J-ARTS

Biglal Avos

Shlomo Katz was born into a family of musicians that includes his father, master musician and chazzan, Avshalom Katz. Raised in Raanana, Israel, he is a prolific composer of beautiful music, both solo and in collaboration with his brother, Eitan, Yehuda Solomon and Chaim David. The Torah and music of Reb Shlomo Carlebach zt”l has inspired and strengthened Shlomo throughout his young career. He was the lead Baal Tefilah and spiritual guide in the Carlebach Minyan of Beth Jacob of Beverly Hills. He developed an early following at Thursday night classes on Chassidut that averaged 50 students. The highlight of Shlomo’s life was when together with his father Avshalom and brother Eitan, he recorded his first CD: “Eilecha: Avshalom Katz Presents: Shlomo and Eitan” to a resounding success. Since the release of the CD, Shlomo has conducted numerous concert tours including Argentina, Costa Rica, Australia and Belguim. His second CD, entitled “BIGLAL AVOS” sold out its first three pressings. Shlomo has just released his third album, “Vehakohanim” and recently earned smicha from Yeshivat HaMivtar in Efrat under Rosh HaYeshiva, Rav Chaim Brovender. He continues to tour and perform throughout Israel, Europe, Australia and United States. His performances lift the crowd to heights, leaving one moved, inspired, transformed and hungry for more.

Asher Bara
Biglal Avos
Chemdas
Ka Ribon

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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

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Aharit HaYamim is an Israeli reggae, dub and ska sensation whose groove and sensibility is rooted in a Messianic longing and a love of Zion they share with their Rastafarian brethren. With a post-Carlebach Jewish folk flavor, they proclain their love for “Yerushalayim” and “Holy Mount Zion” with tight four-part harmonies, layered over thumping basslines, lush arrangements and extended play instrumentals.

Their brand of world-beat reggae focuses on messiah and redemption, “but it’s a redemption with everybody else; it’s about bringing the nation of Israel together.” Famed perfomer Matisyahu, hearing their music as he walked by a Jerusalem cafe performance, jumped onstage and performed an impropmtu set. Aharit HaYamim (Hebrew for End of Days) is far more than a band “it is a full-fledged grassroots movement” made up of disillusioned children of Oslo looking for an out, post-Carlebach jam band fans, Phisheads and the Haredi/Hippie Hilltop youth.

How does one join this movement? “You don’t need to,” says Leuchter. “Everyone is already a member. Aharit Hayamim is just here to wake you up and spread the message of unity, love and Israel.” Wearing brightly colored, home-sewn, hemp clothing, replete with tzitzit, ritual fringes, Aharit HaYamim delivers a heady musical mix perfect for party people or spiritual seekers. Their hope is that during their concert- these become one in the same as they hasten and celebrate the coming of Moshiach.

Ein Yeosh
Kum Lach Adam
Aharit Hayamim
Areyut Yehuda
Yerushalayim
Lo Lefached
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Matthue Roth is an Orthodox paradox; a poet who davens three times a day, he riffs on the sex he didn’t have until he married, crushes on Orthodox girls, his lesbian best friends and other frustrations of being frum. Matthue has performed on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam” series. On Friday nights he’s a regular at Chabad, but other nights he’s in front of the microphone. He is a published author and poet with two books to his credit “Never Mind the Goldbergs” and a memoir, “Yom Kippur A Go-Go.” A third book is in the works. Warning: these poems may be inappropriate for children and halachic prudes.

Dreidel Maiven
Orthodox Girls

My Garden

Y-Love (Yitz Jordan) is an MC unlike any other. He is a black convert into the Bostoner sect of chassidus (the mystical branch of Orthodox Judaism). He is among the most innovative freestylers on the scene, weaving seamless polyglot rhymes in English, Arabic, Yiddish, and Hebrew. Most unique is Y-Love’s revival of Aramaic, the language used to discuss Jewish Law and Kabbalah. With each word he spits in the tongue of ancient Babylon, Y-Love breathes new life into hip-hop, one beat at a time.

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