Rising on the jam band scene is Merkavah (a mystical kabbalistic chariot), a project lending of grooves, improvisation and melodies from the Lubavitch Chabad movement.
A nature loving phish fan, guitarist Yerechmiel Altizio’s musical and spiritual journey got a kick start when he discovered his faith in a national park, setting him on a path that took him from cross country from California to New Orleans, then to Brooklyn, where after an inspiring Birthright Israel trip, he found a home in the Lubavitch community- a gig as guitarist for Hasidic reggae star Matisyahu.With one foot firmly in the post-Phish jam band world and another in Crown Heights, he now performs electrifying extended jams of Chabad niggunim in clubs, festivals and has released its debut album on Sony/JMG.
Al HaNisim
Nigun Simcho
Altizio received an Ibanez six-string as a 13th birthday present; back then, he was neither known as Yerachmiel nor interested in Judaism. Rather than study Torah, he studied the guitar riffs of Nuno Bettencourt and the improvisations of Trey Anastasio. He worshipped at the alter of ‘guitar gods,’ not the synagogue.
But two years into college, Yerachmiel set out on a journey. He crossed the country in a VW Bus to live on the beaches of Santa Cruz, ascended the mountain town of Boulder Creek to play his guitar amidst the redwood forests. While playing music in Big Basin National Park, he made the connection between G-d, the creator of the universe, and the G-d of Torah.
The revelation precipitated a friendship with a local Rabbi with a shared his pashion for Phish and guitar. The resulting confluence of Shabbat meals and rigorous musical study culminated in degree in Jazz Guitar Performance from the University of New Orleans, but also religious observance. The rich musical heritage of the Big Easy provided infectious grooves, syncopated rhythms, and increased observance an introduction to the mysticism and music of Lubavitch Chabad Hasidism. The combination of music and spirituality that moved him.
It was a 2001 Birthright Israel experience that solidified not only Yerachmiel’s religious observance, but also its connection to his music. Now living in Crown Heights, home of the Lubavitch movement, he leads Merkavah as it navigates the sonic straights linking Chabadniks and Phish-heads, playing festivals, Chabad houses and clubs to the delight of all. Their common appreciation is likely spiritual, and that’s by design. In the Kabbalistic tradition, the band’s namesake is the metaphoric meditational chariot used journey inward to the soul and greater understanding and the revelation of the glory of G-d. Aptly named, Merkavah is the soundtrack of that journey.
