Music

Singer's 'Festival of Light' Tour Keeps the Celebration Rockin' On

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A 3-foot tall menorah burned, a gigantic mirrored dreidel spun overhead, and on stage, Matisyahu launched into a lilting reggae melody as a sold-out crowd of nearly 1,000 people roared with approval. The Chasidic singer's "Festival of Light" tour, held at the Theatre of the Living Arts on South Street, seemed the perfect excuse to usher in the last night...

Music

A (Music) Man of the World

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Michael Elkin

Give a holler, and Ami Yares will come runnin'. Well, at least as long as it takes him to fly over from Israel. But he knows the route: The HOLLER! band co-founder hails from South Jersey, but he has traveled far and wide from his adopted home in Jaffa. Last stop: World Cafe Live, in which his American-influenced Holler held...

Music

He's the Key to 'B&B'

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Michael Elkin

"Greenwich Village Hooligans"? Gee, why didn't he think of that, chuckles director/writer (with Michael Jaeger) Josh Shelov of what he could have called "The Best and the Brightest." Because, probably, the writer of "Green Street Hooligans" -- Shelov's acclaimed other major credit -- would have been repeating himself. And, one thing's for sure: Shelov is an original. It shines through...

Music

'Me, Me' Stillman? It's So Much More About Others

Prodigy-cum-applauded Philly flutist strikes notes for history

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Michael Elkin

How sweet the sound of the Dolce Suono Ensemble. And how sweet the sincerity of Mimi Stillman, the Philly flutist with a filigree of fame spread worldwide since founding the ensemble five years ago. For a flutist who flaunts an impressive bio that includes being the youngest wind player ever admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music -- she was...

Music

Sabra Sass

Israelis trumpet their own jazz-jive in a major Philly festival

By:

Michael Elkin

And all that -- Israeli jazz? Forget that bowler hat, Bob Fosse -- make it a kipah! The land of milk and honey and, as it turns out, trumpets and horns is about to blow any blowhards out of the sand dunes who think that the trill of it all has nothing to do with the Holy Land: Indeed, any...