Jewish Music in Washington DC

[GAronoff <GAronoff...>]

Below is information on the first Washington DC Jewish Music Festival to be 
held on 
April 4 - 9 at the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center, 16th and Q 
Streets, NW, Washington, DC.

Anyone in the Washington area in early April should check out the exciting 
line-up of Jewish music acts including Neshama Carlebach, Voice of the 
Turtle, Sheshbesh, the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, Paradox Trio, Pharaoh's 
Daughter and Uri Caine and DJ Olive's Zohar.

- Gideon Aronoff

Schedule of Events

Neshama Carlebach
Tuesday, April 4
7:30 pm, followed by live klezmer music and dancing 
$25 

When Neshama Carlebach sings, she brings a bit of heaven down to earth. 
Neshama continues the rich legacy of her father, the famed Rabbi Shlomo 
Carlebach, lending her own soulful sound to the mystical spirituality 
within Judaism. Her wide-ranging voice brings new life and new energy to 
many of her father?s popular melodies. Over the last several years, 
Neshama?s talent and charisma have endeared her to audiences around the 
world. As Reb Carlebach sang, ?Let?s tear a hole in heaven and let our 
souls rise up through it!? 

Emma Goldman once said, ?If your revolution doesn?t include klezmer, I 
don?t want it.? Well, we?ve got it! So bring your dancing shoes because 
this opening night performance will be followed by a kickin? klezmer 
party featuring the Adat Shalom Klezmer Workshop.
(back to top)
    

Voice of the Turtle 
Wednesday, April 5
7:30 pm
$15

North America?s preeminent Sephardic musical ensemble has been 
performing and recording their unique blend of Judeo-Spanish music for 
more than 20 years. With 13 albums to date, Voice of the Turtle has 
performed in major concert halls around the world and can frequently be 
heard on NPR. The group will introduce the audience to rare medieval and 
renaissance instruments and percussion from the Near and Middle East. 
Filled with dramatic narrative, engaging folktales, and a particularly 
lively wit, Voice of the Turtle performances reflect a moving musical 
portrait of Iberian Jewish history. Flavored with hints of Arabic and 
Christian Spain, Turkey, Greece, Rhodes, the Balkans, North Africa, and 
Europe, the music of Voice of the Turtle is truly an international 
treasure.
(Back to top) 
    

New Orleans Klezmer Allstars
Thursday, April 6
7:30 PM
$15

?Easily the funniest and wildest of the klezmer new wave.? ? Village 
Voice 

Think of the energy of Mardi Gras. Now add the sounds of informal jam 
sessions heard on street corners, by the docks or on back porches ? but 
with a Yiddish twist. That?s the unique energy of the Klezmer Allstars. 
And they blend that energy with the band?s own unique chemistry. When 
the Allstars jam, they groove like most other N?awlins pros ? though 
instead of jazz or R&B progressions, they use Yiddish motifs from 
Russia, Poland, Greece, and Central Europe. They will kick out the jams 
with their funky Jewish music and spur the entire audience into a 
dancing frenzy. This is New Orleans Party Music Y?all! 

Singles are invited to grab a drink at the Fox & Hounds Lounge after the 
show. (Back to top) 
      

A Life in Song: Yiddishkeit in the Old Country
Friday, April 7 
2:00 PM
Free 

Join us for a fascinating program in which we learn about how the spirit 
of a people is expressed in songs ? the religious and worldly songs of 
the Jews of Eastern Europe. Polish mandolin player Alexander Gakner will 
discuss the prominence of Yiddish music in the now-vanished community of 
his childhood, while University of Maryland Jewish Studies Professor 
Miriam Isaacs will place this music within the larger context of Yiddish 
culture. Accompanied by live Yiddish music demonstrations with Craig 
Packard, Larry Robinson, Joan Dubinsky and Alexander Gakner. (Back to 
top) 
   

Shesh Besh 
Presented in cooperation with the Embassy of Israel 
Saturday, April 8
8:00 PM 
$15

Israel?s hottest music export! A worldwide musical sensation, Shesh Besh 
is a riveting new ensemble of four classically-trained musicians from 
Israel. Their expressive music is based on traditional Middle Eastern 
and Oriental folk melodies and songs, from regions ranging from Morocco 
to Tadzhikistan, that use Israel as their natural meeting point. Shesh 
Besh is composed of Amir Massarik, a versatile bassist with a special 
interest in the fusion of classical, jazz, and ethnic music; Yossi 
Arnheim, principal flutist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; Chen 
Zimbalista, Israel?s star percussionist; and Oud soloist Yair Dalal, a 
leading figure in Israel?s ethnic music scene. (Back to top) 
    

Shir Madness! 
Sunday, April 9
1:00 PM
Free

Join us for performances from two accomplished choirs who are truly 
making their imprint on Washington. 

The DCJCC?s Keshet Choir, directed by Cantor Aaron Marcus, has 
established itself as one of the most exciting choirs in the area. They 
perform annually at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, the DCJCC, and many 
local synagogues.

The Adas Israel Youth Choir is directed by Cantor Arnold Saltzman. The 
choir has performed for President Clinton and Vice President Gore, and 
for the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration on CNN in a worldwide 
broadcast. They have also performed at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, 
the B?nai B?rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, Sumner Museum of 
Civil Rights, and The Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
(Back to top) 
    

Tunes & Tales: A Children?s Performance 
Sunday, April 9 
4:00 PM
Free

Rejoice in the magic of storytelling and song as professional children?s 
performers Jennifer Rudick and Michael Tyson captivate children of all 
ages, adding their own creative touch to traditional Passover songs and 
stories. Jennifer and Michael have charmed young audiences across the 
country with their good humor and boundless energy. Their richly 
textured performances are sure to inspire the imagination and delight 
the spirit.

This performance is made possible by the Muriel K. Skolnick ?Children?s 
Hour? Endowment.
(Back to top) 
   

The JAM Tour: Pharaoh?s Daughter, 
Paradox Trio & Zohar
Sunday, April 9
7:00 PM
$20

This performance is funded by a special grant from Laura Mulitz.

There have always been strong ties between the avant-garde and Jewish 
culture. Music has been no exception. This tour represents the cutting 
edge of the Jewish music scene from The Knitting Factory (the bastion of 
downtown cool) in New York City. These three bands are red-hot, 
exemplifying the meeting of traditional music with the New York new 
music sensibility. We are thrilled to present them to the Washington 
community for the first time. Each band will play a one-hour set. Plenty 
of drinks and snacks will be available between sets. 

Pharaoh?s Daughter 
>From Yiddish standards with Middle Eastern arrangements to new melodies 
of liturgical staples like Lecha Dodi, Pharaoh?s Daughter will bring you 
to your feet with their spontaneous and spiritual jams. Lead singer 
Basya grew up Orthodox in Boro Park to which she attributes her melodic 
sensibilities, her usage of niggunim, and many of her evocative lyrics. 
But her influences were clearly enhanced by her hitchhiking adventures 
throughout the Middle East and Africa, dancing in the Djem al Afna in 
Marrakesh, and hanging out in smoky bars in Kurdistan where she 
befriended local musicians and soaked up their unique sounds and 
rhythms. The sounds of Pharaoh?s Daughter will leave a lasting 
impression with their masterful ability to evolve from a hypnotic, 
meditative sound into a full-throttle jam complete with high energy and 
ecstatic grooves. 

Paradox Trio 
Paradox Trio, led by the Klezmatics? Matt Darriau, will present a 
fascinating new project that only someone with Darriau?s experience 
could take on: a selection of tunes that the Klezmer repertoire shares 
with its Balkan, Turkish, Gypsy, and Mediterranean cousins. The fiery 
ensemble builds on the rhythmically charged gypsy, jazz, and Klezmer 
music by adding a distinctly New York vibe. Darriau?s rippling sax, 
flute, and clarinet lines form thick mists of ethnicity that are 
ruthlessly dispelled by angular guitar bursts from Brad Shepik, a pillar 
in the new Eastern European/Arabic-inflected downtown consortium. 
Cellist Rufus Cappadocia holds down the low end on his five-string 
instruments and has no inhibitions about plugging in. Macedonian émigré 
Seido Salifoski is the right percussionist for the job, with an 
instrumental toolbox that includes the dumbek and the Balkan tupan. 
Together, the band sculpts colorful musical mosaics with their 
groundbreaking efforts to fuse old-world sounds with modern jazz. 

Zohar: Uri Caine & DJ Olive 
Traditional Judeo-Andalusian music meets postmodern downtown jazz when 
two of the most in-demand jazz musicians of the past few years team up 
for a startling blend of ancient tradition and post-modern 
trail-blazing. The result is an eclectic meeting of Eastern Jewish 
liturgical music with heavy groove jazz, creating a sound that covers 
turf from synagogues to jazz halls to DJ booths. Uri?s spirited and 
tactile approach to the keyboard is complimented by Olive?s swirling 
beats and atmospheric samples of Moroccan legend Aaron Bensoussan?s 
vocals. Musical boundaries stretch and disappear as Olive blends 
Bensoussan?s powerful chants with Caine?s electrifying piano work. As 
Eastern melodies, funky rhythms, and expansive jazz excursions blend 
seamlessly together, Zohar indeed travels to new levels of soul. (back 
to top) 
    

Klezmer Jam Sessions 
Wednesday, April 5
Saturday, April 8
8:00 pm ? 11:00 pm
Free 

The Klezmer tradition has always been one of sharing tunes and jamming 
with other musicians. If you play an instrument or like to sing, we 
invite you to come be a part of that tradition through an open jam 
session led by renowned musician, David Julian Gray. Gray is a seminal 
figure in the international revival of Klezmer music and was the 
original clarinetist for the Grammy-nominated Klezmorim. He currently 
plays with one of today?s most creative Klezmer bands, Klezcentricity. 
If you?re attending a Festival show on one of these evenings, feel free 
to check your instruments at the door and join in after the show. All 
skill levels encouraged to join in. (back to top) 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tickets
? Tickets go on sale March 13 for DCJCC members, 
   March 15 for non-members
? All ticket orders should be placed through 
   Box Office Tickets at (800) 494-8497
? All seating is general admission in the DCJCC?s 
   Cecile Goldman Theater
? All ticket sales are final 
? Performers subject to change

Ticket Prices
Opening Night: $25 
Closing Night: $20
Evening Performances: $15 
Daytime Programs: Free 

Same-day Tickets 
The DCJCC?s Box Office will open for same- day sales one hour prior to 
each performance (subject to availability). 

Free Events 
To register for free events, please call
(202) 518-9400, x393.

General Festival Info 
Send an e-mail to musicfest (at) dcjcc(dot)org or call the Festival Hotline at 
(202) 518-9400, x393.

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+