The Yotam Silberstein Trio performed two deeply immersive sets at Zinc Bar in Greenwich Village on January 13. Three men emerged from behind the stark Art Deco backdrop and walked onto Zinc Bar’s new well-illuminated stage. Musically, they are one of the most gifted and eclectic trios in jazz today, led by one of the leading world jazz guitarists of his generation, Yotam Silberstein.
The Tel-Aviv born guitar sensation had an amazing lineup, with the destructively awesome Alexander Claffy, a.k.a “The Claff-inator” on double bass, and the great Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums.
Zinc’s Announcer Vowed to “Burn His Guitars”
The Zinc Bar announcer half-jokingly introduced the trio by saying when he first saw Silberstein play he immediately went home and “burned all of his guitars” knowing he would never be able to attain that level in a lifetime. His comment came as no surprise, as Silberstein had taken 5th Place in Downbeat Magazine’s 2024 Critics Choice Awards for Outstanding Rising Guitar Talents.
When they opened their first set with the 50’s classic They Say It’s Wonderful, I was struck by the beautiful clean tones coming from Silberstein’s semi-hollow body guitar and small amp.
Cross Cultural Journey in Contemporary Jazz
Between sets, these wonderful musicians guided their audiences on an evocative cross-cultural journey of a contemporary jazz world music lineage, emanating culturally rich timbres and sounds from the Middle East, North Africa, Brazil, and Argentina, emphasizing the idioms of jazz, choro, samba, tango, bebop and blues with a characteristic fire, passion, and intimacy.
The legendary James Moody “discovered” Silberstein in 2005 at a young age while attending a jazz workshop. He returned telling everyone about “this young Israeli kid who plays like an old man.” Soon thereafter, Moody would recruit Silberstein to play on some of his recordings.
Playing Style
To simply say that Silberstein is a highly skilled improviser would be painting an incomplete picture. His diverse musical folklore highlighting a deep global thrust from South America, North Africa, and the Middle East were highly evident in his spellbinding improvisations throughout the night.
When playing solos on his beautiful grey Bird’s Maple Benedetto guitar, Silberstein fluttered like a bumblebee with wild flourishes of incredible speed, while utilizing a soft touch. Throughout the evening, his articulate phrasing of melodically flowing lines characteristically incorporated quick slurs, dissonant double stops of wide intervals, abruptly broken up by rich chord melodies.
Beneath these flowing solos, the “Claffinator” agilely walked, then galloped pulsating angular lines up and down the neck of his gigantic double bass, while Whitfield kept up the fast swing. A great example of this was Silberstein’s arrangement of Duke Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood. Later, he dedicated one of his original swinging jazz blues compositions to the late great guitarist Russell Malone, who passed away suddenly this summer. This unnamed composition featured some of Silberstein’s best inside/outside soloing. He followed this with a beautiful original ballad.
During the second set, Silberstein demonstrated more of his World Music influences, beginning with Brazilian bossa nova, followed by Francisco by the great composer Toninho Horta. His joyful interpretations and gripping finesse of these tunes were accentuated and highlighted by Whitfield drum solos.
My favorite was a quizzical and intriguing Arabesque introduction that segued into this beautifully elegant Moroccan tango, replete with juicy lines that morphed into deep exploratory fluttering jazz improvisations masterfully played by Silberstein and Claffey. There was a beautiful improvisational melodic interplay between Silberstein, Whitfield, and Claffey throughout the tune in a call-response fashion. It was gorgeous yet arresting.
Silberstein has worked in bands with some of the greatest figures in jazz including George Coleman, Charles McPherson, Jimmy Heath, James Moody and Roy Hargrove. The Yotam Silberstein Trio has toured all over the world in the most prestigious festivals and venues including the Tokyo, Umbria and North Sea Jazz Festivals.
His earlier releases include Future Memories (“catches you by the heart and never lets go” — JazzTimes), The Village (41/2 stars, DownBeat),the Brazil, Resonance and Next Page, which feature musicians on the order of Paquito D’Rivera, Toninho Horta, Roy Hargrove and Christian McBride.
Silberstein’s new record Standards with John Patitucci, Billy Heart, and George Coleman is out now released on JoJo Records.
Definitely check out the Yotam Silberstein Trio when they are next in town.
https://yotammusic.com/concerts/
Read this article where I originally wrote it in The Village View:
Yotam Silberstein, Israeli-Born Leading Jazz Guitarist, Performs at Zinc Bar
Kaju Roberto is an accomplished musician, singer/ songwriter, journalist, and an award-winning producer. He is the artist Rad Jet on Spotify.