Broadway-Big-Band-Backup

Yuval Shrem, co-founder of Fable Sounds, is a composer, screenwriter, and an award-winning film director. He has worked at the top of the Israeli television industry since 1995, as a composer, screenwriter, and director. He has been creatively involved in the making of numerous television programs from drama series to talk shows, children shows, and dramatic mini-series. throughout his career as a composer, arranger and musical director, Yuval has worked with many of Israel’s top artists and accumulated an extensive experience working with live performers in the recording studio and on stage, as well as with samplers and sample libraries, and prior to founding Fable Sounds, often resorted to creating personal sampling projects for his own use as a busy television composer in order to overcome TV’s notorious constraints of both budget and schedule, and because of the lack of products that would satisfy his ever growing needs. In 2002 Yuval has relocated to Los Angeles to pursue his filmmaking career.

Yuval’s training as a musician had classical roots, as well as a very diverse array of teachers and influences. From the personal friendship with the legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein who had him sit in numerous concerts, recordings and orchestra rehearsals, to the thousands of hours that Yuval spent as a child watching his father Eldad Shrem at work at the recording studio and on stage as a musical director, arranger and conductor of numerous shows as well as an album producer at the top of the Israeli music industry.

Yuval started his music education at the age of 4, attended the Tel-Aviv Conservatory, as well as the music departments of both the School of Arts in Tel Aviv and The Israel Arts and Science Academy of The Society For Excellence Through Education in Jerusalem, studying with the most prominent teachers and serious composers in the country. Yuval also attended the the Film and Television program at the Tel Aviv University, as well as a couple of the special summer production programs at USC, and additional workshops and seminars led by renowned filmmakers such as Jim Sheridan, Ivan Passer, Jang Yimo and more. Yuval is a recipient of a scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and a current member of the Israeli Academy of Motion Pictures & Television, as well as an associate member of The Recording Academy (Grammys).

Since 2004 Yuval has also worked on the development of Broadway Big Band™ musically directing and personally supervising the recording, processing editing and mapping of each and every one of the samples of the project. Yuval has also played the Xylophone at the recordings of the Broadway Big Band virtual instrument and has been heavily involved in the development of the Broadway Performer™ technology.

www.yuvalshrem.com

Amit Itzkovich, co-founder of Fable Sounds, is a software engineer and a Jazz musician. He plays Tenor and Alto saxophones and arranges big-band music. Amit has served in the Israeli Air-Force as a saxophone player and arranger at the prestigious Air Force Big Band. He has also been a member of the Tel Aviv Citi Hall Big Band playing with Israel’s most renowned musicians and international Jazz legends such as Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, and the New York Voices. Amit’s musical background includes many years of classical piano training starting at the age of 5. He attended the prestigious Thelma Yellin high school of arts and had the privilege to have studied with musicians such as Herb Pomeroy, Gary Dial, Joel Frahm and Rich Perry.

As a software engineer, Amit has graduated with honors from the highly acclaimed Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in the computer science faculty and has been working for several years as a software engineer for companies in Israel and in the US, including EZChip, Advanced Mobile Technologies, and most recently ITG.

Amit Itzkovich has collaborated with Yuval Shrem in various productions in the past, and as Fable Sounds’ chief software engineer, has been responsible for the development of the Broadway Performer, and has been heavily involved with the sample programming work of the Broadway Big Band instruments. He also played the 1st Tenor Saxophone in the recordings of the Broadway Big Band virtual instrument.

Dror Ben-Gur is a highly in demand saxophone & flute player worldwide. His performance credits include the Manhattan Transfer, the Israeli Philharmonic (under the direction of condactor Zubin Mehta), and many prestigious Big Bands in New York City, Amsterdam, and Israel. He has played and /or recorded with world-renowned Jazz musicians including John Patitucci, Randy brecker, Bob Mintzer, Dick Oats, and Phil Markowitz. Ben-Gir also performed in many Broadway shows worldwide including TONY awarded American Regional Theatres, Israel’s Habima National Theatre, and the Netherlands’ National Amsterdam Theatre. Shows include “Cabaret”, “Guys & Dolls”, “Cats” and many more.

Other performance and /or recording credits include Dudu Fisher, Danny Maseng and Debby Friedman (at NYC’s Carnegie Hall).
Dror Ben-Gur graduated from Mannes Collage of music in New York.

Chris Karlic is a highly in demand Baritone Saxophone player.
Since moving to New York City in 1997, Chris has been called upon to perform with some of the music world’s most legendary artists including Aretha Franklin, The Allman Brothers Band, John Mayer, Roberta Flack, Mary Wilson, Sam Moore, Freddie Hubbard, Dave Liebman and many others. Chris has also performed and/or recorded with such great artists as : Gregg Allman, Tom Harrell, Bobby Caldwell, George Coleman, Jeffrey Osbourne, The Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, Ann Peebles, Chico O’ Farrill’s Afro- Cuban Big Band, Nicholas Payton, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Funk Filharmonik, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Dave Holland, The Bob Mintzer Big Band

Grammy-nominated saxophonist Shlomi Cohen, born in Tel Aviv, Israel, has had a multicultural musical education, based in part on his surroundings both in Tel Aviv and New York City, and also from his Moroccan and Yemeni heritage. This mix of styles in his sound has made him a much sought-after saxophonist. Shlomi was part of the Grammy-nominated album “Frutero Moderno” by Gonzalo Grau & La Clave Secreta. He is part of a special collaboration with Colombian Harpist Edmar Castaneda, bringing this incredible and unique form of music to the world. As an integral part of the horn section, Shlomi was playing with the Bernie Worrell Orchestra (founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic).

Shlomi is based in New York City and regularly collaborates with various musical projects around the city and beyond.

www.shlomicohen.com

Shay Salhov, an Israeli-born saxophonist, received his B.M. from Berklee College of Music in 2002 and his M.M. from the Boston Conservatory in 2005. In Boston, Shay studied with great musicians such as George Garzone, Joe Lovano, Hal Crook, Ed Tomassi and Ken Radnofsky. He performed professionally in the Boston and New York area from 2000 until his relocation to the Santa Cruz area in 2009. Musicians that Shay performed and collaborated with on the East Coast include Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Ziv Ravitz, Avishai Cohen, Sebastian Noelle, Ronen Itzik, Sebastian Noelle, Eric McPherson, Warren Wolf and many more.

Shay currently performs and teaches throughout the Bay Area. He has collaborated with local greats such as John Shifflett, Jason Lewis, John Donaldson, Stan Poplin, The Realistic Orchestra, Jeff Denson, Dahveed Behroozi, Wally Schnally, Eddie Mendenhall and many more. Shay performed at the 54th Monterey Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Don Quixote, Moe’s Alley, The Fillmore, Earth Day San Francisco and many other Bay Area venues.

www.shay.salhov.com

Eli Degibri is an internationally acclaimed Jazz musician and saxophone player. He is a recipient of the honorary Israeli “Prime Minister Award for Jazz Composition”, recognizing his great talent as a composer, and the “Landau Award for Jazz Performance”, recognizing his achievement as a remarkable bandleader. He was an integral member of legendary pianist Herbie Hancock’s sextet (1999-2002) and legendary drummer Al Foster’s band (2002-2011), and leading bands consisting of musicians Aaron Goldberg, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Street, Jeff Ballard, Kevin Hays, Gary Versace, and Obed Calvaire, resulting in seven critically-acclaimed recordings under his name.

Known for his charismatic performances, Degibri has recorded and performed extensively since the mid-1990s. He has been called, “an exceptionally melodic improviser with a big, bold tenor tone” (Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes), and “a bewitching fellow who shows impressive chops, as both a player and a composer.” (Karl Stark, The Philadelphia Inquirer). Jazz icon Herbie Hancock added that Degibri is, “a very talented composer, arranger, and performer”, one who’s music, “treads uncharted waters”, and that the saxophonist-composer, “has the potential to be a formidable force in the evolution of jazz.”

Substantiating these accolades, in April of 2012, Degibri was invited to be a part of UNESCO’s first International Jazz Day at the UN General Assembly in New York, alongside many of the finest jazz musicians in the world.

Degibri is presently focusing exclusively on leading his own band and playing his original compositions. He is now engaged in the long-standing tradition of mentorship in the jazz world; his current quartet consists of two young and promising musicians, the pianist Gadi Lehavi and the drummer Ofri Nehemya, together with Degibri’s longtime music collaborator and best friend, the bassist Barak Mori. The quartet’s latest recording, Cliff Hangin’, was released in late 2015 and received a 5-star review from the prestigious DownBeat magazine.

www.degibri.com

Tomer Levy is a highly in demand Trumpet player in New York City.
He is a winner of the ITG Jazz Improvisation Competition in Sweden.
In New York Tomer Levy has played with numerous major Latin Jazz and Salsa groups, including Eddie Palmieri, Mo’ Guajiro, Wayne Gorbea’s Salsa Picante, Lebron Brothers, Ralph Irizari Son Café, Orlando Marlin, La India, Son De Madre, and Ray de la Paz.

Mr. Levy has also played in the Israel Air Force Big Band and appeared in numerous Israel National Television Broadcasts.
Tomer Levy holds a BA in Music Performance from the Oklahoma City University.

Composer, trombonist and euphonium player Rafi Malkiel, from Israel, has delighted audiences around the world, performing with artists such as Willie Colon, Arturo O’Farrill, Ray Anderson, and with Grammy-nominated Colombian singer Toto La Momposina, and he participated in Reggie Workman’s John Coltrane Africa Brass Live project and Jason Lindner’s Big Band.

In 2003 he formed The Rafi Malkiel Ensemble, a group of virtuosi and versatile musicians living in New York City. The group plays original compositions and unique arrangements by Malkiel, fusing Jazz and Latin-American standards with Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The music is both composed as well as improvised. Rafi Malkiel has performed in many prestigious venues and has recently recorded his debut CD My Island. The CD also features some of the best Jazz and Latin musicians in New York City, including legendary tuba player Howard Johnson, bassist Andy Gonzalez, clarinetist Anat Cohen and many more.

Rafi has performed in numerous festivals around the world such as the JVC Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Summer Stage, WOMAD festivals in Greece, New Zealand, and Australia, the Sydney Festival in Australia, and the Red Sea International Jazz Festival in Israel. He has played in New York City in venues such as Madison Square Garden, Radio City, Town Hall, Symphony Space, the Carlyle Hotel with Bobby Short, Jazz Standard, Joe’s Pub, Sweet Basil, SOB’s, and Smalls.

Rafi has recorded over forty Jazz, Latin, and Rock albums with notable artists such as Ray Anderson, Salsa Picante, Toto La Momposina and Lauryn Hill.

Rafi was cited in the Recommended Jazz Trombonists list in PBS’ website Jazz, a film by Ken Burns, as well as in The Young Guns of Jazz, trumpeting the best of a new generation, by Chip Deffaa in the New York Post, July 2001.

www.rafi-malkiel.com

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1981, Tal Ronen is an accomplished young bass player living and working in New York City. As a highly sought-after sideman, Tal has been a frequent band member with many notable musicians such as Frank Wess (Sax.), Jimmy Cobb (Drums), Harry Whitaker (Piano), Shiela Jordan (Vocals), and many more. Ronen is currently the bassist for acclaimed Grammy-winning international artist Catherine Russell. He also leads his own group featuring his own original compositions, as well as being a main collaborator and songwriter for up-and-coming artist Dida Pelled.

Ronen has played at many prominent New York venues, most notably Jazz at Lincoln Center, Village Vanguard, Iridium, the Kitano, Smalls and Mezzrow. He is a frequent presence on the world stage, participating in various international festivals around the world including the Sibiu Jazz Festival (Romania), the Gyor International Art Festival (Hungary), Jazz-en-Tete in Clairmont-Ferrand (France) and many other acclaimed venues, such as the North Sea Jazz Club in Amsterdam and Sunset Jazz Club in Paris. In Israel, he has been a frequent participant of local jazz festivals such as the international Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat, the Israel Festival in Jerusalem, the Tel-Aviv Jazz festival, the Haifa Jazz festival and others.

A two-time scholarship receiver from the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation, he has also won several competitions for ensemble playing at the Rimon Jazz School. He had studied with a variety of world-renowned musicians such as John Pattituci (a world-renowned Jazz performer,) and has studied with Michael Klinghofer (a noted soloist & teacher,) and Teddy Kling (1st bass man, Israeli Philharmonic.) He received his BFA from The City College of New York, Magna Cum Laude.

Tim Newton has been a noted and highly requested studio drummer in NYC area for over a decade. Tim played and recorded Drums for Atlantic Records’ artist Duncan Sheik… including US and European tours.

He also played with Stephen Kellogg (Universal Records), Kristin Hoffman (Interscope Records), The Alternate Routes (Star Polish Management), and played in the Musicales: “Anything goes” and “Annie”.

He studied under several prominent studio drummers, including Saturday Night Live’s drummer Shawn Pelton. Tim has also played drums for several of the larger regional bands, including The Alternate Routes, and Running on Rooftops. Tim is also one of the founding members of the band Evensong Rising which he currently plays with.

Norbert Goldberg is a New York musician playing drums and percussion both on Broadway, in shows such as Dancin’, Pirates of Penzance, Mail, Once On This Island, A Chorus Line, Kiss of The Spider Woman, Starlight Express, Grease, Tomy Tunes, Bombay Dreams, Legally Blond, In the Heights, Newsies, and had Played with Jazz artists such as Cleo Laine, Dewey Redman, Slide Hampton, and composers Lalo Shifrin and Michael Legrand. Recording credits include Garry Mulligan, Grover Washington Jr., and various Latin artists, commercials, and film scores.

www.norbertgoldberg.com

Recording Engineers:
Matthew Dudin
(Reeds, Brass, Bass, Banjo, Ukelele, Percussion)
Roy Coopervasser
(Xylophone, Additional recordings of Reeds and Brass)
Petr Verner
(Xylophone, Additional recordings of Reeds and Brass)
Oliver Strauss
(Drums)

Editors:
Daan Hermans
Yuval Shrem
Assaf Zehavi
Joe Hogan
Dahlia Lynn
Joel Raif
Eliot Pergl

Audio Processing:
Yishai Kornbluth
Yuval Shrem

Sample Programming:
Yuval Shrem
Amit Itzkovich

Special Thanks to:
Maarten Spruijt – Maarten, if it wasn’t for you, this project would never have happened! Thank you so much for your encouragement and good advice!