Music

A Former Jewish Punk Rocker Wrote an Acclaimed Novel About Holocaust Memory

by Curt Schleier, JTA | Apr 4, 2019 | Arts & Life, Books, Music, The Arts

(JTA) — At first glance, Bram Presser looks more like a punk rocker than a sensitive novelist. He has two big lip piercings, a few scraggly dreadlocks and a quirky beard only under his chin line. And, yes, Presser, 43, was the lead singer and songwriter of Yidcore, an...

Guitarist Adam Stoler Pulls Some Strings for ‘Come From Away’

by Alan Feiler, Editor-in-Chief | Apr 4, 2019 | Arts & Life, Fun, Music, Performing Arts, The Arts

To reference an old Counting Crows tune penned by lead singer (and Baltimore native) Adam Duritz, Adam Stoler is stranded “somewhere in middle America.” Omaha, to be precise. (Which happens to be the title of the aforementioned Counting Crows song.) “Yeah, it’s pretty...

With a Songbook in His Heart

by Simone Ellin, Associate Editor | Mar 21, 2019 | Arts & Life, Music, Performing Arts

Singer, pianist, music revivalist Michael Feinstein performs at the Gordon Center in April. Does Michael Feinstein ever sleep? That’s what we asked ourselves after perusing his resume in preparation for the following interview. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine how the...

Durand Jones & the Indications Features a Time Keeper with Charm City Connections

by Aliza Friedlander | Mar 17, 2019 | Arts & Life, Music

A few years ago, Aaron Frazer and his comrades in the band then known simply as The Indications never expected their weekly, homegrown “Sunday Soul” jams to lead to big-league professional gigs. “In the year leading up to our first show, we spent every Sunday writing...

Jerry Seinfeld Stars in New Vampire Weekend Music Video Set in Jewish Delis

by Gabe Friedman, JTA | Mar 13, 2019 | Arts & Life, Film & TV, Music, Performing Arts, The Arts, Visual Arts

(JTA) — In a new music video, Vampire Weekend singer Ezra Koenig takes the viewer through two of New York City’s Jewish culinary landmarks — and none other than Jerry Seinfeld comes along for the ride. The video for “Sunflower,” directed by Jonah Hill (née Feldstein),...

Jerusalem Youth Chorus Director to Speak in Baltimore

by Aliza Friedlander | Mar 11, 2019 | Arts & Life, Music, Performing Arts, The Arts

With more than 400,000 views on YouTube, the video of the Phillip Phillips song “Home” as performed by the YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus depicts the Israeli capital as thriving without any political, ethnic or sectarian divisions. “With the state of the world and the...

Jeff Tweedy on His Jewish Conversion, the Next Wilco Album and Why He Loves his Synagogue

by Stephen Silver | Feb 15, 2019 | Arts & Life, Music

(JTA) — Since the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll, there have been quite a few rock stars with Jewish heritage. To name a few: Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Gene Simmons, Lenny Kravitz, Geddy Lee and — depending on the decade — Bob Dylan. But how many have openly gushed about their...

‘The Band’s Visit,’ Drake Win Grammy Awards

by Marcy Oster | Feb 11, 2019 | Arts & Life, Music

(JTA) — “The Band’s Visit,” the Tony Award-winning musical set in an Israeli village, added a Grammy Award to its list of accolades and Jewish rapper Drake also won a Grammy for best rap song. The musical, which is based on a 2007 Israeli film, won for best musical...

A Collection of Yiddish Songs was Thought Lost Forever. Now They’ve Been Nominated for a Grammy.

by Penny Schwartz | Jan 27, 2019 | Arts & Life, Music, The Arts

BOSTON (JTA) — In the despair of the Soviet Union’s fierce World War II battles against the Nazis, a 42-year-old Jewish man from Odessa wrote a song in Yiddish poking fun at Hitler’s failures to seize control of Ukraine’s coal and oil resources. “On the High...

David Bromberg Quintet to Perform in Annapolis

by Alan Feiler, Editor-in-Chief | Jan 23, 2019 | Arts & Life, Music, Performing Arts, The Arts

Wilmington, Del. On a blustery December day, scattered leaves dance across the sidewalk along North Market Street, not far from the glass façade of the Delaware History Museum and the ornate and aptly named Grand Opera House. Passersby in this stretch of downtown...