Israel Tanenbaum-Rivera is an American pianist, music producer, composer, arranger and
audio engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
who has produced more than 50 albums and participated in over 100 recordings.
Salsa
Tanenbaum has performed with many of the classic
salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
...
artists and bands such as
Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez,
Marvin Santiago
Marvin Santiago (December 26, 1947 – October 6, 2004) was a Puerto Rican salsa singer who became famous all across Latin America during the 1970s. He was also a part-time comedian on Puerto Rican television.Marvin Santiago El Sonero Del Puebl ...
,
Daniel Santos,
Tommy Olivencia
Tommy Olivencia (May 15, 1938 – September 22, 2006) was a renowned Puerto Rican bandleader of Music of Puerto Rico, salsa music.
Early years
Olivencia (birth name: Ángel Tomás Olivencia Pagán) was born in the Villa Palmeras section of Sant ...
,
Cheo Feliciano
Cheo Feliciano (3 July 1935 – 17 April 2014) was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira de ...
,
Santitos Colón,
Lalo Rodríguez
Ubaldo Rodríguez Santos (May 16, 1958 – December 13, 2022), known professionally as Lalo Rodríguez, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer recognized as one of the pioneers of the subgenre of Romantic or Erotic Salsa.
Early life
Rodriguez was b ...
and
Roberto Roena
Roberto Roena Vázquez (January 16, 1940 – September 23, 2021) was a Puerto Rican salsa music percussionist, orchestra leader, and dancer. Roena was one of the original members of Cortijo y su combo and later with El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. ...
for whom he became Musical Director in 1986. Other major artists include Batacumbele, Orquesta Mulenze,
Brenda K. Starr, Zaperoko and
Ednita Nazario
Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican musician, singer, and composer who has achieved stardom both at home and abroad. She has been in the music business from a young age and has released twenty-three (23) studio ...
. In 1988, with a successful career as a pianist, Tanenbaum moved to Colombia and joined (as the producer, pianist and arranger)
Guayacán Orquesta, one of Colombia's premiere salsa bands. Tanenbaum played a vital role in defining the sound that allowed Guayacán to effectively reach out to the growing U.S. and European Latino markets. This led to one Platinum and two Gold Records. In Colombia, Israel has worked with many other artists including
Grupo Niche
Grupo Niche is a salsa group founded in 1978 in Bogotá, Colombia. In 1982, the group settled in the city of Cali, Colombia, enjoying great popularity throughout Latin America. It was founded by Jairo Varela and Alexis Lozano. Varela remain ...
, Grupo Clase,
Checo Acosta
Alcibiades Antonio Acosta Agudelo (June 14, 1965 in Soledad, Atlántico, Colombia) is a Colombian folk singer.
Biography
Acosta is the son of Alci Acosta.
Discography
*1989 - ''Sencillamente''
*1990 - ''Camino Real''
*1992 - ''De Colombia''
...
and Galy Galiano. Tanenbaum has taken special interest in all-female salsa bands -popular in Colombia- such as Caña Brava, Aché Orquesta an
Santísima Charanga and has contributed to the field as director, arranger and producer.
In 1992, Cuban violinist
Alfredo De La Fé, who, at the time, lived in Medellín, Colombia, asked Tanenbaum to produce his next album "Con Toda la Salsa" for the
Discos Fuentes label. The album included Israel's Latin Jazz composition Hacha y Machete which reached the jazz top 10 lists across Europe. This success opened the doors to the European markets and lead to several tours during which Israel accompanied Alfredo as his pianist and musical director. In 1995, Tanenbaum produced La Salsa de los Dioses shortly before Alfredo moved to Italy. When Alfredo moved to New York in 2002, Israel -who was then living in the US- put together a band and toured the US with Alfredo. In 2018 Izzy settled in
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
where he performs in a variety of venues with renown bands such as
Candela (band) lead by Uruguayan percussionist and singer Edgardo Cambón.
Tanenbaum has produced music for record labels like
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
,
Phillips,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
,
BMG and
Fania.
Jazz
Israel has played with
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
musicians such as
Dave Valentin
David Peter Valentin (April 29, 1952 – March 8, 2017) was an American Latin jazz flautist of Puerto Rican descent.
Life and career
Valentin was born to Puerto Rican parents in The Bronx in New York City. He attended The High School of Mu ...
,
Giovanni Hidalgo
Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" (born November 22, 1963) is a Latin jazz percussionist.
Early years
Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he received his primary education. His grandfather was a musician, and his father, José ...
, John Benitez,
David Sanchez
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
,
Juancito Torres
Juan “Juancito” Torres Velez (January 14, 1936 – July 26, 2003), also known as "La Trompeta Nacional De Puerto Rico", was a Puerto Rican salsa and jazz trumpet player, composer, arranger, producer and musical director best known for his ass ...
Jazz Ensemble, and Richie Flores. In 1997 he mixed the album "Papo Lucca y La Cuban Jazz All Stars". In 2000 Israel recorded a Christmas album with trumpet player Frank Vardaros. Tanenbaum's compositions have been recorded by flutist Connie Grossman, pianist
Papo Lucca
Enrique Arsenio Lucca Quiñones (born April 10, 1946) better known as Papo Lucca, is a Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalist best known for his pianist skills. His main musical genres are Salsa and Latin Jazz. He ranks with the late Charlie Palm ...
: Tanenbaum a la Lucca (On Target with La Sonora Ponceña), and violinist
Alfredo de la Fe: NN, Hacha y Machete. Since 2018 Izzy Tanenbaum can be heard performing in the San Francisco Bay Area with his ensemble Latinbaum and with renown musicians from the West Coast such as Pete Escovedo in classic venues like Yoshi's and Angelicas.
In 2023, Israel debuted as solo artist in the Zoho Music label's album: Impressions, Israel Tanenbaum & The Latinbaum Jazz Ensemble, co-produced with John Benitez.
Incidental music
Israel has composed music for documentary, theater, radio, multimedia, transmedia, television, videogames and film that has been nominated for various awards. In the 90's he created soundtracks for radio comedies and worked on the music for Amor, Mujeres y Flores, a Colombian documentary directed by Marta Rodríguez and Jorge Silva, and for the TV series Otra en Mi. For the first Iberoamerican Theater Festival in Bogota, Israel composed the music for one of the first transmedia performances in Colombia, alongside illustrator and storyteller
Alekos. Tanenbaum has written music for Martin Guigui's movies: Swing, My X-Girlfriend's Wedding and Cattle Call. The music for
"Swing" was awarded Best Soundtrack in a feature film at the 2003 Latin USA Film Festival and Best Impact of Music in an Independent Feature Film at the 2004 Park City Film Music Festival. In 2009 he composed the music fo
El Atolondrado an adaptation for clown of Molière's classic by Argentinian director
produced by the Colombian National Theater. In addition, he has produced jingles for many clients such as Renault, Hyundai and Eveready.
Folklore/Traditional music
Israel has studied the musical roots of afro-caribbean rhythms and traditional music of places where he has lived like Korea and Colombia. He enjoys incorporating elements of folklore in his compositions and arrangements. Tanenbaum has produced artists like Puerto Ricans Felita Oyola and Celia Ayala (of the renown folklore group "La Familia Ayala") as well as Colombian Juana Francisca Alvarez (Esencia de Currulao) and Categoría Vallenata. He recorded the participants of the First Marimba Festival in Cali Colombia in 2008 where he was the Technical Director. His own experimental projec
Latinbaummixes elements of folklore with rock, pop and jazz.
Teaching
Tanenbaum has developed curriculum for teaching in informal and formal settings in his different areas of expertise. In the United States, he has run workshops to teach Jazz, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and audio production. In 2004, he developed the Audio Recording Technician Program for the Roxbury Community College in Boston, MA. While in Boston, Israel also worked with
WGBH Educational Foundation, in collaboration with the Boston Public Schools, on the production of the "Music and Words" program which integrates music and literature into curriculum based activities. In Colombia, he created and taught the first university classes on jazz history and harmony, salsa and Latin ensembles for the music program at
Javeriana University
The Pontifical Xavierian University (in Spanish Pontificia Universidad Javeriana) is a private higher education institution founded in 1623. It is one of the oldest, most traditional, and prestigious Colombian universities, directed by the Socie ...
in the late 80s/early 90s. On his return to Colombia in 2008, he introduced music business classes to the Javeriana Faculty of Arts where he taught and directed Latin and jazz ensembles until 2014. As the leader fo
ViveLab Huilain Pitalito Colombia, Israel was responsible for dozens of workshops to train thousands of people from the region under the slogan
Building the Digital Future as well as continuing education programs in animation, youth entrepreneurship and cultural activities such as the San Agustin Film Festival and performances by youth orchestras.
Acoustic Design
Israel is an expert in the design of sound insulation for rehearsal and recording studios. In the decade of the 80s, he designed the first rehearsal studio in Bogota, Colombia (in the downtown neighborhood of "La Concordia") used by bands such as Guayacan, Ivan and Lucia and Ache. In the 90s, Israel designed studios for various artists and bands including Guayacan in Cali, Yurumei Studio owned by Honduran Efrain Martinez, Char Studio for the Colombian pianist Simon Char in Boston, Massachusetts and Chekere Studio for the Cuban percussionist Jorge Najarro in Rhode Island. In 2010, Tanenbaum built the rehearsal and recording rooms o
K30 Estudioin Bogotá and in 2012, he was a consultant for the design of the recording studio for th
Technological and Cultural Center Somos Pacíficoin Cali, Colombia.
Festivals and venues
Israel has performed (among others) at:
* New Morning, Paris, France
* Festival de Música del Caribe, Cartagena, Colombia
* JVC Jazz Festival, Turin, Italy
*
Nice Jazz Festival
The Nice Jazz Festival (, ), held annually since 1948 in Nice, on the French Riviera, is "the first jazz festival of international significance." At the inaugural festival, Louis Armstrong and his All Stars were the headliners. Frommer's calls i ...
, Nice, France
* Festival de Jazz Teatro Libre, Bogotá, Colombia
* Festival Latino, Switzerland
* Open Tropen Jazz Festival, Belgium
* Feria de Cali, Cali, Colombia
* Roots Festival, Holland
* Village Gate, New York, NY
* Yoshi's, Oakland, CA
* SOB's, New York, NY
* Vermont Jazz Festival, Burlington, VT
* Festival Latino Americano, Florence, Italy
* Carnaval de Barranquilla, Barranquilla, Colombia
*
Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro, Bogotá, Colombia
* Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
* Festival de Música de Barichara, Santander, Colombia
* Angelicas, Redwood City, CA
Affiliations
* ASCAP
* Acinpro
Selected discography
* Israel Tanenbaum & The Latinbaum Jazz Ensemble (solo artist, producer, composer, arranger, pianist)
* Guayacán Orquesta: Qué la Sangre Alborota, La Más Bella, 5 Años Aferrados al Sabor, Sentimental de Punta a Punta, A Verso y Golpe, Marcando la Differencia, Como en un Baile, Con Sabor Tropical, De Nuevo en la Salsa (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Alfredo de la Fe: Con toda la salsa, Salsa de los dioses (producer, composer, arranger, pianist)
* Sonora Ponceña: On Target -> Tanenbaum a la Lucca (composer, arranger)
* Iván y Lucía (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Nino Caicedo (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Fania All Stars: Bravo 97 (arranger)
* Aché Orquesta: Ya es hora (producer, arranger, pianist)
*
Checo Acosta
Alcibiades Antonio Acosta Agudelo (June 14, 1965 in Soledad, Atlántico, Colombia) is a Colombian folk singer.
Biography
Acosta is the son of Alci Acosta.
Discography
*1989 - ''Sencillamente''
*1990 - ''Camino Real''
*1992 - ''De Colombia''
...
(producer, arranger, pianist)
* Galy Galiano: Sin Fronteras (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Obbini Tumbao (producer)
* Leslie Mendez (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Orquesta Tiempo (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Roberto Roena: Regreso (pianist)
* Zaperoko (pianist)
* Grupo Niche (pianist)
* Connie Grossman (composer, arranger, pianist)
* Yambé (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Grupo Clase (producer, arranger)
* Carlos Vega (producer, arranger, pianist)
* La Banda de Alexis (producer, pianist)
* Categoría Vallenata (producer)
* Celia y Tito Ayala (producer)
* Algo Nuevo (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Alvaro del Castillo (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Nina (producer)
* Orquesta Matecaña (producer, pianist)
* Yenyeré (producer, arranger, pianist)
* La Trombonera (pianist)
* Delazcar Quintero (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Orquesta Solución (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Sonora Grupera (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Sandunga (producer, pianist)
* Frank Vardaros (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Salsa Night Band: La Cadena Se Rompió (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Azulito Aguamarina (producer, pianist)
* Satin (producer, arranger, pianist)
* Esencia de Currulao (producer, pianist)
* Felita Oyola (producer, arranger, pianist)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanenbaum, Israel
1961 births
Living people
Record producers from New York (state)
Jewish American musicians
Puerto Rican pianists
Salsa musicians
American male jazz musicians
American jazz pianists
American male pianists
American emigrants to Colombia
20th-century American pianists
21st-century American keyboardists
21st-century American pianists
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American Jews