Music

Lyrical Liturgy

By:

Mordechai Shinefield, JE Feature

Toronto native and Philadelphia transplant Chana Rothman, 37, has staked out a niche mashing together breezy hip-hop beats, sunny acoustic reggae, and a warm mouthy flow that draws lyrically from Hebrew liturgy and relaxed, left-wing politics. Chana Rothman's new self-released album is of a "Beautiful Land." On "Lay Down Your Swords," she code-switches between English and Hebrew, singing over a...

Music

'Rapping' His Way Through the Bible

By:

Deborah Hirsch

Matt Bar would like you to know that he's not white -- just Jewish.

Music

Banjo Bela Brings It On

By:

Michael Elkin

So, Bela Fleck, when you throw down your heart, does it always come up with a banjo riff? "Absolutely," says the legendary picker and pick of the Grammy Award committee innumerable times for his musical musings -- including the 2011 Best Contemporary World Music Album, "Throw Down Your Heart, Africa Sessions, Part 2: Unreleased Tracks." Indeed, the instrument releases an...

Music

Fool's Gold Band Takes a Shine to Blend of Israeli Afropop

By:

Mordechai Shinefield, JE Feature

The first time Jews and Afropop met in popular culture, Paul Simon was flying out to South Africa to lay down some tracks with the male choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo about visiting Elvis Presley's mansion in Graceland. Like Simon, Fool's Gold has done a bit of globetrotting as well, playng New York and Paris, and now they're heading to...

Music

The Dark Knight of Night Terrors?

By:

Michael Elkin

Bucks County troubadour of trauma? True to the tradition of using music as muse as a storyteller's medium, Carversville's Alec Gross has carved out a nice niche for himself as singer/songwriter with a backpack of imagery that begs to be heard. His music travels well; just give a listen to the blues-infused "Strip the Lanterns: The Night Terrors of Mr...