January 15, 2016
By GABE FRIEDMAN
(JTA) — It was clear long before the Internet swelled with heartfelt tributes to David Bowie that the late musician was an artistic legend. The 69-year-old Englishman, who died Sunday after an 18-month battle with cancer, reinvented himself countless times in a music career that spanned more than five decades. There were stints, too, as a Broadway and Hollywood actor.
From his Ziggy Stardust alter ego to...
October 20, 2015
(JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League honored the American Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu for standing up against an anti-Israel boycott.
Matisyahu performed his anthem “Jerusalem” on Thursday at the ADL annual meeting in Denver.
In August, he was slotted to play at the Rototom SunSplash reggae music festival before BDS activists pressured the event’s organizers to disinvite him because of his support for Israel. Matisyahu, refusing to comply with the demand...
October 12, 2015
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Thousands of Israelis turned out to see the American Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu perform in Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem, I’m home,” Matisyahu said Saturday night during his concert at Sultan’s Pool, outside the Old City.
The crowd turned out despite a rash of stabbing attacks in recent days in Jerusalem and throughout the country, including two in the Old City hours before the concert.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat thanked...
October 11, 2015
By GABE FRIEDMAN
(JTA) — What do Madonna, Vampire Weekend, Usher, the Plain White T’s and Justin Bieber have in common?
In addition to getting extensive play on Top 40 radio stations, they have all worked with Grammy-winning producer Ariel Rechtshaid, a Los Angeles native born to Israeli parents.
Rechtshaid, 36, has become one of the most eclectic and sought-after music producers in the industry. He’s probably best known for...
September 20, 2015
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (JTA) — Organizers of a concert by American pop star Pharrell Williams have abandoned their legal action against pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting against his presence there.
The Sun International hotel group had launched an urgent court interdict on Sept. 14 to limit the number of protesters outside Williams’ Sept. 21 concert in Cape Town, according to ewn.co.za. But the group withdrew its court application, due to be...
August 26, 2015
(JTA) – Three days after a performing at a reggae festival in Spain that had previously disinvited him, Matisyahu brought his music to a synagogue near the gates of Auschwitz.
The Jewish-American singer gave an intimate acoustic concert Tuesday night in the tiny Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot synagogue in Oswiecim, the town in southern Poland where Auschwitz was built.
“Played in the last remaining Synagogue outside of Auschwitz in the city...
August 23, 2015
(JTA) — American Jewish singer Matisyahu sang his song “Jerusalem” as protesters waved Palestinian flags at a music festival in Spain. Matisyahu performed a 45-minute set early Sunday morning at the Rototom SunSplash Festival, two days after the festival apologized for canceling his performance in the face of pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement. Some in the audience expressed disapproval when the artist took the stage,...
August 23, 2015
(JTA) — After being re-invited, American Jewish reggae star Matisyahu confirmed he will perform at a Spanish music festival. On Friday, two days after the Rototom SunSplash Festival apologized for canceling his performance in the face of pressure from the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, Matisyahu announced on Facebook that he will perform at the festival on Saturday. In his Facebook post, the singer wrote, “Today music wins. Freedom...
August 16, 2015
(JTA) — Matisyahu was disinvited from a Spanish music festival because he would not publicly endorse Palestinian statehood.
The Jewish-American reggae singer was scheduled to perform Aug. 22 at the Rototom Sunsplash festival in Benicassim, near Barcelona. But his show was canceled after he refused to release a public statement backing a Palestinian state, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain, which called the disinvitation a case of...
August 11, 2015
By JULIE WIENER
(JTA) — Jewish violin virtuoso Roman Totenberg enjoyed a long life, making it to the ripe old age of 101. But that wasn’t quite long enough to be reunited with the prized instrument that was stolen from him in 1980.
The FBI officially announced Thursday that it had recovered Totenberg’s almost 300-year-old Stradivarius, which he purchased in 1943. With just a few hundred of its type in the...
