By Ron Shepherd, Textura New York-based flutist Itai Kriss titled the tracks on his third album with his Telavana ensemble after the signs of the Zodiac, with each composition his attempt to translate a sign’s character into sonic form. That’s certainly as good a concept as any to facilitate the creation of musical material, but … Read More
Itai Kriss & Telavana present an offering to humanity and the universe with new release Supermoon, due out on October 8, 2021 “Kriss has matured into a musician who bestrides the two musical worlds of the Middle East and Latin America like a Colossus” – Raul da Gama / Latin Jazz Network New York Based … Read More
Lorens Chuno, Doing Jazz Podcast 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 Bareketon bass, Marcos Lopez on percussion, Dan Aran on drums, Yosvanny Terry on shekere, and Tamer Pinarbasi on qanun. Join me … Read More
Lorens Chuno, Doing Jazz Podcast 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. Join Itai and Lorens as they talk the album and many other things.(Song credit: ‘Sahadi’s Serenade’, ’Shabazi’, ‘Buttered Scones and Tea’, … Read More
George Harris, Jazz Weekly The mix of flutist Itai Kriss and the band Telavana (Michael Rodriguez/tp, Cesar Orozco/p, Or Bareket/b, Marcos Lopez/perc and Dan Aran/dr) create a rich salsa mix of sounds and grooves on this alluring album. Kriss’ warm woodwind floats over the simmering percussion on pieces such as “Havana Sp ecial,” “Sahadi’s Serenade,” … Read More
Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz 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 … Read More
Nigel Williamson, Songlines An Israeli flautist catches the salsa bug in New York The flautist Itai Kriss grew up in Israel, where he absorbed an array of musical traditions from Morocco to the Balkans, and from Egypt to Russia. Fifteen years ago, he moved to New York in pursuit of a childhood dream to study … Read More
Raul da Gama, Latin Jazz Network Itai Kriss together with Hadar Noiberg is one of New York’s worst-kept secrets. Both flutists wear their Middle Eastern heritage just as well as they blend into the New York contemporary music scene. Of the two Mr Kriss leans more towards the traditional antecedents of his music using ululating … Read More
Nate Chinen, WBGO An Israeli flutist on the Afro-Latin scene — that’s an oversimplification of the musical profile that Itai Kriss cuts in New York, but not an inaccurate one. Kriss, who moved to the Big Apple from his native Tel Aviv some 15 years ago, has devoted his career to exploring the commonalities between Cuban, … Read More
