fbpx
Loolwa Khazzoom

Loolwa Khazzoom

Making music the Algerian Jewish way

In the four decades of his accomplished career, global electronica DJ Cheb i Sabbah — a Berber Jew from Algeria now living in California — has specialized in crossing barriers among nationalities and working with artists of all religions and ethnicities. His latest album, \”Devotion,\” released Jan. 29, features spiritual music from Pakistan and neighboring countries performed by musicians from Southeast Asia. As tensions and violence continue to mount in Pakistan, this album provides a mystical soundtrack for transcendence, reminding listeners that human spirit is one thread connecting us all. On the occasion of his Los Angeles album release party on Feb. 2 at Temple Bar in Santa Monica, The Jewish Journal caught up with this boundary-defying musician.

Versatile Israeli Violinist Gains ‘Dream’ Hip-Hop Hit

For Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari, doing the unexpected is standard fodder; so it should come as no surprise that her new single, \”Symphony of Brotherhood\” (featuring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.\’s \”I Have a Dream\” speech weaving in and out of an extended string solo) topped the charts just one month after its radio release.

Singer’s Songs Span Range of Emotions

Wearing a silky black minidress, fishnet pantyhose and sturdy midthigh boots with big steel buckles and holding a brown, Western-style electric guitar as she approached the microphone, Keren Ann\’s look was as much a study in contradiction as her music, which was at times wistful, others coy and still others desperate. Her songs were simultaneously the perfect soundtrack for padding around the house on a rainy Sunday afternoon, gaily dancing with a friend in a bed of flowers or flinging oneself on the bed after an especially hideous breakup.

Hip-Hop’s Jew Crew Takes Center Stage

Jews have been part of hip-hop since its beginning,\” said Josh Noreck of the Hip Hop Hoodios, a Latino Jewish rap group based out of Los Angeles and New York.

Mitzvah Freestyling

Growing up in the Oakland public school system, MC Hyim began freestyling when he was 8 years old. Today, he performs and produces conscious hip-hop, encouraging listeners to do tikkun olam — take the anger and pain from today\’s society and transform it into something good: \”As important as it is to acknowledge and understand the history of what we might call Babylon,\” Hyim said, \”it\’s important to move beyond it.

Mizrahi Music Travels West

Business at Eitan Salman\’s music store has fallen 80 percent over the last decade, but it\’s not altogether a bad thing: Mizrahi music has grown so popular in Israel that it no longer is the exclusive domain of mom-and-pop shops like Salman\’s but is sold even at Israel\’s Tower Records outlets.

Valuable Art From a Disregarded People

From the Israel Museum in Jerusalem to the Museum of the Negev in Beersheba; from the walls of Reverend Al Sharpton\’s home in New York to the mantle of photographer Irene Furtik\’s home in Santa Monica, Ethiopian Israeli art has arrived.

Shrine of the Book Reopens Displays

>"A senator came to Israel as part of a mission to learn more about the country and the issues," recalled Herta Amir at a ceremony for the Israel Museum\’s honorary fellows on June 7. "This senator told me that finally she came to the Shrine of the Book.

Keeping Jews in the Flock

We\’re told repeatedly that intermarriage is the death knell of the Jewish people, but let\’s face it: Jews have been intermarrying since the beginning of our tribe 4,000 years ago. Marrying "out" is precisely how we got Jews with looks covering the gamut from blonde hair and blue eyes to black skin and nappy hair. It\’s also one of the reasons that Hitler hated us: We were at it again, blending with the local race, destroying its ethnic purity.

[authorpage]

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.