here, as Israeli as anyone else. Ah well... Later in the evening I heard French and sidled up to the table in question, but as I got closer I saw it was a mixed group with the ‘Frenchmen' speaking equally fluent Hebrew to other members of the group and I understood that they live in Israel. Strike two, as the Americans say.
However, to quote an old adage - ‘third time lucky'. Or so I thought. A group of Americans or maybe Canadians was standing chatting between themselves. I approached and asked if they'd like to say a few words about their opinion of the festival and of Eilat. At the question of where they were from, they turned out to be from the distant and exotic land of... Kfar Yonah. Aaargh! But they were happy to be interviewed anyway, and a pleasant lady named Arlene spoke with me.
Arlene's group (two couples) used to come to Eilat regularly with their children because there was so much for the kids to do, between attractions and sea sports. Once the kids were grown, Arlene still continued coming to Eilat each year for the jazz festival. She loves the atmosphere of the place, both the town and the festival. She loves the friendly people, the holiday feeling she has even though it's still within Israel, and the good service at the hotel she's in. I asked what they feel is the best aspect of Eilat, and the worst. The second lady said that Eilat is too hot and too far away from everything, but Arlene insisted that the atmosphere is well worth it. But the best thing about Eilat, to Arlene, is the jazz festival.
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She, like various others we spoke to, attends the festival as much for the atmosphere as for the actual music. It turns out that quite a few people who only have tickets for a few performances, or maybe none at all, attend simply because of the magical atmosphere. They wander around hearing snatches of music from the different groups, chatting with any acquaintances they encounter, while enjoying the fresh air and the view of the sea.
While wandering the grounds myself, I'd seen a group of people clustered around the radio booth. Upon approaching, I saw a lone saxophonist being interviewed by the radio and playing some brief selections. This turned out to be Amit Friedman, from the Avi Lebovich band who would be performing later.
When I later caught up to Doron, it turned out that he had spoken with Avi Lebovich himself, the leader of a 13-player band, for a video interview. And by complete coincidence, at the jam session afterwards I recognised some musicians from the performance (but none from any others I'd attended), and we had a chat with some of them. What impressed me most about the three musicians who chose to speak for the interview was how upbeat, down to earth, and unassuming they are. The interview with Amit Friedman, Lior Levin, and Mickey Warshai appears as a separate article. 
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