The Band
“Walakata” presents a group of Israel’s finest musicians gathered by Timbalero, band leader & musical director Udi Or-Haim to form what is truly the biggest, hottest salsa band ever established in Israel.
The band’s repertoire pays tribute to the great names in Salsa such as Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Larry Harlow, Ismael Miranda, Cheo Feliciano, Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez, Ismael Quintana, Ruben Blades, Vicentico Valdez, Bobby Valentin, Johnny Pacheco and “The Fania All Stars”. Walakata takes pride in playing the complete original arrangements with the same passion and energy that is so affiliated with this genre.
In the past years Walakata Collaborated with world class artists providing them with a local band while performing in Israel, artists such as Herman Olivera, Frankie Morales, Frankie Vasquez, Willie Torres, Michael Stuart, Tito Cruz and Chembo Corniel are just to name a few.
Walakata is currently performing in the local Israeli Jazz & Salsa scene with great success, pleasing the local audience with the great passion for Salsa!
El Mensajero De La Musica Latina
After intense studies with some of the biggest names in the NY salsa scene and graduating from “The Collective” NYC Udi Or-Haim returned to Israel with a great passion to bring his influences and experience to the crowds back home.
The group started rehearsing in March 2006 and Premiered on November 2006, ever since the group travels Israel performing in clubs, parties, dance halls, Jazz festivals and other venues with outstanding reviews.
The band is based on the genuine form and legacy of the great salsa bands of the 1970’s, 5piece brass section, 3piece percussion section bass and piano, the band features 3 top vocalists. Walakata’s carefully picked and brilliant repertoire is complimented by the sizzling sound and crisp arrangements that the group exhibits for more than a decade, the live performances of the group are extremely popular and attracts both music fans and dancers to this genuine celebration of Latin culture.
- MEMBERS
Italo Gonzales
Vocal
Claudio Cohen Tarica
Vocal
Daniel Cáceres
Vocal
Chen "Pepe" Meir
Congos
Rafael Messica
Bongos & Campana
Ido Zeleznik
Piano
Idan Shir
Bass
Doron Silashi
Trumpet
Yuval Peleg
Trumpet
Asa Kook
Trumpet
Ron Baron
Trombone
Oded Meir
Trombone
Yuval Tabachnik
Tenor Saxophone
Marcelo Zuber
Baritone Saxophone & Flute
- LEADER
Udi Or-Haim – Musical Director, Timbalero
Udi Or-Haim started his musical journey at the age of 7 as he started attending the local conservatory, studying both piano and drums, he continued both instrument studies until he was 13 as he made his decision to focus on drums and percussion.
Udi studied with some of the finest drummers in Israel and attended extensive music studies at high school, he was exposed to Latin music as part of his in-depth drumming studies when he was still a teenager.
After finishing his army duty, he attended “The Collective School of Music NYC”, mastering his skills as a professional drummer with strong emphasis on Latin drumming and percussion as well as other fields of performance expertise.
New York was inspiring and studying from legends made a huge impact. In 2002 Udi returned to Israel and started to mark his footprints in the Israeli entertainment industry accompanying some of Israel’s top artists as a drummer for both live shows and studio recordings, after a short while he signed his first contract playing musical theater for the show “The Sound of Music”, this was followed by 6 years of theater work for numerous shows including “The Producers”, “Avenue Q”, and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.
Alongside performing nightly at the theater Udi continued studying Scoring, Arranging and Orchestrating, this revealed a new horizon of opportunities and craftsmanship. In 2006 Udi and a group of longtime friends launched “Walakata Salsa Band” as a truly artistic gesture to the old school New York Salsa of the 1970’s or “Salsa Dura”.
Since 2008 Udi holds the position of head musical director at “Caliente Music Ltd”, Israel’s powerhouse musical content company, offering top musical content and consulting for high profile clients world wide, Udi established the live music department and made a huge impact on the company, his achievements with Caliente paved the road to becoming a partner at 2013.
