Review: Itai Kriss’ ‘Daybreak’

New York-based flutist Itai Kriss leads his quartet and special guests on Daybreak (JoJo, 2025), an album sequenced to follow the progression of a day. Kriss has musical roots in Israel, but those influences are subtle here. Instead, traditional jazz, gospel, Brazilian, and Afro-Cuban strains course through the music. Other than in Latin music, the flute is seldom a lead instrument, but Kriss is so emphatic on most tracks that his instrument has the impact of a saxophone. Kriss’s quartet includes pianist Adam Birnbaum, bassist Luke Sellick, and the late Anthony Pinciotti on drums.  Special guests are trumpeter Benny Benack III and guitarist Yotam Silberstein. The album is dedicated to Pinciotti, who passed shortly after this recording. 

The title track opens with a crisp, glistening piano. Kriss enters gently, reflecting the peaceful calm of dawn. As the other band members join, momentum builds gradually over Sellick’s one bass note, reaching an apex around the five-minute mark. It’s a gorgeous start that sets the tone for the album. “Drivin’,” with its post-bop cadence, is meant to reflect the morning rush hour. Kriss takes the first soaring solo, but the piece becomes more aggressive via Benack III’s trumpet. The flute conveys a joy not generally associated with rush hour. In any case, the band is cooking on this one. “Beleza” features the ensemble, with guest Silberstein, on a pulsating Brazilian samba. On it, the highly melodic tune symbolizes the point in the day when the sun breaks through the clouds. The individual contributions from piano, bass, and drums are especially vivid.

“East of the Sun” is a more abstract mid-tempo piece as Kriss improvises energetically over a steady groove, yielding to Birnbaum for a declarative turn. “O Jardim” is a gentle samba duet between flute and bass, signifying a stroll through Rio de Janeiro’s botanical gardens. The tone changes dramatically on “Uphill” with the drums conveying a funeral dirge leading into melancholy tones from Kriss and Birnbaum. Perhaps this reflects the drudgery of manual labor on a hot afternoon (just guessing). Yet, Birnbaum’s bright piano solo belies the tone of the rest of the piece, which is puzzling but welcome as it’s a surprise. 

The quartet returns to post-pop on the driving “Upfront” while the comforting, flowing “Delicacy” takes the opposite path. Standout “No Smoking” has the ambiance of a strobe light-lit nightclub rendered in a tight, motoring tempo and reveals Kriss’s bent for sizzling bop. “Sunday Lemonade” is again the antidote, invoking gospel strains and morphing into a revival with the spirited exchange between Kriss and Benack III. Standout “Coisinha” meshes funky basslines with Afro-Cuban rhythms. Silberstein enters the fray, positively flying with Kriss, Birnbaum, and the bass-drum tandem, leaving room for the drums on the eighths. Closer, “In the Light,” returns to gospel motifs through Birnbaum’s rousing piano solo and the leader’s soulful, sacred lines. Again, Silberstein contributes, inserting chill-inducing bluesy licks. It’s a beautiful, triumphant close to a uniquely well-crafted album that weaves through an array of emotions and musical styles.

Don’t be put off by the flute leading this quartet. The energy here could power a small city. Daybreak is a must-hear!

‘Daybreak’ will be released on June 27, 2025 on JoJo Records.