Oyhoo heeds Ruby's advice… kinda…
Last year, the Oyhoo festival was a week of insanity, 29 events and a 2 day conference crammed into a week that also had Selichos and September 11th. With several artists playing multiple events, this dilluted the audiences for some of the events. I thoroughly enjoyed Jewzapalooza in Riverside Park but felt at times the energy was lacking, especially for dynamic performers like Y-Love and So Called.
In a rare moment on Jewschool, commenter J actually agreed with me when I suggested that Oyhoo be expanded to a month long Jewish music, arts, and culture festival for Marcheshvan, so as not to compete to much with itself and to come far enough after the chaggim that we’ll be recharged and ready. It looks like there’s a possibility of it being stretched out over, well, at least more than one week.
A partial schedule of this year’s festivites is up on Oyhoo’s site, and here’s my first take on it: If I’m in town, I’m very much looking forward to the September 9th Jewzapalooza event this year. Chana Rothman laces some soulful folk with the occasional hip hop flow and freestyle, and is a very energetic performer. The last time I saw her downtown at the Knit, her band was tight and the people couldn’t get enough. The New Orleans Klezmer Allstars were my personal introduction to Klezmer’s groundswell in the 90s, playing an unbelieveable set that completely outshined the Squirrel Nut Zippers back in my college days… their version of Di Zilberne Chasene (The Silver Wedding) on The Big Kibosh is one of my favorite tracks ever. And who could ever get enough of the lovely ladies and gents of Pharoah’s Daughter? I have yet to spin the new album, but I hear good things, including a Yah Ribon melody I don’t know. I confess, I totally have a woodwind crush on Daphna Mor, and hope she’s part of the lineup that rocks it out on the 9th. Of course, the Moshav Band and Soulfarm throwdown later in the evening will be excellent, and I don’t know Hamakor, does anyone have the haps on them?
Once we have a more full oyhoo calendar, look out for my pre festival thoughts….
Save the date – Here’s an event that Jewschool is already promoting:
We Can Rise:
Chana Rothman CD Release Party
And Zeek’s New Jewish Music Launch Event
8pm, Mercury Lounge (217 E Houston St., F/V to 2nd Ave/Lower East Side)
$15 (includes CD and Magazine)
Presented by Oyhoo Records, 14th Street Y, Jewschool.com, and Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture.
Canadian-raised Brooklynite Chana Rothaman takes you on a roots-driven lyrical journey of spoken word, acoustic reggae, and freestyle rhymes. Incorporating both ancient and modern Hebrew into her message of empowerment and unity, Chana’s crew will rock out the evening way past “laila tov.â€
Featuring: Dan Friedman (Da Ali G Show, Zeek), Yoshie Fructer (PITOM, Soulfarm), C Lanzbom (Soulfarm), Amichai Lau-Lavie (Storahtelling), Jay Michaelson (God in Your Body, Zeek), Joey Weisenberg (Romashka), and special guests.
chanarothman.com or myspace.com/chanarothman for advance tickets and more info.
Woodwind crush? – does that mean she makes one get wood?
Note that the Moshav band on the program is not the Shlomo Moshav band, but a group of Israelis who moved to LA and play rock & roll. They opened for Matisyahu and I think they go by the one word ‘Moshav.’ I wasn’t that impressed by them.
Ruby,
I’m sorry to be the one to break the news to you, but Daphna Mor is getting married tomorrow (mazal tov!).
You should really check out the new PD album, it’s excellent.
Simon,
thanks for the heads up on the Moshav name situation. And to diffuse further rumors, being a sax player, I’m always psyched to see woodwind instruments having key roles in well known bands (see: Lobos, Los and Tull, Jethro), and having seen her with Pharoah’s Daughter and with Raqui and the Cavemen a few times, I’m musically smitten.
Yosef, I hate to break it to you, and to Daphna, but she’s not the only one getting married soon (and Mazel tov, Daphna!)
Shamir: good looks on the Chana release show!
“Note that the Moshav band on the program is not the Shlomo Moshav band, but a group of Israelis who moved to LA and play rock & roll. They opened for Matisyahu and I think they go by the one word ‘Moshav.’ I wasn’t that impressed by them.”
They actually are more or less the same band as the so-called “shlomo” moshav band— the guys just moved to LA, and kept the name. I think they’ve grown a bit as a band musically, and the less Shlomo they play, the more their authentic musical voice comes through.
Just a small edit –
CD Release will be at 7:00pm. Everything else is perfect!