Hillai Govreen Finds Her Voice with Every Other Now

By Robert White, Editor-In-Chief

In a jazz world steeped in tradition and always on the hunt for fresh expression, Hillai Govreen has carved out a voice that feels both timeless and cutting-edge. With her upcoming album Every Other Now, set for release in June 2025 via Fresh Sound Records, the Israeli-born, New York-based clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer delivers a collection of music that’s rich with imagination, vulnerability, and fearless experimentation.

Govreen’s story is one of early musical immersion and unshakable curiosity. She began playing classical piano at age six, later gravitating toward the clarinet—somewhat by accident. “I wanted to play bassoon,” she recalls, laughing, “but they just had a free clarinet teacher in the conservatory.” That serendipitous switch would eventually guide her to jazz, improvisation, and the deeply personal compositional style that defines her latest work.

Every Other Now is Govreen’s first full-length record under her own name, a collaborative project with bassist and composer Ben Meigners. Featuring celebrated players like Steve Cardenas (guitar), Eric McPherson (drums), Café Da Silva (percussion), and others, the album captures the urgency and spontaneity of live performance while holding space for introspection and storytelling.

“I was thinking a lot about time,” Govreen explains. “How our perception of events changes with distance. That’s what the title means—Every Other Now—how different moments can occupy the same space emotionally, even if they’re years apart.”

The compositions span a wide spectrum—from the ethereal textures of “Smoke,” inspired by the 1995 film of the same name, to emotionally charged tributes like “The Day Of” and “The Day After That,” written in memory of friends lost in the October 7 attacks. These pieces, Govreen says, became her form of grieving and reflection. “It was my way of processing what I couldn’t make sense of. Music was the only language I could speak in that moment.”

Despite the emotional weight of the material, the album is not without moments of levity and adventurousness. “Something Short,” a mostly improvised track built from just a few written bars, bursts with playful energy. There’s also a reimagined take on the standard “Ill Wind,” flipped into a groove-laden, funk-forward arrangement so inventive it’s barely recognizable—a bold nod to her creative restlessness.

For Govreen, the act of composition often starts not with an instrument, but with an idea. “A lot of it begins in my head,” she says. “I don’t usually write with a sax or clarinet in hand. Sometimes it’s just something I hear and have to chase.” She composes largely at the piano, and while her main instruments remain woodwinds, the keys serve as a sketchpad for sonic architecture.

What makes Govreen’s voice truly stand out, however, is her approach to the clarinet. Once a dominant instrument in swing-era jazz, it has since become a rarity in modern improvisation. Govreen is helping to change that. “There are definitely fewer clarinetists in jazz,” she says, “but that gives me freedom. I can interpret things differently. I don’t feel boxed in.”

Freedom is a recurring theme in Every Other Now, both in the music’s fluidity and in the ensemble’s organic synergy. Rather than dictating every note, Govreen allowed her collaborators to shape the arrangements. “I’d bring a piece in, and they’d bring their voices to it,” she says. “It became a true collaboration.”

Though this is her debut under her own name, Govreen is no newcomer. She’s performed at venues like Birdland, Dizzy’s Club, Smalls, Mezzrow, and National Sawdust, and has toured extensively through Europe, India, and the U.S. Her credits include collaborations with heavyweights such as George Cables, Allison Miller, and Anat Cohen. A graduate of The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Govreen studied under jazz greats like Chris Cheek, Reggie Workman, and Billy Harper.

With Every Other Now, Govreen firmly plants her flag in the next generation of jazz artistry. The album is deeply intellectual yet soulful, structured yet improvisational, familiar yet completely her own. It’s a testament to the power of personal voice—and a reminder that even without lyrics, music can speak with radical clarity.

Hillai Govreen’s Every Other Now drops June 20, 2025. Keep up with her performances and releases at hillaigovreen.com