Itamar Borochov (IL)

Raised in the cosmopolitan port city of Jaffa, now a significant presence on the New York and international jazz scenes, LetterOne Rising Stars Jazz Award-winner trumpeter Itamar Borochov brings the sacred sounds of his upbringing to a jazz quartet setting.

With his formidably talented international quartet – Rob Clearfield (US) on piano, Luca Fattorini (IT) on bass and Amir Bar Akiva (IL) on drums – he performs new music from his fourth album as a leader – Arba (produced by Grammy award-winner Matt Pierson and due for release in September 2023 on Dave Douglas’ Greenleaf Music label).

Arba musically embraces elements which make up Borochov’s own life path, taking inspiration from the stirring melody-driven Middle Eastern sounds which have surrounded him since his childhood by the Mediterranean and tracing his journey to the jazz-infused streets of New York. It celebrates an emergence from a time of hopelessness, loss and despair and a recognition of faith in the radiant life-force within – a multi-cultural joyride of enchanting lyricism, anthemic builds and a profound expression of spirituality.

‘… unique hybrid of the Middle East and Brooklyn’ – Downbeat.

Itamar Borochov draws from a broad palette of influences: bebop, rock, Arabic maqam scales, North African Gnawa music and Sephardic music. He began playing trumpet at the age of eleven and immersed himself in the discovery of the jazz trumpet lineage from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis to Wynton Marsalis, a passion which led to him relocating to New York in his twenties, where he attended the New School and was taught by famed bebop pianist Barry Harris. He plays a custom-made Monette 4-valve quarter-tone trumpet, on which he has developed a unique and expressive musical language, incorporating the influence of traditional Middle Eastern Maqamat.

Borochov has toured across four continents and performed at prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Blue Note, Ronnie Scott’s, and international festivals including Montreal, Istanbul, Vitoria, Jazz Open Stuttgart, London, Shanghai World Music Festival and WOMEX.