Welcome to J-ARTS, the Jewish Artists Regional Touring Service. Our goal is to help arrange contemporary Jewish performances in your community. J-ARTS is a talent broker, not a talent agency; our clients are synagogues, Federations, Hillels, schools, camps and other organizations and institutions. We have extensive relationships with artists that we can leverage to meet your organization’s needs, and that is our first priority.
As experienced Jewish music presenters, we’re here to serve you with our knowledge and experience. We know what its like to put on these events and can provide practical advice, not a sales pitch. To serve the needs of your organization and tastes of your community, we work with a broad array of artists across a number of genres. We don’t push a specific artist on you; we provide options that can fit your programmatic and budgetary parameters.
To peruse the artists we work with, click on the Musical Acts button to the right and browse our roster by genre. Our aim is to your community stage a great event, be it a concert program, fundraiser, melava malka, Israel celebration, Bar Mitzvah or family Simcha.
Since helping to create the Israeli hip-hop scene with his 2000 debut album, Jerusalem’s Sagol 59 has earned a considerable reputation as an honest, clever, articulate and highly original MC.
Anyone who thinks Jewish music equals klezmer needs to hear Divahn’s Middle Eastern and Sephardic grooves. Fans first heard Divahn’s energetic music deep in the heart of Texas. Today, this dynamic New York City-based quintet delights audiences throughout the country and has made numerous live radio appearances. Divahn infuses traditional songs with sophisticated harmonies and arrangements using tabla, cello, rabel, doumbek, violin and other acoustic instruments, plus vocals in Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, Persian, Arabic, Aramaic and Turkish.
Their beautiful lyricism flows through an intense rhythmic drive. The group distinguishes itself as the only all-female ensemble performing Mizrakhi-influenced music (Jewish music from the Middle East and North Africa) in the US, and has performed with some of the world’s most renowned master musicians, including Glen Velez and Anindo Chatterjee. Divahn, a word common to Hebrew, Persian, and Arabic, means a collection of songs or poetry. Through its music, Divahn seeks to underscore common ground shared between diverse Middle Eastern cultures and religions. The group captures the breadth and diversity of Mizrakhi and Sephardi music throughout the centuries, while simultaneously creating and redefining innovative directions for the music in the present.
Ahavat Haaretz is the creation of Roi and Osnat Levy. A founding member of the Israeli supergroup Shotei HaNevuah (The Fools of Prophecy), Roi’s songwriting skills are most evident in this ensemble. Mostly accoustic arrangements set lyrics describing Israeli society from many angles and viewpoints provide the listener with a uniquely current perspective of being Israeli.
From the depths of the Jewish “Nigunim” melodies out of the jewish tradition of kabbalah, “A groyse Metsie” skillfuly combines touching acoustic solo pieces, breakbeat and funky grooves, trip hop ambience and rock and roll power with the soulful fire of klezmer jewish music. A Groyse Metsie brings the new into the old, a group of hyper talented-super diverse musicians who make a point of expressing a highly spiritual message in a very groovy and fun lovin way. Based in Israel, where Klezmer music is rarely appreciated, this band has turned the idea on its head, embracing a traditional form with modern, cross-cultural flourishes.
Beth Schafer is an award-winning songwriter whose shows blend first-class musicianship with a little teaching and a little theatre into a high-impact transformative experience. Blazing a trail in American Jewish music for 10 years, she has been a guitarist since the age of 6 and attended the University of Miami School of Music on a jazz scholarship. Her specialty is an attention to the universal themes that not only define Judaism, but many other faiths as well. Beth’s infectious energy, well-crafted songs and intelligent lyrics coupled with a great band has made her a leading act in the Jewish music world. Her audiences are no longer just Jewish, she fans of all faiths who have found that her messages and music touch them. That universality that placed her center-court at an Orlando Magic game half-time show and won her the faith-based competition on American Idol Underground. Comfortable on both acoustic guitars and electric, she has been the “guitarist-in-residence” for the URJ’s national conferences for the past 6 years and is frequently featured at folk festivals. Beth likes making music, loves bringing people together through the power of music, and feels God’s presence when it all works right. She has no intention of forcing any beliefs on anyone, but to those who are searching for something greater than themselves, Beth seems to make a magical connection. She is creating modern-day musical midrash, the contemporary interpretations of ancient texts that help us make sense of humanity.
RebbeSoul performs melodies from throughout the Jewish world, from Sephardic romanceros in Ladino to Lubavitch niggunim to tunes from Ashkenazi nusach. Carlebach melodies and Mizrahi piyyutim collide with a World beat rhythms- its the sound of the Jewish Diaspora coming home. And in after a Rebbesoul show, everyone will go home humming something new!
Yoni Ben-Yehuda, also known as Sneakas, was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 1981. After moving to Manhattan at age 11, Sneakas quickly became involved and fascinated by Hip-Hop culture. Using his extensive musical background, which includes classical training in both bass guitar and drums, Sneakas started writing rhymes and producing his own music. After years of honing his skills in the underground circuit of New York City, Sneakas was signed in 2001 to the production company, Nu Media whose credits include the Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J, Brian McKnight, Babyface, TLC, The Fugees, Mary J. Blige and Prince. In the summer of 2003, Sneakas began a one-year tour in the Middle East performing in hundreds of clubs, festivals, fundraisers and venues. Since Sneakas return to New York in 2004 he continues to carve a niche for himself in the New York City Hip-Hop scene with performances at B.B Kings, Nuyorican Poets Café, Pussycat Lounge, Bowery Poetry Club, M1-5, The Groove, and The Bitter End.
A new music is arising from a band stemming from hilly plains of central Israel. Just as its name indicates haMAKOR (”the source”) is the originator of a unique blend of bluegrass, funk and rock and roll combined with a root like Jewish message. Through the combined voice of this group, soulful, inspiring, and complex music is put forth. Each song is lyrically appealing, and melodically charged, leaving the listener feeling energized and exposed. Messages such as finding your own path, and the trials and tribulations of life, give the onslaught of aggressive resonance meaning. This real life expression met with the sweet melodies of the guitar is what makes haMAKOR a rare experience both in sound, and performance.
ESTA is a multi-ethnic band with innovative compositions and imaginative arrangements – deeply rooted in Israel’s diverse traditions. Founded in 1979 by Shlomo Deshet and Ori Beanstock, Esta has created a distinctive new sound, incorporating Jewish, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, African and Celtic genres into its own pan-global sound, propelled by Rock’s energy and Jazz’s musicianship.
There’s something irresistibly charming about Shakespeare’s works performed by miniature plastic figurines, an art form to which Dov Weinstein, Director of the Tiny Ninja Theater Company, is utterly dedicated. But when Weinstein was invited to perform at the London Limmud conference, his creativity ran even further amok. He somehow connected a phrase from the famed Balcony scene Romeo and Juliet, translated into Hebrew for the Acco Festival, with the opening phrase of the Babylonian Talmud, “M’Imatai.”
Led by harmonica innovator Jason Rosenblatt, and named for the traditional fur hat worn by Chassidic Jews, Shtreiml blends elements of klezmer, gypsy music and jazz to create a vibrant sound that is at once Eastern European Folk Music and Down-Home Blues. Shtreiml’s debut album, Harmonica Galitzianer, nominated for a Montreal Independent Music Award for Best World Music Album 2003, showcases Rosenblatt’s unique approach to playing the 10-hole diatonic harmonica or “blues harp.”
“World Fusion Beat Scientists” Zohar are led by composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Erran Baron Cohen, whose credits also include of the popular Da Ali G and Borat movie sountracks. ZOHAR weave together the beats and textures of modern club culture with hareem, hip-hop, electronica, dub and future grooves. It is a deconstruction of past, present and future, spanning Jewish Cantors, Arab Muezzins, Byzantine chants, meets today’s modern jazz and experimental musicians. Their approach is resolutely experimental and uncompromising with an instinctive feel for lush cinematic arrangements and intelligent melodies. Their acclaimed debut, One.Three.Seven.m was produced by Miles Copeland’s Ark 21 label.
