Itai Dattner and 'Tranquilo en Cuba'
I met Kenia in Trinidad, dancing for her living. She is young, black, pretty and she dances like hell. Not even 30 minutes passed since my arrival, and I am already drinking rum and playing with the local band at the centre of the old city. Eight players, a group of beautiful dancers, lots of rum and lots of happiness. A day later and we are playing a tune I wrote especially for Kenia. We played in a tiny dark room in the middle of the busy street, if you see it you wouldn't believe it is possible. It was so bizarre that a lot of tourists just stopped and took pictures.
Alejandro the drummer and I were riding his motorcycle all over Havana, searching for players and a good studio. We found great players and a great studio. All the players are teachers at ENA, The National School for Art and Music.
'Waltz 11' was written 5 years ago. Originally It was 12 bars but I cut 1 for the sake of September 11.
Itai Dattner - 31, Israel
Composer, pianist and producer. His roots are in classical music. Itai has played and performed in recent years with different groups in Israel, to mention a few: a blues band - 'TaxiJazz', a jazz trio, a jazz duo, a classical music duo with a cello player, accompanying an opera singer and the list goes on. Itai has performed in clubs, theatres and at the 'Jazz, Blues and Videotape Festival' in Tel Aviv. Beside composing and performing Itai is specialising in teaching piano and guiding bands. Together with 'Tranquilo en Cuba' Itai has recorded 4 albums.
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