Veteran subway-performing Blues singer Jeremiah Lockwood teams up with an all-star cast of NY underground greats (musicians who have graced the records of Tom Waits, Arcade Fire and Antibalas, to name a few) to summon voices from beneath the concrete streets. Calling upon the sounds of Malian guitars, Saharan beats, Afro-pop horns and the B-L-U-E-S, The Sway Machinery goes knocking at the gates of prayer with muscles swollen and eyes clenched.
Son of composer Larry Lockwood and the grandson of the legendary Cantor Jacob Konigsberg, Jeremiah Lockwood began his musical career playing on the streets of Manhattan. He soon struck up a relationship with Piedmont Blues master Carolina Slim, with whom he still performs. Jeremiah and Carolina Slim have appeared together in Avery Fisher Hall, the New School Blues Festival, and have been profiled in The New York Times Magazine and TimeOut NY. Jeremiah has worked for years as the front man for The Sway Machinery, a blues/world beat/Chazzanus ensemble that taking New York by storm
In recent years, Jeremiah has also been appearing with J-Dub recording artists Balkan Beat Box. He is joined by drummer Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and the horn section of the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra to break down all barriers between mythic past and a future rich in the senses. Rejoicing in the season of the lunar New Year and taking the spiritual language of Ashkenazic Jewish cantorial traditions as its point of departure, a new creation will be embarked upon. Hidden Melodies Revealed will combine music, animated film, storytelling and the historically charged space of the Angel Orensanz Foundation towards the goal of shaping a context in which the musical traditions of the season can be absorbed by a modern audience. On this night, rich in feeling and sanctified by memory, ancient lore will blossom forth into an all-out party!
Ahavas Olam
Ivdu et HaShem
I Shall Chant Praises
“Lockwood’s arrangements of Jewish cantorial songs whip up a frenzy wherein all the world’s music can do that which music does best: celebrate. Such joyful synthesis is what music is all about, not to mention what New York is all about.” Buzz Poole – The Village Voice (Sep 13, 2006)
It was a night of multiculti mashups at Brooklyn’s best mid-sized concert venue. First up was Sway Machinery, led by Jeremiah Lockwood. His contributions are singing (in Hebrew) influenced by the classic Jewish cantors – his grandfather Jacob Konigsberg among them – and guitar playing that mixes Afropop and the blues (at times inevitably recalling the late, great Ali Farka Toure). Throw in bass saxophone, tenor sax, and trumpet by members of Antibalas and powerhouse drummer Tomer Tzur and the result mixes the above influences with klezmer, free jazz, and soul. Steve Holtje – CultureCatch.com (Sep 17, 2006)
A late night excursion out into the cold that was last weekend revealed a sweet surprise as we entered into Zebulon Cafe Concert on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg. We went on the promise that there would be some good music from the band The Sway Machinery which featured musicians who had played with Tom Waits and The Wu-Tang Clan, so I was expecting some deeply driven blues beats and earthy guitar. What I was not expecting was a full-fledged klezmer band. As sincere as their ancestors, yet twisted with modern grit and irony, horns were blaring, ancient Yiddish yarns were being spun by turns mumbled and screeched into the microphone, and a fanatical beat master was holding the whole thing together – just barely. I especially loved to see the dinosaur of the brass family, the bass saxophone, in action. I had heard rumors of this beast whispered in my small middle-school band rehearsals, where I myself cherished the soggy reeds of my alto sax, but I definitely had to see it to believe it. Bree Apperley – Until Monday (Jan 26, 2007)
Jeremiah Lockwood’s remarkably accomplished, frankly fascinating guitar work and Tomer Tzur’s limber syncopations combine with influences from the Sahara to the shtetl to the Delta (believe it) to make Sway Machinery consistently exciting and emotionally rewarding as well. Here they team up with friends from Antibalas for an exploration of a genre perhaps best labeled Jewish soul. Pamela Grossman – The Village Voice (Feb 28, 2006)
Last Sunday I went to see Jeremiah Lockwood’s new project: Sway Machinery with the horn section of Antibalas. This was their second show together. I will not exaggerate one bit if I tell you that this was the best Jewish music gig that I’ve ever been to, in my whole life. They played at The Stone, and at the end of the performance, every single person in the audience stood up and clapped, stomped, yelled for a long, long time. Jake Marmer – Mimaamakim (Jan 31, 2006)
I decided to watch some foot traffic for awhile, and was just kickin’ it on a plaza when I heard horns playing at a sound check coming from somewhere behind me. Yesterday I told you I’m a sucker for the harmonica, today I’m telling you I’m also a sucker for horns. I followed the sound and ended up at an outdoor stage, the Habana Calle Annex. Sway Machinery, a New York band that plays Jewish soul music, started the set by solemnly walking from outside the gate through the small crowd and on stage, playing all the while. The trumpet, tenor sax, and bass sax players also play in Antibalas, who I missed the other night but Chuck saw and was super pumped about. Stuart Bogie, the tenor saxophonist, has performed with everyone from the Wu-Tang Clan to TV On the Radio to Sinead O’Connor. The drums and guitar gave this liturgical music a bluesy rock beat. It was great to stumble into a performance of that caliber. Megan Wiley – About Town (Mar 18, 2007)
klezmer -tinged blues band…sounds like Muddy Waters – The New York Times Magazine (Feb 28, 2002)
klezmer -rock with a provocative attitude. – Luc Delannoy – Vibrations Magazine
