Just a few months after his son Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Karachi, Pakistan, Judea Pearl approached Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, Senior Associate Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University, about the possibility of organizing a concert in his son’s memory to take place around his birthday, October 10. “He wanted there…
The first few bars of DeScribe’s new video, “Harmony,” are an Auto-Tuned proclamation of love, respect and unity. Standing behind a microphone, surrounded by Jewish and African American teenagers, the bearded 28-year-old rapper advocates love and understanding between the two communities and the world at large. On August 2 DeScribe, also known as Shneur Hasofer,…
Music lovers preoccupied with the question of “whither Jewish jazz?” will want to attend the June 19 performance by the Assaf Kehati Trio at Boston’s The Beehive, in anticipation of their scheduled sets at New York’s The Blue Note on August 1. The trio consists of guitarist Assaf Kehati, an Israeli-born resident of Boston, veteran…
Up there in the top five least favorite Jewish traditions is the custom of avoiding live instrumental music between the end of Passover and Lag B’aomer. Being a people of hairsplitting legalists, this custom has engendered a whole new genre, called “s’fira music” — albums upon albums of permissible a cappella tunes (from all male…
The Brooklyn-based music label Shemspeed attracted international attention recently with their “Israeli remix of the Keffiyeh” (more of a tempest in a teapot, really, than a full-blown controversy), but that shouldn’t distract anyone from what the Jewish music production company spends most of its time doing: producing music. Shemspeed has put out no less than…
One day, one day … One day. “All my life I’ve been waiting for, been praying for …” a Hasidic reggae musician to be the voice of the Olympics. Well the day arrived just this week, when NBC launched their promotion for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics set to the tune of Matisyahu’s recent hit “One…
Jewish rapper, beach, self-interview. Got it? It’s clear why he’s a famous singer, not a famous comedian — but it’s cute. Hat tip Erez and Shemspeed.
Reggae sensation Matisyahu made waves last year when he revealed that he was no longer affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic sect. Since then, he has been davening at a shul affiliated with the Karliner Hasidim, who are known for screaming their prayers. Now, it appears, his new spiritual orientation is starting to show in his…
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