Jewish musicians

Interview

How Shabbat dinner helped launch Grammy-winning, Black-Jewish songwriter Autumn Rowe

After collaborating with Diana Ross and Jon Batiste, the artist dishes about pulling herself up by the bootstraps and how she’s paying it forward with The Songwriter Fund

On tour, US-Israeli sister-trio HAIM are having the time of their lives

By Jordan Hoffman

Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Autumn Rowe. (Courtesy/ ICON PR)

May 20, 2022, 1:31 pm

How Shabbat dinner helped launch Grammy-winning, Black-Jewish songwriter Autumn Rowe

After collaborating with Diana Ross and Jon Batiste, the artist dishes about pulling herself up by the bootstraps and how she’s paying it forward with The Songwriter Fund

By Jordan Hoffman

From left: Este Haim, Alana Haim, and Danielle Haim arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

May 19, 2022, 9:10 pm

On tour, US-Israeli sister-trio HAIM are having the time of their lives

At Madison Square Garden, the multitalented rockers have as much – or more – fun as their audience, with a quirky and charismatic stage presence that makes the huge venue intimate

By Jordan Hoffman

'Tefila' features David Broza on guitar and vocals, the 25-voice Moran Choir from Israel, gospel singers from New York City, and, on bass, the Israeli-American Omer Avital, who also did the orchestrations. (Courtesy Temple Emanu-El/ via JTA)

May 3, 2022, 3:44 am

Israeli musician David Broza helps NYC synagogue ‘re-envision’ Friday night services

Secular singer says he reached musical enlightenment when he read the ancient Hebrew prayers for his new album ‘Tefila,’ commissioned by Temple Emanu-El to attract new audiences

By Andrew Silow-Carroll

Madeline Forman. (Courtesy of the Forman family/via JTA)

April 20, 2022, 4:06 am

80 years after being told she had a future, this Jewish singer is getting recognized

Madeline Forman quit her nascent musical career to help sustain her Russian immigrant family in New Jersey. Now, experts are lauding her long-buried recordings

By Victor Wishna

Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman at a rehearsal for their musical 'Harmony' in New York City. (Julieta Cervantes/ via JTA)

April 5, 2022, 2:52 am

Iconic singer Barry Manilow dishes on bringing his Nazi-era musical to NYC

With a new production of ‘Harmony’ opening April 14, Manilow and his writing partner Bruce Sussman discuss the show’s – and their – Jewish roots, along with their legendary careers

By Jacob Henry

David Fishof, right, with Roger Daltrey, left, and Slash in 2007. (Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp/ via JTA)

March 30, 2022, 9:04 pm

The man behind Rock ’n Roll Fantasy Camp is a Modern Orthodox zayde

David Fishof’s getaway where amateurs can jam alongside their music heroes has hosted over 5,000 campers over 25 years and gained national fame – but he hasn’t forgotten his roots

By Aviva Engel

Cantor Yisroel Leshes filmed his first music video for his song 'Younger World' while on vacation in Venice, teaming up with local Venetian directors and cinematographers. (Courtesy/ via JTA)

February 8, 2022, 4:14 am

This New York City cantor is making modern Yiddish music that swings

When he’s not leading prayers at the Lincoln Square Synagogue, Yisroel Leshes loves jazz – so it’s only natural that he’s doing a fusion of old, new and the swingin’ era in between

By julia GERGELY

Detail from 'Entertainment,' a drawing of the Terezín concentration camp by Bedřich Fritta, from 1943. Collection of Thomas Fritta Haas. ('Our Will to Live' by Mark Ludwig, published by Steidl/ via JTA)

January 25, 2022, 3:37 am

A musician’s project sheds new light on artistic life in Terezín concentration camp

Trying to pass off the brutal camp as a ‘spa’ for propaganda, the Nazis inadvertently set the stage for creativity by bringing many of the top Jewish artists together in one place

By Jonah Goldman Kay

During the pandemic, Navah Perlman Frost pivoted from being a professional musician to running her own cake business. And yes, those are cupcakes -- not flowers. (Courtesy photos/Design by Grace Yagel/ via JTA)

December 20, 2021, 4:23 am

Switching keys after COVID, Jewish pianist in NYC designs cakes that strike a chord

Navah Perlman Frost’s ‘extraordinary’ buttercream creations have to be seen to be believed, and have made her an instant hit in the Big Apple’s competitive baking scene

By Rachel Ringler

Leonard Cohen performs during the first day of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California, April 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

November 26, 2021, 3:10 am

Hallelujah: How Leonard Cohen looked to the Bible and Kabbalah for inspiration

‘Leonard Cohen: The Mystical Roots of Genius’ by UK author Harry Freedman shows how Judeo-Christian theology and rabbinic roots shaped the writer and musician’s worldview

By JP O’ Malley

Alex Clare performs in Germany in 2018. (Michael Debets/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

October 31, 2021, 5:38 pm

Orthodox singer who skipped Adele tour over Shabbat has new single

Despite past experiences, Israel-based Alex Clare says there is little tension between being an observant Jew and following a successful career as a musician

By Gabe Friedman

Pop group Jay And The Americans perform on the NBC TV music show 'Hullabaloo' in New York City, February 1965. Jay Black is second from right, holding the microphone. (Hullabaloo Archive/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images via JTA)

October 27, 2021, 11:37 am

Jay Black of ‘Jay and The Americans’ dies at 82

Born David Blatt, singer known for his powerful voice and dramatic delivery was raised in an Orthodox family, liked to project a mysterious, bad-boy affect

By Ron Kampeas

John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Lou Reed from archival photography in the new documentary 'The Velvet Underground' by filmmaker Todd Haynes (Courtesy Apple TV+)

October 14, 2021, 1:43 am

Velvet Underground documentary omits band’s Jewish roots, but is still very cool

Out on Apple TV+ October 15, ‘The Velvet Underground’ dives into the countercultural phenomenon started by queer Jewish musician Lou Reed and rocketed to fame by Andy Warhol

By Jordan Hoffman

A screenshot from video of singer Gil Ofarim posted to his Instagram account, on October 5, 2021. (Screenshot/Instagram)

October 5, 2021, 11:20 pm

German Jewish group condemns hotel for turning away singer wearing Star of David

Central Council of Jews in Germany slams ‘antisemitic hostility’ toward German-Israeli musician Gil Ofarim, who alleges he was told to remove his pendant if he wanted to check in

By Kirsten Grieshaber

David Lee Roth speaks onstage at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Sept. 12, 2021. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS)

October 3, 2021, 4:43 pm

Van Halen’s proudly Jewish ex-frontman retires from music

‘I am throwing in the shoes,’ says 66-year-old David Lee Roth, best known for fronting influential band during its heyday in the 1970s and ’80s

By Gabe Friedman