| Jazz |
At the Break of Day, Itai Kriss Lets the Flute Speak in Full Voice
There are albums you listen to once, and then there are albums you live with. Daybreak, the latest release from flutist and composer Itai Kriss, belongs to the second category, a work whose rich textures and vibrant moods seem to unfold with the rising sun and carry you through to the hush of nightfall. Built around a suite of original compositions, Daybreak reveals Kriss not only as a virtuoso instrumentalist but also as a thoughtful architect of sound, crafting a form of jazz fusion that embraces global influences, particularly the rhythms and melodies of Brazilian music — with warmth, generosity, and an undeniable lyrical force.
This is music that travels. It maps itself like a passport stamped by memory and emotion, each track a snapshot from a long journey where sunlight and shadow are equally part of the story. Listening to Daybreak is like flipping through a photo album of a voyage you never quite took, but somehow remember, a dream remembered not in words, but in colors and tones.
At the heart of it all is a quiet but insistent ambition: to reassert the flute’s place at the center of modern jazz. Not as a decorative flourish or a passing breeze, but as a true lead voice, soulful, grounded, and resonant. As author and cultural historian T.J. English writes in the album’s liner notes, “Many regard the flute as an airy instrument, fleeting,m a light presence, almost capricious. But in the hands of Itai Kriss, it becomes a force to be reckoned with.”
The album opens with the title track, “Daybreak,” a peaceful evocation of morning, flowers opening in the hush of early light, the world waking slowly. The composition eases into motion with the subtle drive of a single bass note from Dan Pappalardo (Sellick), anchoring the tune as it flows from traditional time signatures into more complex harmonic territory. It is followed by “Drivin,” which summons the rush-hour energy of Art Blakey’s New York, the city in full stride. Here, the flute transforms into an engine of propulsion, matched by a fiery trumpet line, a far cry from its usual ethereal associations.
“O Jardim” shifts the mood to a gentler register, a duet between flute and bass that glides atop a soft samba pulse. It’s a musical stroll through Rio de Janeiro’s lush Jardim Botânico, rendered in gentle strokes and rich, tropical hues. Then comes “Uphill,” a meditation on gravity and grace, opening with a funereal, percussive dirge by drummer Adam Pinciotti before giving way to pianist Adam Birnbaum’s soulful, introspective phrasing. Each piece flows into the next like a chapter in a novel, distinct yet interconnected, the arc of the album revealing itself slowly, like a story unfolding in real time.
But Daybreak is more than a traveler’s log. It is a work of narrative imagination, a musical novel with a beginning, a middle, and a breathtaking final act. Kriss composes not only with his instrument, but with an author’s instinct for theme and development. Echoes of familiar cadences drift through the air, moments that feel half-remembered, as though from a dream, yet the compositions are wholly original, tapping into a collective musical memory that transcends genre or geography.
Ultimately, Daybreak is a manifesto: a declaration of love for the flute as a central voice in the language of contemporary jazz, and a reminder of music’s singular power to mirror life’s rhythm and elevate the ordinary into something sacred. As T.J. English writes, “All you have to do is open your ears and heart, and trust: wherever the day takes you, it will be lit by the harmonies, melodies, and unwavering virtuosity of this brilliant ensemble at the height of its powers.”
There is little more to add, except perhaps this: Daybreak may well be the soundtrack to your summer. It starts with sunlight, but it doesn’t end there.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, June 7th 2025
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Musicians :
Itai Kriss – flute
Adam Birnbaum – piano
Luke Sellick – bass
Anthony Pinciotti (†) – drums
Recorded April 29-30, May 1, 2022 at Sound on Sound Studios
Mixing and Mastering at Swan Studios NYC
Engineer: Andreas K. Meyer
Produced by Simon Belelty for JOJO RECORDS