About

Yotam Silberstein, one of the leading jazz guitarists of his generation, has gained acclaim for a sound rich in bebop and blues as well as musical folklore from South America, North Africa and the Middle East, giving his music an increasingly global thrust. His mature compositional gift and gripping interpretive finesse are vividly represented on his 2022 release Universos and his 2020 outing with Argentine multi-instrumentalist and composer Carlos “Negro” Aguirre titled En el jardín. He is a member of the John Patitucci Trio (heard on the acclaimed album Irmãos de Fé), has toured extensively with legendary Brazilian singer-songwriter Ivan Lins, and played with characteristic fire and taste on Monty Alexander’s GRAMMY-nominated Harlem-Kingston Express Live! as well as David Sanborn & Marcus Miller’s Time and the River. He has worked in bands with some of the greatest figures in jazz including George Coleman, Charles McPherson, Jimmy Heath, James Moody and Roy Hargrove, and has toured with his own groups all over the world in the most prestigious festivals and venues including the Tokyo, Umbria and North Sea Jazz Festivals as well as Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center and more.

Born in Tel Aviv and based in New York, Yotam was discovered at a young age by the great James Moody. He has evolved into a highly influential artist of his day, hailed by JazzTimes for a musical output “struck through with passion and intimacy,” and by The New York Times as a player who “improvises in a cutting tone and writes heady original tunes that seem to tug the straight-ahead jazz tradition in new directions.” Fueled by a deep love of the jazz lineage and a joyful immersion in choro, samba, frevo, tango and other idioms, he approaches his wide-ranging influences with a near-anthropological meticulousness, conveying a sense not just of technical knowledge but also rich lived experience.

Yotam’s earlier releases include Future Memories (“catches you by the heart and never lets go” — JazzTimes), The Village (4 1/2 stars, DownBeat), and Brasil, Resonance and Next Page, which feature musicians on the order of Paquito D’Rivera, Toninho Horta, Roy Hargrove and Christian McBride.

“This fantastic album was recorded in New York City, but its influences range from across the globe. Yotam Silberstein has been a native of the jazz mecca since 2005, emerging as a key talent on the contemporary jazz scene.” – ABC Jazz

“One of the best guitarists we have ever heard . . . wrapped inside a Mediterranean whirligig of sunshine sounds like a new standard (the melody, stretch your imagination and listen hard . . .)
– Stephen Graham, Marlbank

“Silberstein has hit another one out of the park with his new recording”
– Jazz In Europe

“Silberstein improvises in a cutting tone and writes heady original tunes that seem to tug the straight-ahead jazz tradition in new directions. You’ll occasionally notice coiled rhythms and minor scales that recall Jewish folk music, but chatter in the patois of contemporary jazz.” – Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times

“an impeccably crafted take on contemporary jazz . . . admirers of his instrumental prowess will not be disappointed, the album offering a crystal-clear window into his signature sound and approach.”
– Alex W. Rodriguez, DownBeat Magazine

“The cross-cultural journey is superb from start to finish.”
– Ron Netsky, Rochester City Newspaper

“ever forward- looking, has immersed himself, into the music of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, and North Africa; developing real affinities with these cultures and traditions, to the point where they have been fully integrated into his own musical world.”
– Jazz In Europe

“Silberstein’s good-natured willingness to work and explore is exactly what helped him get this far in jazz — and, along with his fluidity on the guitar and love of the scene, it’ll take him wherever he wants to go in the music.” – Michelle Mercer, NPR All Things Considered

“the legendary James Moody had returned from a jazz workshop, telling anyone who would listen about ‘this young Israeli kid who plays like an old man!’ . . . they explore be-bop to Brazil on this recording of mostly Silberstein originals . . . a Tristano move to a bossa groove, agility of improvisation always the guide.”
– Gary Walker, WBGO FM, Radar