The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is set to induct Neil Diamond. Diamond, 69, who launched his career as a songwriter in the 1960s in the Brill Building songwriting factory, penning hits for groups like The Monkees, will be inducted Monday night at a ceremony in New York.
“I’m a nonprofessional dreamer,” said singer/composer/producer Craig Taubman, who is in the midst of staging his sixth annual “Let My People Sing,” a 24-hour festival taking place March 11 and 12 at Sinai Temple in West Los Angeles. The event features Jewish performers from around the world and includes music, dance, food and a host of activities.
Sony Music apologized after the popular Japanese rock group Kishidan appeared on MTV Japan wearing SS-like uniforms. The apology Wednesday came after The Simon Wiesenthal Center called on the band, Sony and MTV to apologize. In a message posted on the band\’s website, Sony said it was sorry for the costume worn by the band during the MTV interview.
People twirl ecstatically, eyes closed, repeating, in a call-and-response fashion, chants led by Rabbi Andrew Hahn, who plays a harmonium while others play guitars and percussion instruments — repetitive, hypnotic sounds that seductively nudge the crowd, young and old alike, to sway and swirl and chant.
Matisyahu performs every year at Jewlicious, the three-day Jewish learning and music weekend that takes place at the Alpert Jewish Community Center in Long Beach and this year drew some 900 college students and young professionals. A friend to JConnect, which organizes the event with Beach Hillel, the Chassidic reggae star has a habit of drawing his audience into his feverish musical frenzy. He did so again this year, but this time, due to snow, he was stuck in a hotel in Canada, while his guitarist was on stage at the Long Beach JCC. Didn’t matter — he Skyped in his performance.
As the piano struck the first notes of Debbie Friedman’s “Elohai N’Shama,” Cantor Linda Kates paused before the approximately 1,500 people gathered in the sanctuary at Valley Beth Shalom (VBS) and recalled a story about how the late singer-songwriter energized a crowd of Jewish students while teaching them the song.
JewishJournal.com will livecast Valley Beth Shalom\’s Debbie Friedman Tribute, \”Lechi Lach,\” on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 7:30pm.
Mikis Theodorakis, the Greek composer who wrote the music for the film \”Zorba the Greek,\” said in a television interview that he is an \”anti-Semite and anti-Zionist.\” Theodorakis, 86, a hero in Greece, also said in the interview on Greece\’s High channel that \”everything that happens today in the world has to do with the Zionists.\” He added that \”American Jews are behind the world economic crisis that has hit Greece also.\”
Adam Sandler was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sandler brought his two daughters, ages 2 and 4, to Tuesday\’s ceremony in front of the W Hollywood Hotel. His is the 2,431st star awarded on the walk.
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