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March 30, 2006: 6:34 pm: AdministratorJazz, Klezmer, World Fusion

Rabbinical School Dropouts


The Rabbinical School Dropouts are Sun Ra, the Hampton Grease Band, Frank Zappa and the Klezmatics all rolled into one. The music of the Friedmann brothers is fresh, imaginative and the future of Klezmer music. Their big band (featuring oboe, mandolin, bassoon, theremin, toy piano, tablas, etc.) storms through a dozen creative originals touching upon klezmer, jazz, funk, Latin, rock, and varied mishegoss along the way. Jewish garage jazz with a sick sense of humor from Long Beach, California. It’s been called Esoteric Space Klezmer, but mostly its just wild musical fun.


Mesquitto from Meggido
Counterfeit Gelt
Dung Gate
Solarium Khosdil
Pillow Rock
Yanatan HaKatan II

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: 6:29 pm: AdministratorIsrael Related, Rock, Singer/Songwriter

Avraham Rosenblum & Diaspora

Avraham Rosenblum moved to Jerusalem in the early ‘70’s, found his Jewish roots and started a band that changed the course of modern Jewish music. The Diaspora Yeshiva Band performed for crowds from all over the world at their Saturday night “Melave Malka” concerts at King David’s Tomb on Mt. Zion. Their blend of folk rock and ancient Hebrew lyrics made them a premier act on the international circuit for decades. Today, Avraham Rosenblum continues the tradition with music that speaks to Jews of all stripes.

Kedem
David the King
The Flood
Nachamu Ami

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: 6:27 pm: AdministratorReggae

Mussareggae

Kayama – Mussareggae

A great new Jewish Reggae artist, Rabbi Mikael Zerbib, born in Bordeaux, France, recently brought out his first solo CD, with all hebrew reggae songs, incl great original fresh versions of Dayenu, Lekha Dodi, and new compositions. The title “Mussareggae” means Reggae with Ethics, songs advocating integrity in relationships with others, and above all, acknowledgment of the Creator.

No Comments
: 3:32 pm: AdministratorCross Cultural, Hip Hop

Hip Hop Hoodios

Havana Nagila

Hip Hop Hoodios The band’s name is a play on hood and Judios, the Spanish word for Jew, and that is as good an explanation of where their backgrounds and of their Latin-Jewish sounds as there is. Drawing on their dual Latino-Jewish heritage, Hip Hop Hoodios combine the vitality of Latin alternative music with American-Jewish culture for fun-filled, trilingual mayhem. Led by Josue Noriega, the four band members have roots in Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Mexico as well as Jewish culture. Using a mix of live instrumentation and samples, they meld Hebrew with merengue and layer Jewish-themed rhymes atop salsa rhythms to create tracks like Havana Nagila off their CD’s, Raza Hoodia and Agua pa la Gente.


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: 3:04 pm: AdministratorRock, Singer/Songwriter

Seth Nadel Band

Seth Nadel is a singer/songwriter, performer, and teacher. His unique blend of “Jewish folk rock” is both spiritual and passionate. His high-energy hybrid of rock, pop, folk, and blues has been called, “Dylan, Springsteen, and the Counting Crows meet Carlebach and Diaspora,” and “a fun rockin’ Jewish good time.” Reb Seth has traveled North America playing Jewish music at Shabbatonim, cafes, high schools, universities, summer camps and synagogues for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. On stage, he weaves words of Torah and Chassidic tales in between his songs. Like the Chassidic masters, he believes music is a vehicle to bring one closer to G-d. Whether performing solo or along with his band, his performances are energetic and uplifting.


Ki Haym Chayenu
Tzadik Katamar Yifrach
Veerastich Li

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: 3:03 pm: AdministratorCarlebach, Israel Related, Rock, World Fusion

Reva L’Sheva


Hailing from Israel, Reva L’Sheva (Quarter to Seven) combines a world-beat style with melodies and traditional Hebrew texts used by the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Like many of his generation, found Yehuda Katz followed The Grateful Dead, an influence still obvious in his music. The band’s universal and jamming approach has seen them perform with Arab bands, at a memorial for Yitzhak Rabin and even in Hebron. An Isreali favorite for over ten years!

Shalom v’Reut
Am Yisreal Chai

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: 3:02 pm: AdministratorRock

Moshe Skier Band

Shma Yisroel

The Moshe Skier Band is a Jewish power pop act performing original and traditional Jewish Music in a Classic Rock and Blues style. The band plays original songs by its leader, Moshe Skier, who has also performed with the bands Kabbalah and Shlock Rock, as well as covers of songs by other Jewish artists. Their Music sounds like secular Rock, and flawlessly mimics classic rock hits, transforming them lyrically or melodically into Jewish material. If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, Skier and company compliment to everyone from Jeff Beck to Cream to Brian Setzer with tight, bluesy arrangements.

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: 3:01 pm: AdministratorIsrael Related, Rock

Heedoosh

Embracing styles from hard rock grunge to sensually melodic ballads, Heedoosh is a trailblazing fusion of a brooding, mysterious sound with lyrics that convey both the longing for, and imminence of, redemption. As its name implies, the music of this new band is something of a revelation. The brainchild of two Israeli Yemenite brothers, Yahav and Yaniv Tsaidi, Heedoosh performs deeply personal, spiritual Jewish rock music that pulls no punches.

The songs are of breathtaking beauty and complexity, rooted in sacred text and combined with contemporary verses gilded with a true rock edge influenced by Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead, Coldplay and Oasis- a mix of hard rock and brit-pop with Hebrew lyrics and Jewish themes. The songs hold fast to their rock roots and their Jewish sources without compromising any integrity on either front.

The soul-searching themes of thier poignant songs are not afraid to address the foundations of faith nor express their longing for redemption. In a swirling vortex of a world filled with confusion, Heedoosh is a musical vidui, a lyrical confession that reaches out to the unknown for answers with a completely unique style and a new discovery on an ancient text: a Heedoosh.

Upon the release of their debut, M’Umkah Delibah, the band fast became one of New York’s most sought after Jewish acts, performing at clubs throughout the city and bringing their legion of fans everywhere they go.

Lecha Dodi
Lev Tahor
Lishuatecha
Etz Chaim Hi

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: 2:59 pm: AdministratorRock

Beyond Eden

3 Steps Back

Beyond EDEN plays an infectious unique fusion of musical styles, incorporating rock, reggae, hip-hop, and disco with traditional Jewish content. Songs are both in Hebrew and English. The band’s live shows are high-energy and intense, with a pulsating groove, designed to keep audiences on their feet and dancing. Beyond EDEN cites its influences as Shlomo Carlebach, Dave Matthews Band and Stevie Wonder.

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: 2:58 pm: AdministratorCarlebach, Israel Related

Chaim David


Old City Jewish Quarter resident Chaim Dovid Sarachik has been touching the souls of the Jewish world with his music for over 20 years. Originally from South Africa, Chaim Dovid came to Israel at the behest of his rebbe, Rav Shlomo Carlebach z”l and has been continuing Rav Shlomo’s legacy of combining music and neshama ever since. His small stature, quiet demeanor and gentle, almost fragile voice mask a spirit and fervor that surprises most who see him, but it is his folksy, moving and earnest performances that have made him a star in his own right. While his connection to his Rebbe is immutable, Chaim David has penned numerous songs of his own, simple in melody and nuanced in lyric, that are easily learned, joyously sung by thousands and an uplifting experience whenever they are heard.


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: 2:57 pm: AdministratorCarlebach, Jazz, Singer/Songwriter

Shemesh v’Kochavim

Medley

Shemesh V’Kochavim (Sun and Stars) is a groove-oriented rock band from Israel whose music spreads a message of love and hope from their native land. Lead singer and composer Eliyon Shemesh was raised on Moshav Meor Modi’in, the home of legendary musical Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z’l, and hails from a musical family.

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: 2:55 pm: AdministratorJazz, Klezmer

Jews Brothers Band

New Zealand, being small and isolated from the rest of the world, is a place where people have always had to work with what they got – so the odd-for-klezmer instrumental lineup of the JBB is somewhat of a New Zealand phenomenon. There are cultural influences ranging from Celtic, Fresian, jazz, blues, rock and so on but this melding of other musical streams is nothing new for Klezmer.With a rare combination of virtuoso musicianship and wicked self parody, this eclectic, eccentric, energetic band from New Zealand radiates musical mischief and mayhem wherever it goes. Its exhilarating foot-stomping hand-clapping repertoire, both original and traditional features wild Eastern-European dance medleys, neo-40s’ New York swing, gypsy “hot club”, schmaltzy waltzes and funky dance grooves. If you can’t dance to this band you gotta problem!

My Yiddish Swing
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: 2:54 pm: AdministratorHip Hop, Services

OJGs/Hip Hop Shabbat

Bim Bomb

This Bay area group performs hip-hop adaptations of traditional Jewish songs such as Bim Bam, Lecha Dodi, and Shalom Aleichem, infusing well known melodies with original raps that expand their themes and bring them up to date for the hip hop generation.

The Original Jewish Gangstas make beats, rhymes, and record new lyrics, using Pro-Tools, condensor mics, pre-amplifiers, and their own lyrical creativity to combine the wisdom of Judaism with the bump of hip-hop. If you are interested in making hip-hop history, then come flow with the OJG, as they reproduce traditional Jewish melodies live, either as part of an interactive service, concert performance or youth workshop.

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: 2:50 pm: AdministratorHasidic, Israel Related, Singer/Songwriter

Simply Tsfat

Shabbos

Simply Tsfat are three Breslov Chassidim, 2 Americans and one Israeli, 2 guitars and one violin whose aim is to spread the joy and inspiration of Breslov Chassidim. They bring a breath of fresh air from their home, the mystical city of Tsfat, where Kabbalah was born, and tales of Joy and of their famous Rebbe. The trio’s fresh approach to Chassidic folk music applies violin virtuosity and a dash of flamenco guitar to melodies from the Breslover and other Chassidic tradition with a healthy dose of Chassidic storytelling. And in the tradition of their Rebbe, these holy brothers bring a sense of Simcha, joy, to every performance.

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: 2:46 pm: AdministratorIsrael Related, Jazz, Sephardic, Singer/Songwriter

Elie Massias Project

Elie Massias Project Singer/Songwriter, Guitarist, Elie Massias, a native of Gibraltar, has performed extensively in Europe, North America, and Israel. A classically trained guitarist, Massias’ spare, beautiful arrangements of Israeli and melodies from his Sephardic heritage are performed with a jazz flair that is a cross between David Broza and Dave Matthews unplugged, with a strong flamenco flourish and flashes of hasidic soulfulness.

Elie won top 15 of the U.S. North East at the 2006 ‘Independent Music Worldseries’ and will be featured on discmakers ‘North East Heavy Hitters” compilation CD.

John Anders of DownBeat Magazine writes “Elie’s guitar textures and effects recall stylists as diverse as Bill Frisell, John Abercrombie and Bern Nix.”

Available for solo, duet and quartet performances.

LCha Dodi
El Dia de Shabat
B’lailah (live)

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: 2:45 pm: AdministratorHasidic, Israel Related, Singer/Songwriter

Aharon Razel

Aharon Razel, who now resides in Jerusalem’s bohemian Nachalot neighborhood, is today one of the leading and most popular artists within the genre of Jewish Original Music. He performs regularly and connects with young and old alike. His music crosses boundaries, appealing to religious and secular crowds as one.

Aaron’s newest album Song of Zion, as all of his previous three albums, takes Praises and Psalms from Classical Jewish Texts and Literature and mixes them with a joyful twist of mystical expression and melody that captures the art of a Jewish Soul cast in a modern Jewish Setting living in the Ancient Land of Israel. Music that appeals to any ear, with no borders…

Born in New York in 1974, Aharon Razel grew up in Jerusalem. After his army service, Aharon received a masters degree in Music and moved to the city of Tsfat for 3 years where he founded his band called “Hasneh Boer” which incorporates Biblical texts with Modern day music influenced by Israeli music, Reggae, Jazz, Funk and Acoustic Rock. To date Aharon has released 4 albums, Out of the Ark, Hasneh Boer, Zman Hageula and his latest, Shir Zion. Aaron’s early training in classical music along with exposure to many other streams of music such as reggae, funk, and jazz combined with influences from R. Shlomo Carlebach and other Chassidic music, forms a unique blend of Ethnic Jewish Folk/Rock that has got Israel’s music scene bopping to a different kind of World Beat.

Ani L’dodi
Two Sugars
Shir HaMaalot
Lecha Dodi

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: 2:42 pm: AdministratorReggae

Adonai & I

David Gould: Adon*i & I While on the road for 5 years performing with reggae heroes John Brown’s Body, bassist David Gould pondered the connections, and began to explore the ties between roots reggae and the deep Hebrew melodies he heard in synagogue growing up in New York. The combination resonated deeply in his blood and this eclectic group was born. The group performs reggae and dub interpretations of Hebrew melodies and psalms. ZION!!!

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: 2:41 pm: AdministratorCross Cultural, Klezmer, Reggae, World Fusion

King Django’s Roots and Culture

A seminal force in the American ska & reggae scene, KING DJANGO has made his name internationally as a singer, ragamuffin MC, songwriter, arranger, instrumentalist (trombone, ukulele, harmonica, melodica, etc.), producer, studio engineer and record label owner (Stubborn Records). His newest album “Roots Tonic,” Django has enlisted an all-star cast of resulting in twelve crucial roots reggae cuts utilizing tuff original riddims covering a wide range of styles, complex lyrical structures, a live sound full of soul.

King Django’s Roots and Culture finds King Django applying Reggae rhythms and Ska arrangements to the sound of his Jewish heritage, performing soulful Yiddish rock-steady riddims and even translations of reggae songs into Yiddish (Night Boat to Cairo).

Long before Matisyahu put on a black hat, King Django was the undisputed, most innovative figure in Jewish Reggae. It’s a project that predated Matisyahu, and has a more flavorful and authentic approach to both the Jewish and Reggae elements it combines. With a new album and fresh material on the way, The Lion of Zion has returned, bearing sweet, reggae filled rugelach.

Drawing on diverse influences as roots reggae, dancehall, ska, rock, soul, swing, and American and Yiddish folk music, King Django has always been a hard man to pigeonhole. His versatility within genres of punk, rhythm & blues, and Jamaican grooves is unmatched, starting early as the singer / trombonist of legendary ska band The Boilers through reggae/soul/jazz experimentalists Skinnerbox (1989-1998) and mainstream recognition as the founder and leader of traditional ska supergroup Stubborn All-Stars.

Shtikeleh
On the Seventh Day
Wayfarer’s Prayer
Lomir Alle Zingen
Night Boat to Cairo

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: 2:34 pm: AdministratorRock

Even Sh’Siyah

Even Sh’Siyah blends original folk rock melodies with lyrics taken from an array of classic Jewish texts. The band’s musical influences are eclectic, and include rock, folk, reggae, bluegrass, Mid-Eastern, and jazz. Even ShSiyah integrates these genres–creating a cohesive and unique musical soundscape of its own. The band has been playing together since 1993 at Universities, Festivals, Hillels, congregations and live music venues and has released three albums.

Even Sh’siyah blends original folk rock melodies with lyrics taken from an array of classic Jewish texts. The band’s musical influences are eclectic, and include rock, folk, reggae, bluegrass, Mid-Eastern, and jazz. The band integrates these genres–creating a cohesive and unique musical soundscape of its own whose influences include the Allman Brothers and Diaspora. The band has been playing together since 1993 and has performed at Universities, Festivals, Hillels, congregations and live music venues throughout the midwest.

The band is composed of seven musicians: Elisha Prero on guitar, David Margulis on bass, Ely Cooper on guitar, Mitch Jacoby on guitar, Matt Kanter on drums, Zev Goldberg on percussion and other miscellaneous musical materials, and Mark Freedman on keyboards.

Hisoreri
Shir Hamaalos
Hallelu
Yemenite Fever
Yerushalayim

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: 2:29 pm: AdministratorJazz, Sephardic

Asefa

Ki Eshmerea Shabbat

As their name implies, Asefa ‘gathers’ traditional melodies from throughout the Jewish musical diaspora and combines them with their own jazz influences to create a splendid mosaic. The ensemble is at its best when applying contemporary improvisational concepts and maqams (their ancient eastern equal) to compositional frameworks traditionally employed by material in the Sephardic and North African musical traditions. One can feel the very connectivity that has helped the Jewish people endure. While an emphasis is on Middle Eastern and Sephardic Jewish musical traditions, a trip into the heart of Klezmer can occur as well.

Founded in 2001 by bandleader and composer Samuel Thomas, Asefa brings together diverse musical worlds. From the Hebrew word for “collecting,” Asefa includes Thomas on soprano saxophone and percussion, Shanir Blumenkranz on oud and upright bass, and Eric Platz on drums and percussion. Traversing a wide musical landscape, Asefa travels from Morocco to Persia, Poland to America and back. Thomas’ arrangements and original compositions, imbued with contemporary concepts in improvisation and instrumentation, reflect a fresh spirit in music making.

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: 2:23 pm: AdministratorHip Hop

Kosha Dillz

Promised Land

Born Rami Even-Esh to Israeli parents, Kosha Dillza grew up hearing hip hop pioneers, but it was a troubled adolescence of substance abuse, rehab and even incarceration. Determined to right his path, he vowed not to break the law and make teshuvah. He sought out spiritual and moral guidance and stumbled on the Jewish tradition of his birth. He put thoughts to paper as lyrical poetry, and found his own journey back to Judaism a powerful model and metaphor for his own personal struggle.

This combination of heritage and hip-hop found a life onstage, where Rami took on the name Kosha Dillz, dropping positive rhymes that represented his heritage in a unique and real way that quickly gained respect in the rap world.

Previously irreligious, Kosha belongs to a Maimonides study group and references his Jewish heritage throughout his music. Kosha Dillz came to explore his Judaism in the wake of a life of turmoil, and its come full circle back to hip hop. Now, he melds the two seemlessly as his craft and as his identity. Network charts.

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: 2:22 pm: AdministratorHip Hop, Words/Stage

Yuri Lane

Yuri Lane is a one man sound machine technique who takes the audience on a hip hop journey using only his mouth and a microphone. He performs full length one-man shows, freestyle beatbox with Jewish and middle eastern influences and bibliodrama workshops for youth. He is best known for his shows Soundtrack City and From Tel Aviv to Ramallah. The latter is a hip hop journey about Amir, an Israeli dj and delivery boy from Tel Aviv, and Khalid, an internet café ower from Ramallah.

Their lives intertwine when they meet at a checkpoint in this modern retelling of Jacob and Esau. Set against the backdrop of ongoing violence in Israel, Lane’s piece asks for peace, understanding and coexistence in a unique beatbox style that has captivated thousands in New York, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. Yuri also teaches biblio-drama, beatbox lessons and shows for young audiences on Jewish themes. An engaging entertainer for audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

Hear the music: Ladies and Gentlemen Booking and performance inquiries: info@j-arts.org

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: 2:21 pm: AdministratorCross Cultural, Israel Related, Jazz, Sephardic

Crossroads Ensemble

Frevo

Crossroads Ensemble is award winning instrumentalists Juancho Herrera of Caracas Venezuela and Mattan Klein of Jerusalem, Israel. Born over 6000 miles apart, their roads crossed in the U.S.A. and their musical and cultural backgrounds created the foundation for an exquisite world-music collaboration. Juancho and Mattan’s love and admiration for each other’s musical tradition and rich religious culture brought together two of New York’s busiest composers and performers to create a true world-music cross-over project, which involves Latin, Jewish, Brazilian, Ladino, Jazz and Funk elements, but all the while preserves the innovative voices they both carry as representatives of their nations.


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: 2:18 pm: AdministratorCross Cultural, Sephardic

Yoel ben Simhon & Sultana Ensemble

Yigdal

Yoel Ben Simhon leads and directs this middle-eastern fusion ensemble. Together with a talented group of multi-ethnic musicians, Ben Simhon explores the music of the Morrocan Jews in through Hebrew piyutim and Haketia (Ladino) melodies, along with song wonderful new original arrangements. Yoel Ben-Simhon says, “Sultana was the name of my grandmother, a very inspirational figure in my life, who was born in Mogador, Morocco. As a verb, saltana means ‘to dominate’ or ‘to govern’ and of course sultana means Queen.” Sultana also means ’sublime’, the enjoyment communicated by a performer to the audience through the artistic and technical mastery of the instrument or voice.

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: 2:16 pm: AdministratorCross Cultural, Jazz, Sephardic

Yardena y Son Ladino

El Rey Nimrod

Led by Israeli-born jazz vocalist Yardena Namerdi “Yardena y Son Ladino,” is Ladino-Afro Cuban Jazz, and represents a fusion of Sephardic Jewish and Middle Eastern music with Cuban rhythms. The fusion of these two traditions with so much common ancestry comes off as so natural as to sound startlingly inevitable. Both share important roots in 15th century Spain, where an already thousand-year-old mix of Moors, Jews, and Gypsies gave to Iberia the essence of habanera and flamenco forms.

In the then newly discovered Cuba this music was combined, and evolved with, African percussion for 500 more years, to become one of the most vital of all musical genres. With the expulsion of the “heretics,” also 500 years ago, the Jews of Spain, a land they called ‘Sepharad,’ took with them their Castilian language, now known as ‘Djudeo-Espanyol,’ or Ladino, a language frozen in time. In a long odyssey from Moorish North Africa to Greece, the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East itself, and even the New World, colorful words and rhythmic variants were absorbed into songs handed down, mother-to-child, from antiquity.

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: 2:08 pm: AdministratorJazz

Juez

Juez draws on klezmer modes in a unique exploration of jazz and progressive rock rhythms with influences ranging from Yemenite to hip hop. Their breakbeat experimental compositions recall the frenetic, fevered squonking of their inspiration, John Zorn and Masada. Blended with improvisatison and garage rock, Juez’s distinctive breakbeat approach to klezmer and stage antics make them a crowd pleaser.

New Yemenite
Who Knows Eight?

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: 8:54 am: AdministratorJazz, Klezmer

Rashanim


These Noisemakers led by guitarist Jon Madof, are one of the hottest items on the New York scene. They adeptly morph traditional Ashkenazi, Sephardi and even Carlebach melodies into silky new arrangements with a clear, sparse sound that is causing heads to turn in the jazz world and stereos to be turned up in the living room. “Rashanim may be one of the best things to happen to Jewish music since Andy Statman or the Klezmatics.” The Village Voice
Chorek
Avodah
V’Shamru

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September 1, 2005: 8:16 pm: AdministratorBlog, Kumzitz

The Seventy Faces of Blue Fringe

Blue Fringe

Blue Fringe’s wildly successful debut album, My Awakening, threw the Jewish music world for a loop, selling over 15,000 copies in two years. That’s no small achievement for any indie rock band, and in the Jewish music world, 5,000 copies is often considered a gold record. The popularity of the music shot the foursome into the role of “Hot New Thing”—and it wasn’t just hype. There was real talent on the power pop-soaked My Awakening, even if its John Mayer influence sometimes slipped into something akin to the Rembrandts in Hebrew.

Songwriter, guitarist and lead vocalist Dov Rosenblatt met his band mates in Israel the summer before starting Yeshiva University. The group quickly found a niche in Modern Orthodox circles with the tongue-in-cheek “Flippin’ Out,” describing the process by which Jewish high school graduates go to Israel for a year and undergo a dramatic religious transformation. “I’m getting frummer, yeah I’m on my way, learnin’ those catch phrases that you have to say, like Shkoyach and M’Stama too, cuz’ if you don’t say them then you’re not a frum Jew…I’m flippin’ out/my rebbe’s sheppin nachas/ I’m flippin’ out/My parent’s will kick my tuchas…”

An eager world of young observant Jews immediately identified with the song, and young seminary girls went nuts over the band’s good looks and Rosenblatt’s silky vocals. Tour dates brought the band to every major U.S. market, plus Australia, South Africa and a few dates in Europe. In Israel, their tour included a performance in Beit Shemesh for a festival audience of 10,000.

With their follow up, 70 Faces, Blue Fringe shows a maturation and willingness to experiment with new formats and arrangements. They avoid the trap of making their second album a facsimile of the first and draw on their musical influences and creativity for a distinct, yet familiar, sound. 70 Faces refers to the Talmudic concept of Shivim Panim laTorah, or the 70 ways to interpret the Torah. Its selection as the album’s title track is a sly hint that the band is no longer sticking to a singular pop-rock sound, but embracing funk, blues, jazz and an ever more diverse range of rock influences.

(more…)

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February 28, 2005: 10:00 pm: AdministratorWorld Fusion

World Music Sampler

Modern Klezmer Quartet

The rhythm section enters with four bars of 5/8, then switches to 8/8. Is this a Dave Brubeck tune? Maybe Coltrane? Its the Modern Klezmer Quartet, playing aural tricks on your brain with their slick and spare jazz arrangements of Jewish melodies, new and old. With arrangements by Bob Appelbaum, the MKQ have a great sound that would delight any Jazz club crowd.

Yesh
Cherokezatzle
Fun Tashlich

Steve Gibon Gypsy String Project

Steve Gibons brings together jazzmen and traditional Rroma musicians to wed elements of modern composition and improv to European Gypsy and folk music. Gypsy Rhythm Project mixes a compelling, energetic concoction of music from Romania, the Balkans and the Oriental Gypsy world.

Doina
Manea
Ravelnikov
Little Buds

Chicago AfroBeat Project

Afrobeat’s range of influences — funk, rock, jazz, afro-cuban, high life and juju music – settle into a hypnotic, dance-compelling pulse at the core of CAbP. The group layers a fiery originality around this core through high-energy rock and experimental jazz. The trance-like grooves that hold the floor in the tradition are pushed to new borders in CAbP’s second and self-produced album, (A) Move to Silent Unrest. In it, the group keeps true to the mix of respect to the tradition and forward-thinking experimentation that shine through in their live performances.

Medley
West Ganji
Talking Bush

Andreas Kapsalis Trio

A cross between world music and jazz that is often described as “Tribal Mediterranean.” Kapsalis states that “we enjoy arranging intellectual compositions – music that you have to think about, but at the same time, we love the intensity of a simple piece of bubble-gum music. We’re essentially coupling together these two components within the songs. We also love introducing elements of Greek music into the sound, such as the old folk melodies I remember listening to from my childhood, as well as odd-time signatures, but try to do it with a light hearted feel.” There are also elements of Americana, Flamenco, African, and Middle Eastern music included in the mix, but no one genre ever becomes most prominent.

Blue Rondo
Enlightenment
Ethnozentrop
El Mariachi
Music to Spy to
Cubist
Money

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