Forgive the blurry picture, but this is one of my sons (on the left) meeting Yotam Silberstein this past Saturday night after his gig at the Baird in South Orange NJ. Who is Yotam Silberstein? I didn't know either, but after hearing him I wanted to make sure that my son had a picture with him so that one day he could look back on the night he heard a rising star in the jazz world. You can check Yotam's music out here. Yotam is currently a student at the New School and his guitar sound is similar to Russell Malone -- he can pull off the soulful and bluesy as well as the Grant Green meoldic riff. While other young guitarists try to impress with speed, he only occasionally verges off into Stanley Clarke finger-tap land. He listens deeply. Yotam exudes joy in his playing, often singing along with his solos, reeling his head back, wildly tapping his feet with the drummer. Accompanied by George Cables -- a pianist who played with Sonny Rollins and other greats in the 60s -- Silberstein was respectful of the veteran, asking if Cables wanted to do an intro on a tune. Cables declined, preferring to hear what Silberstein was bringing to the stage. I can understand where Cables is coming from -- it is a great gift to hear a new talent as good as this.
