Born: January Primary Instrument: Guitar
Yotam Silberstein was born and raised in Tel-Aviv, Israel. He started playing guitar at the age of 10, focusing mostly on rock and blues.
At the age of 15 Yotam was accepted to the prestigious “Alon” high school for the arts where he studied jazz with such great teachers as Walter Blanding and Amit Golan. During his high school years Yotam won many local competitions and was heralded as a very promising young guitarist.
After finishing high school he relocated to New York City performing regularly and studying with jazz greats Barry Harris and Kurt Rosenwinkel.
At the age of 18, Yotam served his country by joining the IDF (Israel's Army) where he served as a musical director, arranger and lead guitarist for 3 years. During his military service he gained recognition and began playing with many of Israel’s top jazz musicians
At 21 Yotam won the prestigious “Israeli jazz player of the year” competition with his trio, and was asked to perform in Italy at the renowned Umbria Jazz Festival.
The same year Yotam released his debut record on the Fresh Sound New Talent record label called, “The Arrival”. The success of his highly acclaimed album enabled him to extensively tour throughout Europe and the Middle East.
In August of 2005 Yotam received a scholarship to study at the New School for jazz and contemporary music in New York City. Yotam is a regular on the jazz scene performing in many of the city's great venues with great artists like: James Moody, Curtis Fuller, Louis Hayes, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Junior Mance, James Spaulding, Roy Hargrove, Pat Martino, Jorge Rossy, John Faddis, Greg Hutchinson, Antonio Hart, Slide Hampton, Avishai Cohen, Kenny Barron, Peter Bernstein, to name a few.
In September of 2005 Yotam was selected as one of 10 top guitar players to participate in the semi finals of the distinguished Thelonious Monk guitar competition.
In 2009 Yotam Released his new Album 'Next Page' on Posi-Tone Records featuring Chris Cheek on Saxophone, Sam Yahel on Hammond B3 and Willie Jones III on Drums.
