Based in New York, but is from Israel and has a Belgian mother
Does Belgian heritage explain affinity to the chromatic? (Due to Toots Thielemans link)
The status which Toots Thielemans is held in Belgium
Yotam started playing age 11, and was taught by his uncle, initially on piano but soon discovered his love of the chromatic harmonica
Continues to play piano now, using the instrument to compose, but chromatic is main instrument
Doesn’t see a strong similarity between piano and chromatic, thinking of them separately as he plays them
Played alto saxophone at in middle school and high school as no teachers for chromatic available, but from age 18 chromatic was main instrument
Also plays some percussion to help with other music genres interested in
When recording with jazz quartet, plays chromatic and some piano
Also has a singer songwriter project where Yotam also does some singing
Deliberations EP has five songs with Yotam singing in Hebrew
Went to the Tel Aviv Conservatory of Music, which has a collaboration with The New School in New York
Received a scholarship to move to New York where he was able to formally study the chromatic harmonica
Won scholarship for New School in New York through an audition held in Tel Aviv
How Yotam has found the music scene in New York
How got into playing jazz and the dream to play and live in New York
Also deeply into other styles beyond jazz, such as Cuban music
Yotam’s song ‘Astar’ has influences from Venezuela, where the pianist from the band is from
The shift in time signature in the song Star
Other South American players who have been on the podcast and how that music works so well on chromatic
Received some mentoring from Gregoire Maret
Yotam has lived in New York since 2014, but travelled to other places during that time, including Mexico, Israel and Europe
Now more permanently based in New York and the number of great musicians who live there
Mainly playing in New York at present but has a manager in Europe to arrange gigs
Locations played in Europe
First album Yotam appears on is with the Jupiter Group, the best young Israeli jazz, when Yotam was still a student
Formed own band in 2015, from International players who met at The New School in New York
First album under own name is Sitting On A Cloud, released in 2018, all original compositions by Yotam
Yotam approaches composing by playing the piano and singing the melodic phrases, later translating those to chromatic
Often selects the key of the piece to one which works well on the chromatic
Only uses chromatic in the key of C, although is considering using other keys too
Interplay with keyboard and chromatic on the Viva Hermoto Pascoal song on Sitting On A Cloud album
Uses an octave pedal on the song Ebb and Flow and other effects Yotam uses
Modern sound to Yotam’s compositions comes from different flavours of jazz
Influences on his music come from singer songwriters from native Israel and also classical music
Has learnt classical pieces on the chromatic but no recordings of them yet
New York brought a vast world of rhythm to Yotam’s attention, which he incorporates into his music
Speak Love song which has multiple harmonicas, recorded by Yotam
Loose Pace is three songs Yotam was commissioned to record for a video
Second album, released in 2022: Endless Deliberations, made up of one EP of instrumentals and one EP of vocals sung by Yotam
Satla is an instrumental from the Endless EP
Forza Roma is another song from the Endless EP, written after playing a gig in Rome when the football team Roma defeated Barcelona and people were on the streets celebrating
New album currently in development, being released in 2025, with a working title of ‘Trying’
Kafka song may have drawn inspiration from Toot’s song Bluesette
Still adding some other musicians onto the album before releasing it in 2025
Recorded a song on diatonic but he doesn’t really play the instrument
When composing songs, decides the chord structure, the melody, and then leaves room for improvisation
Has performed in prestigious venues including: Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center and The Blue Note
Won first prize in the Rostov International Jazz competition in 2013
Typical practise routine involves working on current repertoire, including learning the song on the piano then the harmonica, learning the melody and the chords
Learns some conga rhythms on the harmonica
Transcribing parts on to the harmonica from every instrument, with melodic instruments like trumpet and saxophone, and also singers and piano
Chromatic of choice is the Suzuki Sirius 56 (14 hole) and why likes 14 hole
Doesn’t like the sound of the lower notes on the 16 hole
Trumpet and flute has notes lower than middle C, which are missing on a 12 hole chromatic, particularly the low G
Used to play the Hohner 64 (16 hole) when younger
The transition to 14 hole has been challenging at times
Hasn’t tried the DM48 midi chromatic, but would like to
Thinks of himself as a musician and not a harmonica player and something which the world of harmonica is missing somewhat
For live playing uses SM58 or a condenser Sennheiser mic
For recording uses his own Neumann TLM102 combined with a Shure SM7B
If recording in a studio likes the combination of a large condenser and a ribbon mic (to add some darkness to the sound)
Future plans is release of album in 2025, and currently gigging in New York and plans to tour Europe in October 2024 and touring new album in Spring of 2025
Yotam is currently thirty years old, so lots to come from him in the future
