ABOUT

Born and raised in Israel, Dassi Rosenkrantz started her music training as a classical pianist. Later, she began to play the bass guitar which led to her performing with local artists and bands exploring many different genres of music. She established herself as one of the first female freelance musicians in Israel at the time, and became a member of the house band for the TV show Sof Sof. She was a member of the band Shunra, whose song “Lavan al Lavan” from their LP On All Fours became a huge hit in Israel.
 
In 1998, Rosenkrantz came to New York City to study with bassist Anthony Jackson at the Manhattan School of Music (MSM). Following a semester studying Jazz at MSM, she began an extensive study of Afro-Caribbean music with teachers such as Guillermo Edghill (bass), Louis Bauza (Latin percussion), Eddie Martinez (piano), and the late, great Ray Santos (arranging). 
She co-founded the group La Noreste and, in addition to being the band leader, she was the co-writer, arranger, bass player, and background vocalist. The band featured many top musicians, and performed in NYC venues including the Weill Auditorium in Carnegie Hall. Some of the band’s original songs were featured in two films, Ed’s Next Move and Everything Relative.
 
She continued her study of music theory, harmony, and counterpoint with Dr. Phillip Lasser and Mark Shapiro, and joined the European-American Music Alliance’s (EAMA) summer composition program in Paris’s Schola Cantorum.
 
Inspired by a visit to Puerto Rico, Rosenkrantz wrote “El Yunque," a piano composition for four hands. A visit to Monet’s house in Giverny motivated her to compose a string quartet, “Une Visite á Giverny,” which was performed by the FLUX Quartet at a concert by EAMA composers in Steinway Hall, New York City.
 
She later attended SUNY Purchase, where she earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Studio Production, and studied with Grammy Award composer Joel Thome. For her final project, she composed new music with unique instrumentation for the movie Nosferatu the Vampyre, which was performed live with the movie screening.
 
She continued to play bass with various bands covering many different genres of music including Rock, Brazilian, Dominican, Haitian, Persian, Armenian, and Greek. 
 
For many years, she worked with the multi-ethnic music and dance group Retumba! as their music director and arranger. In addition to playing bass and percussion, she produced their live debut recording !Retumba! Live. 
 
Rosenkrantz toured and recorded with renowned late Jewish singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman as both bass player and musical director. She arranged and produced Friedman's CDs The Alef Beit and The Water in the Well, and performed with her on the main stage at Carnegie Hall and in other venues across the US and Canada.
 
With Afroditee, another all-female collaborative music project, she wrote and produced songs in both English and Spanish. The band was the recipient of a grant from the NYS Council for the Arts. The title song from the band’s CD, Sex in NYC, was used as promo for the show Sex and the City on TBS and in cinemas around the US. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltwf5UBlX_Q 
 
Her innovative bass playing is also featured on the acclaimed albums Bardo and Still Chillin’ by the late New Age pioneer Gabrielle Roth. 
 
She has worked as a teaching artist and as a music teacher for many years.  She is a participant in the Music Educators Workshop in Carnegie Hall and is a fellow of The Academy of Teachers.