Roni Eytan to Release Debut Album MELODY PEOPLE

Harmonica player and composer Roni Eytan is set to release his debut album as a leader, Melody People, on October 30, 2026, on PKmusik, the label run by bassist-composer Petros Klampanis. The album is available at www.pkmusik.com (PK0033L).

Eytan will perform music from the album at Dizzy's Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center, in New York City, October 1-3 at 10:45 pm. Information is available at jazz.org.

The ensemble features Roni Eytan on harmonica and microtonal harmonica, Shai Maestro on piano, Nitzan Bar on guitar, Barak Mori on bass, and Daniel Dor on drums, with special guest Mayu Shviro on cello.

In the history of the harmonica in jazz, there have been just a handful of players who stood out as exemplary. In the 1940s, Larry Adler pioneered moving the harmonica, an instrument previously relegated to the ranks of vaudeville, juke joints and folkloric traditions, into the more sophisticated realms of classical and jazz while mentoring many players along the way, including Spain's Antonio Serrano. Another towering figure was Belgium's Jean Baptiste 'Toots' Thielemans, who in the 1950s and 1960s transformed the humble harmonica into a legitimate jazz voice by playing on equal footing with jazz icons like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, George Shearing and Bill Evans. A stream of harmonica virtuosos followed in his wake, from Howard Levy and Hendrik Meurkens to Grégoire Maret and Gabriel Grossi. Now comes Roni Eytan, whose innovations are redefining the instrument's role in jazz and world music.

As fellow harmonica ace Maret noted: 'I have been impressed by Roni's evolution as a musician and harmonica player. He has developed a unique approach on the instrument that marries elements of his culture with the roots of jazz.' Added saxophone legend Benny Golson: 'This young man has exceptional talent that stands out quite distinctively as if a bright star in a wonderful galaxy. Tomorrow belongs to him.'

Eytan detailed his own journey that led him to Melody People, his auspicious debut as a leader: 'I started with the harmonica as a teenager, quickly fell in love with jazz and dedicated hours to studying its language by learning from recordings of mostly other instruments like trumpet, saxophone and piano. During my late teens and early 20s, I also began exploring traditional regional folk music as a connection to my roots. This became a parallel path I've been walking alongside jazz, and later grew into a major part of my identity as a musician and composer. I moved to the United States as part of my path as a jazz musician and there met Grégoire Maret, who became an important mentor. Not long after, while I was a student at Berklee College of Music, I met another key figure in my development, pianist Danilo Pérez, who was my teacher. Danilo invited me to join his band and I toured internationally for two years as part of his Panama 500 project, my first major touring and international exposure.

'At the same time, I was deeply engaged with other folk traditions, particularly Middle Eastern, North African and Jewish music. In a way, this led me back to the harmonica's folkloric nature, but from a completely different angle. Rather than returning to its familiar contexts, I've been exploring how it can exist within folk traditions it hasn't traditionally been part of, both through musical language and through the development of the microtonal harmonica. So, there is both a return and a transformation here — bringing the instrument back into a folkloric space, but in a way that expands its identity and opens new possibilities for it.'

In 2018, Eytan became the first harmonica player to be selected for the Thelonious Monk Institute (now the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz). 'During this time, I focused more deeply on composition for the institute band,' he recalled. 'And I also studied with Tigran Hamasyan, who pushed me further toward finding my own voice as a composer.' Eytan has since performed with such renowned jazz musicians as John Patitucci, Brian Blade, Kris Davis and Kevin Hays.

A player of extraordinary passion and lyricism as well as an accomplished composer capable of transporting listeners with his unfolding narrative, Eytan makes a profound statement with Melody People. Produced by the acclaimed pianist Shai Maestro, who also plays piano on the album, it was written for a chamber-like acoustic ensemble, emphasizing a dynamic and evolving dialogue of collective improvisation between the musicians. An homage to Roni's grandfather, a storyteller and music lover who passed down melodies through generations, Melody People honors his legacy and the profound influence he had on Eytan's life, identity and artistry.

'The album is very much about melody and how it carries stories, memory and emotion,' said the Jerusalem native who recently relocated to Brooklyn. 'The music draws on personal experiences and cultural roots to ask what 'folklore' means today, how contemporary life reshapes old stories, and how those stories keep finding new forms in a globalized world.'

At its core, Melody People aims to feel like a story being told. As Eytan explained, 'Whether a piece sounds like an ancient tale or a brand-new chapter, folklore-inspired motifs, cinematic textures and clear singing melodies are central. This music places a special emphasis on melody and on connecting with listeners emotionally, taking them on a journey rather than simply presenting songs.'

Joined by pianist Shai Maestro (who also produced the album), guitarist Nitzan Bar, bassist Barak Mori and drummer Daniel Dor, Eytan showcases his considerable gifts on Melody People. The lively opener, 'Winter Dance (A Call to Gather),' is a kind of Middle Eastern flavored duet with drummer-percussionist Dor that also showcases Eytan's signature non-tempered expression on microtonal harmonica, an instrument that he innovated with New Zealand harmonica and inventor Brendan Power. The pensive 6/8 vehicle 'Hopeful' builds to an intense crescendo that Roni wails over with abandon on chromatic harmonica. Other pieces like the mournful requiem 'Tears (A Mother's Lament)' and the poignant 'Like a River' may carry a touch of melancholy, while the vibrant 'Melody People' and the dynamic, flamenco-tinged 'A Modern Folk Tale' carry a surging sense of uplift. Guest cellist Mayu Shviro appears on the somber 'Before It Begins,' a solo piece that segues to the moving ballad 'Like a River,' which she is also featured on.

The quintet performs a super-charged callback to 'Melody People' (dubbed 'Melody People (Holding | Letting Go)') with Dor providing the slamming backbeat against Eytan's fiery harmonica work. They apply a lyrical touch to Yoni Rechter's gorgeous 'Hayalda Hachi Yafa BaGan,' which is underscored by Dor's sensitive brushwork. Said Eytan of Dor's playing throughout Melody People, 'He is truly one of a kind. He has one of the widest dynamic ranges I've ever encountered on the drums. He has this approach to the drum set where he can sound like the most amazing just full-on kit drummer, or he can be totally like a percussionist where he plays gently with his hands on the kit. He has his own kind of unique approach and concept to playing the drums.'

Elsewhere on Melody People, Eytan engages in a brightly buoyant duet with nylon string guitarist Bar on 'Harmonica Song (For Dave),' and the quintet delivers a delicate reading of Jacques Brel's 'Ne Me Quitte Pas,' a tune that Belgian-born harmonica hero Toots Thielemans regularly performed in concert. The leader also performs a tender duet with pianist Maestro on the restful and reflective 'Elegy for Saba,' dedicated to Roni's grandfather. 'My grandfather's grandfather was a cantor who wrote some of the music for these prayers,' Eytan explained. 'My grandfather taught me those melodies and when I was growing up, I would sing them with him. So, I wrote that tune specifically for him.'

Eytan's Melody People seeks to create a living, breathing sound world — one where the past and present converse, and each listener becomes part of the unfolding story. It is scheduled for release on October 30 on bassist-composer Petros Klampanis' PKmusik label.

About Roni Eytan

Roni Eytan is a harmonica player and composer who has been described as 'redefining the instrument's role in jazz and world music.' At 23 he joined Grammy-winning pianist Danilo Pérez's band, performing worldwide, and has since been sought after as a sideman, performing with John Patitucci, Brian Blade, Kris Davis, Kevin Hays and Gilad Hekselman among others. He is the only harmonica player personally chosen by Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter for the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, where both mentored him.

With a sound that blends influences as wide as brass, woodwinds, strings and folk traditions, Eytan pushes the sonic possibilities of the harmonica, bridging cultures and creating a versatile musical language. His search for new territory led him to commission and help create the first microtonal harmonica, an instrument built to voice the subtle inflections of Middle Eastern maqam, opening ground never before reached on the instrument. www.ronieytan.com

Tracklist

1. Winter Dance [2:19]

2. Hopeful [3:31]

3. Melody People [8:31]

4. Tears (A Mother's Lament) [6:34]

5. A Modern Folk Tale [7:38]

6. Before It Begins [1:13]

7. Like A River [4:43]

8. Harmonica Song (For Dave) [3:24]

9. Elegy for Saba [8:30]

10. Melody People (Holding | Letting Go) [1:26]

11. Hayalda Hachi Yafa Bagan [3:34]

12. Ne Me Quitte Pas [6:10]

All music composed and arranged by Roni Eytan except:

06 'Before It Begins' by Mayu Shviro

11 'Hayalda Hachi Yafa BaGan' by Yoni Rechter (lyrics by Yehonatan Geffen)

12 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' by Jacques Brel, arranged by Roni Eytan

Recorded at La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaine, France.

Recorded and mixed by Gérard de Haro, assisted by Matteo Fontaine.

Mastered by Nicolas Baillard at La Buissonne Mastering Studio.

Additional recording at Big Orange Sheep, Brooklyn, NY, by Alon Benjamini.

Additional recording at Pluto Studios, Tel Aviv, Israel, by Asaf Shai and Daniel Anglister.

Roni Eytan plays Suzuki Harmonicas. The microtonal harmonica was developed with Brendan Power.