J-ARTS

Born and raised in Detroit, Michael HarPaz, son of immigrant parents, emigrated to Israel in 1995 with only a few bucks in his pocket, his guitar on his back and high ambitions.

Within a year, he became a founding member of HiFive, the biggest band in Israeli history. As the lead singer in HiFive, Michael spent the next four years performing to sold out arena shows in front of hundreds of thousands of adoring fans. As a cultural icon, Michael was the pulse of everything pop in the country. Setting trends both musically and socially, Michael managed to change Israeli entertainment history forever.

He and his group set the bar against which all other success was measured. With four gold albums to his name and countless other awards and honors, Michaels fame rose to new heights. He could not walk the streets of Tel-Aviv without a steady entourage or bodyguards and security.

Michael’s music took him to New York and word traveled fast. He performed for Mayor Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion and singing on the stage of Town Hall. Michael became part of the songwriting team for producer John Eaton writing for such artists as P. Diddy, Usher, and The Roots. During this time, Michael also flew to LA to write and perform on the best selling CD, MAXAZRIA BCBG Live.

Soon Michael was in the studio with 7 Aurelius (Jennifer Lopez, Ashanti, Ja Rule) and renowned music mogul, Damon Dash, to work on some collaborative projects. While working on a song for Paris Hilton, Michael was asked to come to Israel to help write some songs for Israeli singer Maya Buskila.

In Israel, Michael’s music was overheard by Oscar nominated film maker Menahem Golan and asked if he would stay in Israel to write and produce an original score for his new motion picture, “A Dangerous Dance”. Humbled by this offer, Michael began writing the rough demos for the movie. The producers and director fell in love with the voice on the rough tracks and soon enough was singing more tracks on the album than not. Michaels knack for vocal impersonations and wide range allowed him to write, produce and sing every track for the film. Currently, Michael is in Tel Aviv finishing the score for Golan’s film, with the first single, “My Champion” about to hit the airwaves.

Michael participated in the “Voices for Israel” project, and though not a ‘religious’ performer, wrote a new Havdallah suite for the Conservative movement. He has participated in many concerts to support Israel Defense Forces and benefits for victims of terror, including those in Sderot and in the bomb shelters during the Second Lebanon War.

Havdallah
Kshe HaLev
So Clearly I Remember
Westport Boy

Stereo Sinai is the Good Book like you’ve never heard it before. Miriam Brosseau (songwriter/vocals/guitar) and Alan Jay Sufrin (producer/songwriter/vocals/guitar) had been dating and making their own music for several years before Stereo Sinai came along.

They’d recently moved to Chicago, and the rabbi who welcomed them into the community had just had a son. Wanting to do something special for the rabbi’s family and their new baby, Gideon, Alan and Miriam teamed up to write a lullaby in what would become their unique ancient/modern style.

Stereo Sinai’s “Biblegum Pop” is the flip side of Ray Charles’ pioneering move to put secular words to traditional gospel music. Taking original Hebrew verses from the book of Judges and mixing them with a synthesized pop arrangement, the band’s first single, “Gideon’s Song,” was born.

If Kelly Clarkson and Gnarls Barkley had been on the mountain with Moses, they would have come down sounding a lot like Stereo Sinai. Mixing conservation with innovation, the band is not only working to lend renewed relevance to ancient texts. Stereo Sinai is also committed to acting as a socially responsible and environmentally conscious outfit in every respect.

Both Alan and Miriam are also both Jewish educators and advocates for Israel who can speak to audiences of all ages on a variety of topics in addition to their performances.
Stereo Sinai is already making its mark on the local music scene, being featured at Chicago landmarks the Chicago Cultural Center and the Cubby Bear. The group is looking forward to playing several benefit concerts and other exciting shows in the near future as their album debuts and tour schedule begins to take shape.

Gideon’s Song
Dance
Hitn’aari

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
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Sarah Aroeste leads the world’s only Ladino Rock band, performing a funky fusion of Spanish, Mediterranean and American musical styles. Inspired by her family’s cultural heritage–orginally from Spain and later settling in Salonika, Greece– the Aroeste sound combines and updates aspects from her unique family background.

Most influenced by the music and language of her Spanish roots, Aroeste grounds her music in Ladino, or castillian Spanish, the language originated by Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. This medieval form of Spanish was carried by Spanish Jews to the various points where they later settled, primarily along the Mediterranean coast and North Africa. In time, ladino came to absorb bits and pieces of languages all along the Mediterranean coast, including Greek, Turkish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Hebrew.

This exotic pan-Mediterranean language has, unfortunately, been fading away and is hardly spoken anymore. But the musical legacy of Spanish Jews highlights the strength of an oral tradition that spans many centuries and unites a linguistic group. Until WWII the vibrant Spanish Jewish communities, particularly throughout the Mediterranean, had been able to perpetuate a significant Hispanic influence throughout the region. Following the War, Mediterranean Jews emigrated in large numbers to the U.S and Latin America, where their proud communities continue to retain a link, in many ways through music, with their medieval hispanic past.

American born, Aroeste has decided to revive this rich body of music by combining it with more contemporary musical influences. Encouraged by an influx of Latin-based music in America over the past few years, Aroeste hopes to make Sephardic music more recognized and accessible as well. Her family’s original Spanish-Greek name, Aroeste, or “of the West,” truly reflects her style of music by combining traditional Mediterranean sounds with contemporary rock, funk, jazz and blues. Using traditional instruments such as oud and dumbek, alongside electric guitar, bass and drums, Sarah Aroeste seeks to bring new life and energy to the beautiful and mysterious sounds of Sephardic music. Her sets include contemporary takes on traditional Mediterranean ladino songs, as well as original songs written in English, set to Spanish Mediterranean backgrounds.

A La Una
Arvoles
Hija Mia
Puertas

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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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Or Chadash

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.

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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.

Eliyahu HaNavi
Malachim

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Yom Hadash is one of the top Jewish recording and touring groups in the United States. Formed in 1997, Yom Hadash fuses world, rock, pop and funk-based music with Jewish ideas and liturgy. Led by the original songs and exciting performance style of Jon Nelson, Yom Hadash’s performances and celebrated recordings have brought the band international acclaim from the reform, conservative and orthodox Jewish communities. Performances at the USY, NFTY, and BBYO national conventions, the Wexner Foundation, Steven Spielberg’s Genesis Program, the CAJE Conference, and countless synagogues, camps and community centers across the US have cemented the band as a central figure in the Jewish musical renaissance which has swept the diaspora during the past decade.

Boi Kallah
Elohai Nishama
Lcha Dodi
Adon Olam
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Chana Rothman uniquely fuses Lilith-esque singer/songwriter folk mentality with progressive worldbeat in two languages. Like an eclectic ‘07 Rickie Lee Jones/Joni Mitchell, her politics, her obvious bohemianism and her delicate vocal phrasing push her sound into a delicious mix that also incorporates Jewish teachings, reggae and hip hop.

This is a strong young woman—a classically-trained Canadian living in Brooklyn—who trekked around America, Italy, Israel and Nepal with a guitar strapped to her backpack… A pied piper of the Himalayas, making friends and playing music along the way with kids from Kathmandu back to the Lower East Side.

Rothman’s eclectic musical taste finds its roots in her equally diverse upbringing. From Colorado mountains to gritty New York City subways, from world travel to exploring her own neighborhood, she builds bridges between people and create songs out of shared experiences. Although Rothman sings about her life, her music is for something much larger than herself.

Befriending audiences of all stripes across the country, she recently shared a stage with and Lou Reed and DJ Shadow and was named one of New York’s Best Emerging Jewish Artists. Through packed shows in New York - The Knitting Factory, Makor, the Mercury Lounge - radio and festival appearances, Rothman’s music, live and recorded, has begun to create a culture of its own. “People deserve fresh, original, thoughtful music that reflects our changing world. And if it’s done well, it becomes universal,” says Rothman. More than just a form of entertainment, she crafts her music to be relevant and meaningful.

Michael Dorf, founder of New York City’s famed Knitting Factory, agrees. After hearing Rothman’s demo, Dorf invited her to record an album on his new label, Oyhoo Records (nationally distributed through Allegro Distribution Co.) He paired her with recording artist and producer C Lanzbom, who brought on legendary drummer Shawn Pelton (Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkson) as well as other talented musicians and together they recorded Rothman’s debut, “We Can Rise.”

Ultimately, Rothman’s message is unity through music. Her poetry demands thought, and is provocatively accentuated by her genre-crossing style. “We Can Rise” manages to be both fun and compelling. It is infused with Rothman’s dynamic presence, one that shows both promise and determination. Clearly, Chana Rothman is an important new voice who cannot be ignored.

Ana Lay Down Your Swords
More than one way
Yisrael Ani Shelach

Coming Soon.

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.”

Uncle Tibor’s Spicy Paprikash
Halevai
Galitzianer Tantz
Nign (Avinu Malkeinu)

Rosenblatt uses recently devised techniques pioneered by harmonica master Howard Levy, to fit the instrument generally associated with the blues into an Eastern European context. Along with Rosenblatt the group members include trombonist Rachel Lemisch, one of the leading figures in klezmer brass revival, founding member Thierry Arsenault on drums and Montreal jam band scene mainstay Adam Stotland on bass. Frequent guests include, the stellar voice and incomparable stage presence of Yiddish folksong revivalist, Abigail Rosenblatt, along with founding member and internationally acclaimed hip-hop klezmer guru Josh (SoCalled) Dolgin.

Shtreiml is at present working with virtuoso Turkish musician Ismail Hakki Fencioglu on a project which explores the connections between Turkish and Eastern-European Jewish music. The group has performed at festivals, concerts, clubs and private functions in Canada, Europe and the U.S.

Download full press kit.

Lo Irah

Blue Fringe is composed of four Yeshiva University graduates. The band has created a new twist on Jewish music and become a sensation around the world. With influences ranging from Diaspora Yeshiva Band to John Mayer, to Victor Wooten, the band has developed a modern rock/pop sound of its own that has fueled world tours to Australia, England, Israel and across North America. With two albums, hundreds of performances under their belts and legions of fans, their original Jewish songs, both in English and Hebrew, weave Jewish themes into popular music unlike anything else.

Lo Irah
Kacha lo
Vayivarech
Shidduch Song

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Tree of Life

Ari Ben Moses band Reggae and Latin music influences heavily the Ari Ben Moses in sound and spirit. Their music underscores the humanity in us all and includes direct references to Jewish themes of peace and Torah. Ari Ben Moses has performed at the London Limmud, straddling the lines that divide us with stellar music. Fans of one-drop, rock-steady, socca, Bob Marley and Santana should prepare in advance for this very special treat.

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Ani Maamim

Oneg Shemesh grew up in Israel on Moshav Mevo Modiim founded by the late Rebbe Shlomo Carlebach, Z”L. He had the great privilege of spending much time with the Rebbe, accompanying him on guitar and drawing from his wealth of knowledge. After finishing his army career, Oneg joined The Moshav Band and toured with them throughout Israel, the United States and Canada. He presently lives in New York and has been performing concerts wherever Jews are found, bringing joy and happiness to communities around the world while trying to live up to his name ONEG which means utmost joy.

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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

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.

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