Ben Shalev
By Ben Shalev
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The Schmooze A Less-Than-Perfect Marriage at Givatayim’s FestiJazz Festival
Crossposted from Haaretz Toward the end of their performance, the quartet of Anat Fort and Abate Barihun played an arrangement of a popular Ethiopian passage called “Gadaye.” “What’s ‘Gadaye?’” Fort asked Barihun on stage, and the saxophonist became a little confused and in the end said “It’s a wedding song.” The encounter between Barihun and…
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The Schmooze Broadcasts From Another World
Crossposted from Haaretz Sounds from another world, at a very low volume and of terrible audio quality, welcome the visitor to Nino Bitton’s small apartment. They sound like broadcasts from an ancient Arab world, which has long since ceased to exist outside isolated enclaves like this Jerusalem living room. What are we listening to? “Algerian…
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The Schmooze Haifa Starts Rocking
Crossposted from Haaretz A festival being held for the first time is an idea. A festival being held for the second time is already a fact on the ground. Haifolk, Haifa’s indie music festival, had its second run this weekend and can, therefore, safely be declared an established festival on the Israeli indie music scene….
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The Schmooze How Good is Gogol Bordello?
Crossposted from Haaretz Before you read any further: If you weren’t at Gogol Bordello’s first two performances this week and you don’t have tickets for tonight — get them now. This is the sort of event for which the words “don’t miss” were invented. The question with regard to Gogol Bordello, as opposed to most…
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The Schmooze Cold Can’t Stop Eilat’s Winter Jazz Festival
Crossposted from Haaretz When one is talking about jazz, the word “dissonance” often is heard in reference to avant-garde, cacophonic-sounding music. At the Red Sea Winter Jazz Festival, held over the weekend for the first time (as the new, younger sibling of the veteran Red Sea Jazz Festival, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in…
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The Schmooze Monday Music: A Festival for the Righteous
Crossposted from Haaretz Here’s an idea for a wonderful festival of new Israeli jazz: Bring together under one roof all (or most) of the local musicians who have put out albums in recent years under the New York label Tzadik Records. In the past 10 years, Tzadik — the company owned by avant-garde composer/musician John…
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The Schmooze Lady of the Forest
Crossposted from Haaretz The singer Karen Malka appears to be on friendly terms with mother nature. Her new album “Eshet Hayearot” (“Lady of the Forest”) is, as its name implies, replete with references to rivers, flowers, earth, grass — and always with a feeling of cosmic harmony. But the weather conspired against Malka on Sunday,…
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The Schmooze Jazz Great — and Gone
Crossposted from Haaretz On Friday morning, the ninth-grade students in the jazz program at the Thelma Yellin High School for Arts were learning about the history of jazz with their beloved teacher, Amit Golan. That same day there was a test. The questions were about Duke Ellington, Art Tatum and other early jazz giants, whom…
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