Alon Yavnai is an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

-born jazz pianist

Jazz piano

Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities...

.

Biography

Born in Israel, Yavnai began playing piano at the age of four. He has professionally accompanied singers since the age of thirteen. He graduated from the Thelma Yalin High School for Arts and subsequently the Givatayim Conservatory, both in Israel. Alon later furthered his studies at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 and soon after took first place in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition.

Music

Alon is a favorite artist of Grammy-winning saxophonist

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

 and clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

ist Paquito D'Rivera

Paquito D'Rivera

Paquito D'Rivera is a Cuban alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist. The winner of multiple Grammys and other awards, D'Rivera has lived in the United States since the early 1980s. He has worked in a variety of contexts, but is perhaps best known for playing Latin...

. Their collaborations include the Alon Yavnai-Paquito D'Rivera Duet

Alon Yavnai-Paquito D'Rivera Duet

The Alon Yavnai-Paquito D'Rivera Duet is a piano-saxophone jazz duo consisting of noted artists Paquito D'Rivera and Alon Yavnai....

, the Jazz Chamber Trio with Turtle Island String Quartet cellist Mark Summer

Mark Summer

Mark Summer is the Turtle Island Quartet's cellist; he is a founding member and has performed with Turtle Island since its founding in 1985.-Biography:...

, and the Latin Jazz Quintet. Alon also accompanies violinist Regina Carter

Regina Carter

Regina Carter is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of famous jazz saxophonist James Carter.-Early life:...

, the New York Voices

New York Voices

New York Voices is an American vocal music group. The group was formed in 1987 from an Ithaca College alumni group. The original group consisted of Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge, Kim Nazarian, Caprice Fox and Sara Krieger. They released their first, self-titled album on GRP Records in 1989...

, and leads his own Alon Yavnai Trio. He has also performed with musicians such as Freddie Hubbard

Freddie Hubbard

Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...

, Joe Lovano

Joe Lovano

Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...

, Nancy Wilson, Rosa Passos

Rosa Passos

Rosa Passos is a Brazilian singer and guitarist born in Bahia.Passos began playing piano at age thirteen, but after listening to Dorival Caymmi and João Gilberto she abandoned the instrument to become a singer. In the late 1960s, Passos began appearing on television and at music festivals...

, Leni Andrade, Louis Hayes

Louis Hayes

Louis Hayes is an American jazz drummer.-Biography:His father played drums and piano and his mother the piano and he refers to the early influence of hearing jazz, especially that of big bands, on the radio...

, Bob Moses

Bob Moses (musician)

Rakalam Bob Moses is an American jazz drummer born in New York City.Moses played with Roland Kirk in 1964-65 while he was still a teenager. In 1966 he and Larry Coryell formed The Free Spirits, a jazz fusion ensemble, and from 1967 to 1969 he played in Gary Burton's quartet...

, Ravi Coltrane

Ravi Coltrane

Ravi Coltrane is an American post-bop jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced artists such as pianist Luis Perdomo , guitarist David Gilmore and trumpeter Ralph Alessi....

, Romero Lubambo

Romero Lubambo

Romero Lubambo is a Brazilian jazz guitar player.Romero Lubambo started learning classic piano at a very early age...

, Claudio Roditi

Claudio Roditi

Claudio Roditi is a Brazilian jazz trumpeter.After arriving in the United States in 1970, he began to study at Berklee School of Music, where he became musically influenced by Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan...

, Rufus Reid

Rufus Reid

Rufus Reid is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer. He lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.-Personal history:...

, Jim Chapin

Jim Chapin

James Forbes "Jim" Chapin was an American jazz drummer and the author of popular texts on jazz drumming, the first two volumes of which are Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol. I, and Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol...

, and George Garzone

George Garzone

George Garzone is a saxophonist and jazz educator residing in New York city.Saxophonist George Garzone is a member of The Fringe, a jazz trio founded in 1972 that includes bassist John Lockwood and drummer Bob Gullotti, that performs regularly in the Boston area and has toured world wide. The...

.

He has taught, being a former faculty member at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp

Sitka Fine Arts Camp

Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a nationally recognized fine arts summer camp located in Sitka, Alaska.-History:Founded in 1973, Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a multi-disciplinary arts camp featuring the dramatic arts, music, literary arts, visual arts , and dance...

.

In 2008, Yavnai won a Grammy as a part of the Paquito D'Rivera Quintet for Best Latin Jazz Album for Funk Tango

Funk Tango

Funk Tango is an album by the Paquito D'Rivera Quintet?, released through Sunny Side Records in 2007. In 2008, the album won the group the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.-Track listing:# "Pere" – 6:35# "What About That!" – 6:56...

. Yavnai wrote the title track. In May 2008, Yavnai released his album Travel Notes which features solo pieces as well as trio pieces (with Omer Avital on bass and Jamey Haddad

Jamey Haddad

Jamey George Haddad is an American percussionist working primarily in the fields of jazz and world music, and specializing in hand drums.-Biography:...

 on percussion).

Discography

AS A LEADER

• Travel Notes, ObliqSound (2008) w/ Omer Avital-b, Jamey Haddad-perc
• Picture This, Bon Rapport Music (2004) w/ Massimo Biolcati-b, Take Toriyama-d and special guest Paquito D'Rivera-s
• D.S. Al Coda, Whaling City Sound (2001) w/ George Garzone-s, Dino Govoni-s/f, Avishai Cohen-tr, Massimo Biolcati-b, Take Toriyama-d, Michael Cohen-v, Baoz Nemet-darbouka

AS SIDEMAN

• Paquito D'Rivera: Funk Tango, Sunnyside Records/Paquito Records (2007)
• Nancy Wilson: Turned to Blue, MCG Jazz (2006)
• Caribbean Jazz Project/Dave Samuels: Mosaic, Concord Picante (2006)
• Gregg August: Late August, Iacuessa Records (2005)
• Paquito D'Rivera: Jazz Chamber Trio, Chesky Records (2005)

External links

• Official site
• Alon Yavnai at ObliqSound
  ObliqSound
  ObliqSound is an independent record label based in New York City, Paris and Hamburg.It provides a home for artists around the globe interested in creating music that crosses the boundaries of traditional music labeling. Dedicated to both an instrumental and vocal series, ObliqSound endeavors to...
  
  
• [ Alon Yavnai Discography] at allmusic