Sunday, May 9th 2021 |
By EMILY BURACK
Nissim Black knows that wherever he goes, he’s going to turn heads.
“There’s always these questions,” the rapper explains to me from his home in Israel. “Like, ‘Well, are you still black? How black are you? How does that work? But you’re also Jewish? Jews are white?’ No they’re not!”
The questions annoy him, and rightfully so. Yes, he’s black and Jewish and Orthodox. No, that combination...
By GABE FRIEDMAN
(JTA) — Sammy Miller and his girlfriend Misha grew up in vastly different cultures: Sammy was raised Jewish in suburban Los Angeles, while Misha was raised Muslim in Karachi, Pakistan, moving to the United States when she was 12.
Miller also happens to be a musician — he leads Sammy Miller and the Congregation, an up-and-coming poppy jazz group that sounds like a cross between the Preservation...
George Dansker will be holding his annual lecture tonight on a Jewish composer tonight following services at Touro Synagogue, 4238 St. Charles Avenue. This time, though, the subject is not nearly as well known as those for whom he has held previous tributes (Bernstein, Berlin, Weill, Rodgers, the Gershwins etc.).
Harold Rome, a composer and lyricist who was at one time a golden-haired boy of Broadway, will be the focus...
By GABE FRIEDMAN
(JTA) — Love him or hate him, rapper Kanye West has done nothing if not evolve over the course of his career. He has cycled through mainstream hip-hop, auto-tuned singing, soulful sampling, epic egotistical commentary and — as he would happily tell you — much more.
At the moment, West is in the midst of an intensely religious phase.
Since the beginning of the year he has...
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Conductor Zubin Mehta conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for the final time as its musical director.
Mehta, 83, performed with the Orchestra on Sunday evening in Tel Aviv and was honored with an extended standing ovation. Members of the orchestra threw flowers on the conductor and his wife at the end of the concert.
The final performance included Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Mahler’s Symphony No....
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Demi Lovato had gushed about her “magical” visit to Israel, saying she felt a “sense of spirituality” there.
Now the 27-year-old pop star and actress is apologizing to those who may have been offended by her trip.
In Israel, Lovato made three posts earlier this week on Instagram, where she has 74 million followers, speaking glowingly of the country.
“Entertainment Tonight” reported that reactions to those posts...
(JTA) — Pink defended a photo she posted of her children running at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial. The Jewish pop singer, whose real name is Alecia Beth Moore, shared photos on Instagram Sunday from her trip to the German capital. One of the images in a post captured “Berlin, I love you” showed her two young children running among the large stone blocks that make up the vast memorial.
Some commenters...
By ALAN SMASON, Special to the CCJN
Two years ago the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal (MAC) organized an exhibit on Canada’s favorite son writer, composer, singer and cultural icon, Leonard Cohen. Titled “A Crack in Everything,” the immersive and interactive exhibit included a collection of commissioned works from artists who cite Cohen as a major influence on their own artistic endeavors.
Two months ago in mid-April, the Jewish Museum...
(JNS.org) — Most Americans, unless they’re Jewish or into Israeli geopolitics, probably don’t know or care that the Eurovision just took place in Tel Aviv. For those who don’t cross American cultural borders, Eurovision could best be explained as “European Idol,” the “Super Bowl” of song contests in which European and honorary European countries send their pseudo-best to represent their country. The winner is chosen by a point system combining...
By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN
NEW YORK (JTA) — Neshama Carlebach says she is figuring out how “to both love and not love” her father.
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, a spiritual leader and musician whose soulful melodies penetrated the hearts of people across the religious spectrum, is the man who made her into who she is today. A singer and composer in her own right, Neshama, 44, first shared a stage with him at...
