This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish music, including klezmer and other traditions.
Music
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The Schmooze Montserrat Figueras, Sephardic Music Pioneer
On November 23, the Catalan singer Montserrat Figueras died at her home in Bellaterra, near Barcelona, at the age of 69. Together with her husband, the legendary early bowed strings master Jordi Savall, Montserrat brought Sephardic music to the attention of a wide and appreciative audience of listeners, many of whom were unlikely to have…
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The Schmooze Monday Music: A Little Rock, a Lot of Soul
She’s seen and done it all, and it wasn’t always pretty. Robin Lane endured a forsaken childhood during the Hollywood heyday, lived and performed with the giants of 1960s West Coast psychedelia, and slashed and burned through the punk rock era. Now, Lane is lending her talents to help others overcome the life traumas she…
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The Schmooze Keyboard Kings and Queens
Crossposted from Haaretz On paper, and sometimes in practice, there are several good reasons for not getting excited about the annual Tel Aviv Piano Festival. Among them are the festival’s formal and conservative nature, the way the problematic concept of hospitality is dealt with, the absence of a rhythmic component in most of the events,…
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The Schmooze No Bears Are Back in Town
Crossposted from Haaretz Up until around two years ago, Lo Dubim (which translates to “No Bears”) was one of the most active and well-liked bands in the Tel Aviv and festival indie scene, from InDNegev to the Menashe Forest Festival and back in time to the Hutzmizeh Festival. But then, suddenly there was no trace…
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The Schmooze Leonard Cohen’s Altneu Song
“Old Ideas,” Leonard Cohen’s first album of new material since 2004’s “Dear Heather,” is set for a January 31 release. Cohen, now 77, is planning another tour to support the record. Given the subpar quality of “Dear Heather” (as explicated in this review by John Jeremiah Sullivan), and the dodgy quality of Cohen’s later studio…
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The Schmooze Joined by Oud
Crossposted from Haaretz The closing performance of the Jerusalem Oud Festival, starring the singer Aynur Dogan, exemplified the festival’s beauty and necessity. Even in times when the word “flotilla” brought to mind pleasant connotations, Israeli music lovers did not have many opportunities to enjoy a leading Turkish singer. In recent times, marked by Israeli-Turkish hostility,…
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The Schmooze Monday Music: Haredi Hip-Hop Rocks Tel Aviv
Crossposted from Haaretz The mostly secular crowed at Mike’s Place in Tel Aviv had a religious experience last week when the five-piece Haredi Hip Hop band Shtar took to the stage, traditional wardrobe intact. It wasn’t long before the crowed began to sway to the rhythm of rapper Ori M’Ori’s tassels, as he hammered out…
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Music Israel’s Gender Wars: A Week of Changes
It was small, low-key and the participants numbered in the hundreds, not the thousands. But a crowd of Israeli women took to the streets to speak out — or, more accurately, sing out — against the continuing attacks by religious extremists on women’s right to be seen and heard freely in the public square. The…
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