Yotam Silberstein
"The Village"
Jazz&People
Yotam Silberstein is lucky he's a guitar player. If he were playing the 100-mile-an-hour solo that begins his new album on a wind instrument he'd have no wind left. Listeners are left with just enough energy to say "wow!" With the arrival of his fifth album, Silberstein is the latest monster guitarist on the scene. After reaching the finals in the Thelonious Monk Guitar Competition, he moved to New York in 2005. It didn't take long before his reputation led him to gigs at the top of the jazz world with The Heath Brothers, Monty Alexander, and James Moody.
Silberstein finally slows down for the album's third tune, a beautiful original ballad, "Nocturno." But, on the fourth and title tune, he's back into complexity, this time in a more abstract setting. And by the time he gets to "Albayzin," a composition inspired by a visit to Granada, Spain, he's at full gallop. On "The Village," Silberstein is joined by pianist Aaron Goldberg, who underpins Silberstein's guitar solos with rhythmic chords and contributes some fine solos of his own. Bassist Reuben Rogers does some nice arco bass work on "Stav" and an excellent solo on "O Vôo da Mosca," and drummer Greg Hutchinson propels the album with urgency throughout.
