Music Box: JH Jewish Music Festival

By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)Jackson Hole, Wyo. - The contemporary stamp on Klezmer and Hassidic influences into mainstream genres is as dynamic as you’ll find across the over-flow of music in today’s cloud-based and mobile indulgence. The Chabad Jewish Center of Jackson Hole acts to expose the artists that are helping to define this latest era of creativity by hosting the 3rd Annual Jackson Hole Jewish Music Festival over the next three Sundays in Teton Village.Artists to be featured at this year’s fest include San Francisco’s Klezmania, the eclectic Breslov Bar Band, and world hip-hop/pop artist Y-Love. “Working to reinvigorate a thriving Jewish culture that exists and is waiting to be re-discovered,” the local focus of The Chabad Jewish Center acts to expose the general public to this culture through quality musical acts. “It’s been unbelievable to see the overall growth in terms of both the presentations that we’ve been putting on as well as the support from the community,” said Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn. “Every year, the quality of the music becomes more world-renown and more world-class.”From concert pianist Gershon Wachtel to the rowdy Rocky Mountain Jewgrass and the Jewish jazz of the Andy Statman Trio, last year’s fest drew a total of three hundred concertgoers. Visitors from both coasts came specifically for the concerts, as well as opportunistic skiers that were drawn in via local advertising.Kicking-off the fest, The Breslov Bar Band brings Klezmer/Hassidic music with middle-eastern, rock, jazz, reggae, and punk. Infused into a high-energy show that aims to be both visually and musically compelling, members pride themselves on being powerful improvisers and having no two performances that are alike. In addition to keyboards and vocals, bandleader Binyomin Ginzberg plays the vibrandoneon – a mouth blown variation on the Argentinean bandoneon that adds an exotic component to the group’s sound.As for Klezmania, the band was formed by Ben Brussell in 1989 – one in a family of Jewish Ashkanazi immigrants from Russia and Romania. Exploration into Klezmer revealed to him a dense network of musical and historical roots that spans over 4,000 years. Much of Klezmania’s improvisation is based from Eastern European folk music idioms with influences of classical and American jazz – and is considered a continual work in progress.An activist for social change, Brooklyn-based Y-Love’s positive revolution is focused towards anti-racist, anti-fascist and anti-prejudice – all the while keeping it kosher. With the help of collaborator and manager, Diwon, Y-Love’s style is described as “global hip-hop.” He intertwines English, Arabic, Hebrew, Latin and ancient Aramaic languages. With bits of ethereal scripture and social consciousness, his pop-fused hip-hop also reflects a life-changing conversion to Hasidism.“Y-Love certainly takes the cake in terms of unique presentation,” Mendelsohn said. “It has something very different that it’s offering in terms of cultural hip-hop. You don’t really find hip-hop to be associated with Jewish music, or for that matter, anything that has a positive message.”The 3rd Annual Jackson Hole Jewish Music Festival presents Klezmania at 5 p.m., Sunday, in the Sundance Room at Snake River Lodge and Spa in Teton Village. Breslov Bar Band (Feb. 19) and Y-Love (Feb. 26) will perform at the same time and location. Tickets for the concerts are $20/advance, $25/door, $100/sponsorship, and free for children under twelve. Available at JHJMF.org/Tickets.   tags: jackson hole show music musician live band singer songwriter nightlife concerts wyoming center arts photographer planet teton venues screen door porch boondocks guitar cd reviews