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Itai Kriss

About

Itai Kriss, a recording artist praised by Jazzwax as “one of the most exciting new flutist-composers” on the scene, commands a variety of musical genres with an eclectic style infused with Jazz, Latin and Middle Eastern sounds.

According to Downbeat Magazine, there is a “tangy, exotic flavor” to the New York musician’s style, which can be heard on his latest album, The Shark. The album features Kriss’ “soaring technique and phrasing that is both aggressive and pastoral,” which displays the versatility of his command of the flute, shifting through genres from funk and reggae to salsa and Arabic stylings with fluid ease.

Kriss is based in New York, where he is vital member of the downtown and Brooklyn Jazz scenes and the Latin Jazz and Salsa music scenes. In 2008 Kriss participated in the prestigious Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency program for emerging performers and composers, at the Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., working closely with such jazz legends as Curtis Fuller, Nathan Davis and the late Dr. Billy Taylor. He can be heard performing, touring and recording with his own ensemble and some of the most exciting jazz and Latin musicians in town, including Dafnis Prieto, Edmar Castañeda, Yemen Blues, Gregory Hutchinson, Burning Spear, Los Hacheros, Pedrito Martinez, Andy Gonzalez, Omer Avital, Grupo Latin Vibe, Yosvany Terry, Avishai Cohen, Eric McPherson, Jason Lindner, Alon Yavnai, Bianca Wu and Aaron Goldberg, to name a few.

When not touring, Kriss performs regularly at premiere New York music venues including The Blue Note, Birdland, S.O.B.’s, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and The Copa Cabana. Kriss is currently developing his next project, a challenging expansion of his repertoire, which will bring together sounds of the Caribbean and the Middle East.

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4
Album Review

Yosi Levy: Acoustic Project II: The Duo

Read "Acoustic Project II: The Duo" reviewed by Dave Linn


Yosi Levy was born in Israel and began playing guitar at the age of 12. After a mandatory stint in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), he began working professionally in clubs around Israel. In the early 1980s, he decided to move to New York City and study classical guitar at the prestigious Mannes College of Music in New York. Toward the end of his 5+ year stint there, Levy established a connection with saxophonist Dave Liebman and with Liebman, recorded ...

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Liner Notes

Dida Pelled: A Missing Shade Of Blue

Read "Dida Pelled: A Missing Shade Of Blue" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


In a way, A Missing Shade Of Blue is a throwback to an earlier era, when Grant Green, “Brother" Jack McDuff, Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith, and numerous others were bringing the guitar and organ together to create beautiful music for the people. Yet this record doesn't necessarily fit with the work of those artists. Why, you ask? Well, for one, we live in a different time. But the era isn't necessarily the crux of the matter. The scope of ...

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Album Review

Yotam Silberstein: Universos

Read "Universos" reviewed by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton


Universos is a trio album featuring Yotam Silberstein on guitar, accordionist and pianist Vitor Goncalves, with drummer Daniel Dor, plus special guests. It is a balance of Silberstein co-ordinating joyful Latin wellbeing and moderated contentment, an acknowledgment of the wonderful and exalted beings and moments that make him, and us, grateful to be alive. Never boring, Universos is accessible, erudite and easy-going and a great album to support good vibes during festivities of all kinds. As mood makers go, Universos ...

5
Live Review

Itai Kriss & Telavana At The Jazz Room

Read "Itai Kriss & Telavana At The Jazz Room" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Itai Kriss & Telavana The Jazz Room Charlotte, NC October 14, 2022 Flutist/composer Itai Kriss brought his world music fusion to the Jazz Room to inaugurate its 17th concert season. The set opened with a new, unrecorded tune with the Cuban groove that characterizes most of Kriss' music. Kriss and trumpeter Wayne Tucker had the first of many exciting solos trading fours, in Latin jazz style, and pianist Alon Yavnai played an especially rhythmic solo. ...

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Album Review

Teymur Phell: Master Volume

Read "Master Volume" reviewed by Geno Thackara


This crackling debut from Teymur Phell is a hearty, eclectic and loud funk-fusion party. He sets the tone right away with “Zero to Sixty"--a title that's actually a bit misleading since it kicks off already at sixty mph—and shows that he knows his way around a bass, and also has plenty of use for one with six strings, thank you very much. This jaunt as leader follows years of live and session work; he has clearly taken a lot away ...

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Radio & Podcasts

A Conversation with Itai Kriss

Read "A Conversation with Itai Kriss" reviewed by Lorens Chuno


Itai Kriss's new album, Telavana, beautifully combines latin and middle eastern rhythms and melodies in the most uncontrived way possible, highlighting the excellent musicianship of all the players involved. Telavana features Itai Kriss on flute, Michael Rodriguez on trumpet, Cesar Orozco on piano, Or Bareket on bass, Marcos Lopez on percussion, Dan Aran on drums, Yosvanny Terry on shekere, and Tamer Pinarbasi on qanun. Join me and Itai as we talk the album and ...

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Album Review

Itai Kriss and Telavana: Itai Kriss and Telavana

Read "Itai Kriss and Telavana" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


A good seven thousand miles separate the Middle East and the Caribbean, but are they truly that far apart? With flutist Itai Kriss and his band, Telavana, spanning the two, that distance seems to vanish. Kriss, a native Israeli, has spent the past fifteen years immersed in the scene in his adopted home of New York. There, he's involved himself in straight ahead sounds, Latin jazz circles, the salsa scene, Afro-Cuban projects, and a good number of ...

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162

Recording

Flutist/Composer Itai Kriss Releases New CD "The Shark" Featuring Aaron Goldberg, Omer Avital, Eric McPherson, Avashai Cohen, and John Ellis.

Flutist/Composer Itai Kriss Releases New CD "The Shark" Featuring Aaron Goldberg, Omer Avital, Eric McPherson, Avashai Cohen, and John Ellis.

Source: Two for the Show Media

Flutist/Composer Itai Kriss releases new CD “The Shark" featuring Aaron Goldberg, Omer Avital, Eric McPherson, Avashai Cohen, & John Ellis. Backed by a hard-grooving rhythm section and stellar special guests Itai Kriss explores the junction of swinging Hard-bop, Caribbean rhythms and funky beats in the first record as a leader from the virtuoso flutist and composer. Itai Kriss is a dynamic flutist whose musical style encompasses Jazz, Latin and Middle Eastern sounds. Born into a musical household in Israel, to ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Universos

Jazz and People
2022

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Master Volume

Self Produced
2020

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Itai Kriss and...

Self Produced
2018

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The Shark

Self Produced
2011

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Videos

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