Itai Kriss - Daybreak

2025

Daybreak is the new album from Grammy-nominated flutist and composer Itai Kriss.

Hailed by Jazzwise as “a fiery jazz flutist whose beautiful playing is destined to become significantly more familiar to audiences,” Itai Kriss has spent the last two decades at the crossroads of jazz, Afro-Caribbean, and Latin music. A central figure in New York’s scene, he has collaborated with legends like Eddie Palmieri, Avishai Cohen, and Pedrito Martinez.

Daybreak is a musical journey through the twenty-four-hour cycle of a day, with each track reflecting a distinct moment. Kriss blends jazz, gospel, bebop, and Afro-Latin traditions into a vibrant and deeply emotional narrative.

Joined by Adam Birnbaum (piano), Luke Sellick (bass), the late Anthony Pinciotti (drums), and guests Benny Benack III (trumpet) and Yotam Silberstein (guitar), Daybreak offers a musical voyage throughout a day where the flute guides the listeners like the sun rising and the breeze flowing through a day full of movement, grace, and spiritual connection.

The last words belong to Kriss himself, on music as not just performance, but communion: “There is a spiritual element to playing with other people, the vibrations of creativity,” he says. “I feel the power of that connection. Music can heal the soul. I don’t take that lightly.”