Moshav, formerly known as Moshav Band, is an Israeli-American
Jewish rock band originating from
Moshav Mevo Modi'im. Founded in 1996 by
Yehuda Solomon and
Duvid Swirsky, the group moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
in 2008 and have released ten
studio albums
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...
. With a sound incorporating elements of
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
,
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk horror
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
, and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
, they were credited, alongside
Soulfarm
Soulfarm (formerly known as Inasense) is an American Jewish rock band based in New York City. They were founded in 1991 by C Lanzbom and Noah Solomon. and
Blue Fringe
Blue Fringe was an American Jewish rock band from New York City. Formed in 2001 by lead singer Dov Rosenblatt, the band's debut album, '' My Awakening'' (2003), sold more than 14,000 copies, an uncommon feat in the limited Jewish market, and b ...
, with advancing Jewish rock in the early 2000s.
History
1996–2000: Formation and ''The Things You Can't Afford''
Moshav was formed in
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
by neighbors
Yehuda Solomon and
Duvid Swirsky. The children of American-born parents, Solomon and Swirsky were raised in
Mevo Modi'im
Mevo Modi'im (, ''lit.'' Modi'im Gateway), officially Me'or Modi'im (), is a moshav in central Israel. It is also known as the Carlebach Moshav. Located north-west of Modi'in on Highway 443, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regi ...
, a
moshav
A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...
founded by musician and spiritual leader Rabbi
Shlomo Carlebach
Shlomo Carlebach (; January 14, 1925 – October 20, 1994), known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was an American rabbi and musician nicknamed "the Singing Rabbi".
Although his roots lay in traditional Orthodox yeshivot, he branched out to c ...
, who lived in the community and became a role model and mentor for the boys.
Solomon is the son of
Ben Zion Solomon
Ben Zion Solomon () is an American-born Israeli musician, best known as a founding member of the seminal Jewish rock group Diaspora Yeshiva Band, for whom he played fiddle and banjo from 1975 to 1983. A disciple of Shlomo Carlebach, Solomon an ...
, a founding member of 1970s Jewish rock group
Diaspora Yeshiva Band
The Diaspora Yeshiva Band () was an American-Israeli Orthodox Jewish rock band founded at the Diaspora Yeshiva on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, by ''baal teshuva'' students from the United States. In existence from 1975 to 1983, the band infused Roc ...
, and his siblings include
Noah Solomon, who had previously started the band
Soulfarm
Soulfarm (formerly known as Inasense) is an American Jewish rock band based in New York City. They were founded in 1991 by C Lanzbom and Noah Solomon. , and Yosef and Meir, who would later join Moshav.
Swirsky and the Solomon brothers often performed on Ben Zion's albums and as part of Carlebach's backing band in their childhood and teens.
They eventually began performing as a band in 1996, which was dubbed the Moshav Band by locals due to their place of origin.
As the Moshav Band, they developed a live following in the late 1990s among North American college students studying abroad in Israel.
A group of American fans raised money for the band to tour college
Hillel Houses in the United States.
Two other fans, Canadian
Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...
students Sig Shore and Justin Korda, convinced philanthropist and
Seagram
The Seagram Company Ltd. (which trade name, traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational beverage and during the last few years of its existence, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. ...
CEO
Edgar Bronfman Sr.
Edgar Miles Bronfman (June 20, 1929 – December 21, 2013) was a Canadian-American businessman. He worked for his family's distilled beverage firm, Seagram, eventually becoming president, treasurer and CEO. As president of the World Jewish Congr ...
to fund the band's first full-scale tour in North America and the recording of their debut album, 1998's ''The Things You Can't Afford''.
The album was recorded in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, where the band would officially relocate as of 2000.
2000–2010
Moshav continued to tour and release albums throughout the 2000s,
performing internationally and at venues including
Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza (known through sponsorship as Irving Plaza, powered by Verizon 5G and formerly known as the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza) is a ballroom-style music venue located within the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York ...
,
House of Blues
House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers (film), The Blues Brothers''. The ...
,
B.B. King's Blues Club, the
Knitting Factory
The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment and is co-owned and co-operated by Knitting Factory Entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United Stat ...
, and
The Bitter End
The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub
A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually s ...
.
They played the 2003
Beit Shemesh
Beit Shemesh () is a city council (Israel), city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District. A center of Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodoxy, Beit Shemesh has a population of 170,683 as of 2024.
The city is named afte ...
Jewish Rock and Soul Festival alongside
Shlomo Katz,
Adi Ran, and
Reva L'Sheva
Reva L'Sheva (, "a quarter to seven") was an Israeli Jewish rock band formed in 1994 by lead singer Yehudah Katz.
They released six studio albums before disbanding around 2006. On January 7, 2014, the band performed at Zappa Jerusalem, their ...
.
In 2005, they released their fifth studio album, ''Malachim'', as well as a
greatest hits album
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
, ''The Best of Moshav Band: Higher and Higher''.
After changing their name from Moshav Band to simply Moshav, the group's mainstream profile was raised with the release of their sixth studio album, 2006's
''Misplaced'', which was recorded with producer
Ron Aniello
Ron Aniello is an American songwriter, record producer, composer and musician who has enjoyed a diverse career working with Bruce Springsteen, Matthew Koma, Shania Twain
Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadi ...
, mixing engineer
Brendan O'Brien, and musicians including drummer
Matt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session drummer, record producer and songwriter. He has played with various artists, including Pearl Jam, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, David Bowie, Tori Amos, Morrissey, The Wallflow ...
,
and was released by the
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
-affiliated Jewish Music Group (JMG) label.
2008 saw the band embark on a mini-tour of the
East Coast with shows in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, followed by a series of concerts in Israel;
during this time, the band acquired former
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...
violinist Nimrod Nol.
That summer, they performed at
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...
's Big Time Out Festival alongside
Matisyahu
Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30, 1979), known by his stage name Matisyahu (; ), is an American singer, rapper, beatboxer, and musician.
Known for blending spiritual themes with reggae, rock and hip hop beatboxing sounds, Matisyahu's 2005 sin ...
.
In June 2009, they returned to Vancouver to perform at
Granville Island
Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, across False Creek from Downtown Vancouver, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. Formerly an industrial ...
Stage as part of a fundraising gala for
Vancouver Hebrew Academy.
A seventh album, ''Dancing in a Dangerous World'', was released in 2010. That same year, they gave a free public concert at
United Hebrew Congregation in
Chesterfield, Missouri
Chesterfield is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is a western suburb of St. Louis. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,999, making it the state's 14th most populous city. The broader valley of Chesterfield was ...
.
2010–2020
In August 2012, the band launched a new tour with a show at Philadelphia's
World Cafe Live.
By this time, drummer Tamir Bar Zeli, guitarist Geoffrey Parry, and bassist Matt Cheadle has been added to the lineup, and the group became known for appearing at numerous benefits, fundraisers, and community events.
In November 2013, they performed in Brooklyn's
Park Slope
Park Slope is a neighborhood in South Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park and Eighth Avenue (Brooklyn), Prospect Park West to the east, ...
neighborhood as part of the annual Sephardic Music Festival.
Their eighth album, ''New Sun Rising'', initially planned for release in late 2012,
was ultimately released in 2014. In March of that year, they performed at
Jewlicious Festival with Matisyahu, who was also featured on the album's single "World On Fire".
That year also saw the release of ''Shabbat Vol. 1'', an album of original, traditional, and Carlebach-composed songs recorded at the band's home studio in Los Angeles.
A follow-up, ''Shabbat Vol. 2'', would be released in 2018.
In 2017, the band performed at Philadelphia's Gershman Y to benefit the
Center City Orthodox synagogue Mekor Habracha; they had previously raised money for the synagogue with a 2012 show at
Union Transfer
Union Transfer is a music venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Located at 1026 Spring Garden Street in the Callowhill neighborhood, it opened on September 21, 2011, as a joint venture between The Bowery Presents, a New York City production com ...
. They also performed at the annual
Jeffersonville-based Jewish music festival The Camping Trip in 2016 and 2017, alongside acts including
Zusha
The Zusha () is a river in Tula and Oryol Oblast in Russia, a right tributary of the Oka. The length of the river is 234 km. The area of its basin is 6,950 km². , Matisyahu, Soulfarm,
Kosha Dillz, and
Levi Robin. They were set to return to the festival in 2018, with a lineup including
Gad Elbaz
}
Gad Elbaz () is an Israelis, Israeli Jews, Jewish singer who has gained international success and recorded several albums.
Biography
Elbaz is of Moroccan Jewish descent. He began to sing and write music at age four. He first appeared with hi ...
,
Hebro, and
G-Nome Project, before its suspension due to legal difficulties.
2020–present
In November 2021, Moshav performed at a
public menorah
A public menorah is a large menorah displayed publicly during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. It is done to celebrate the holiday and publicize the miracle of Hanukkah, and is typically accompanied by a public event during one of the nights of ...
lighting organized by the
Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...
Center for Jewish Life in
Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...
; they were accompanied by the
Corona del Mar High School
Corona del Mar High School (CdM) is a public school located in the Eastbluff neighborhood of Newport Beach, California, and belongs to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. It is a combination of a middle school (7th and 8th grades) and a Se ...
drumline, and Rep.
Michelle Steel
Michelle Eunjoo Steel ( Park, born June 21, 1955) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for California's 45th congressional district from 2023 to 2025, previously representing the 48th congressional district from 20 ...
was in attendance. They also performed at another
Hanukkah
Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...
event the following month, held at the
Arneson River Theater in
San Antonio
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
.
In early December 2022, Moshav performed at the second annual "Shine a Light on Antisemitism" event in
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
, alongside comedian Ariel Elias, rapper
Nissim Black
Nissim Baruch Black (born Damian Jamohl Black; December 9, 1986) is an American-Israeli rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
Under the stage name D. Black, he released the albums '' The Cause & Effect'' (2006) and '' Ali'yah'' (2009) and was ...
, former
Miami Boys Choir
The Miami Boys Choir (MBC) is a boys' choir specializing in Orthodox pop since 1977.
History
In the early 1970s while studying in yeshivah in Toronto, Canada, Yerachmiel Begun created, directed, and recorded three successful albums with the T ...
member David Herskowitz, the
Ramaz Upper School Choir, and the cast of
Folksbiene
The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, commonly known as NYTF, is a professional theater company in New York City which produces both Yiddish theater, Yiddish plays and plays translated into Yiddish, in a theater equipped with simultaneous sup ...
's
''Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish''. Later in the month, they returned to Newport Beach for another Chabad Center for Jewish Life menorah lighting and gave a pair of concerts at Brooklyn Made and
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
, the latter to raise money for the charity
Tomchei Shabbos
Tomchei Shabbos is the name for several Jewish charities in different communities, which are not all affiliated with one another. The Hebrew name means "supporters of the Sabbath." Thus, the charity's mission is to provide food and other suppli ...
.
In an interview with ''
Jewish News Syndicate
Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) is a news agency and wire service that primarily covers Jewish and Israel-related topics and news. While officially nonpartisan, compared to its older competitor, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, JNS is considered to be ...
'', Yehuda Solomon teased a new upcoming album entitled ''World on Fire''.
In April 2023, the non-profit The Shabbat Inc. organized a two-week
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt.
According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...
program hosted at the
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...
's
Resorts World, featuring performances by Moshav, Shir Soul,
Six13, and comedians Mark Schiff,
Daniel Lobell, and Brian Kiley.
Musical style and impact
Genre and sound
Moshav is known for an eclectic
Jewish rock style that draws from
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
,
folk rock
Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
,
classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
,
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
,
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
,
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
,
bluegrass,
jam band
A jam band is a musical group whose concerts and live albums substantially feature improvisational "jam session, jamming". Typically, jam bands will play variations of pre-existing songs, extending them to musical improvisation, improvise ove ...
,
''nigunim'', and
Middle Eastern music
The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Kurdish music, Armenian music. Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cyp ...
, with lyrics in Hebrew and English.
Yehuda Solomon has jokingly described the band's sound as "
falafel
Falafel (; , ) is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter of Egyptian origin that features in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly Levantine cuisines. It is made from ground fava beans, chickpeas, or both, and mixed with herbs and spic ...
-- we take a lot of different styles and make them all work together."
In 2003, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' described Moshav and their sibling band
Soulfarm
Soulfarm (formerly known as Inasense) is an American Jewish rock band based in New York City. They were founded in 1991 by C Lanzbom and Noah Solomon. as being influenced by the
improvisatory nature of the
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
and
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...
, while their album ''Return Again'' had arrangements echoing folk rock artists
Jack Johnson and
Ben Harper
Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, liv ...
.
Other songs on ''Return Again'' have elements of Israeli folk,
Celtic music
Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...
,
klezmer
Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...
, and
Latin music
Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and ) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Music of Latin America, Latin America, Music of Spain, Spain, Mu ...
.
The following album, ''Malachim'' (2005), continued a folk-influenced rock sound, split between
jangle
Jangle or jingle-jangle is a sound typically characterized by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars (particularly 12-strings) played in a droning chordal style (by strumming or arpeggiating). The sound is mainly associated with pop m ...
-driven pop rock and softer ballads and utilizing
fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
,
mandolin
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
, and
hand drum
A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater.
Types
The following descriptions allude to traditional versions of the drums. Modern synthetic versions ar ...
s.
2006's
''Misplaced'' saw the group expand into a more polished,
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stat ...
-heavy sound with
worldbeat
Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural co ...
and
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic c ...
elements akin to
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...
.
Their 2014 album ''Shabbat Vol. 1'' featured a blend of reggae, Middle Eastern, and traditional folk music with instrumentation including
bouzouki
The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...
,
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin.
...
,
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
,
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
and
oud.
Yehuda Solomon has been noted for his unique vocals, which variously emulate
cantorial, Middle Eastern, and
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
singing styles, often drawing comparison to
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and one of three guitarists for the rock band Pearl Jam. He was previously a gues ...
.
His live performances are known to be exuberant and occasionally punctuated by "animalistic chants".
Solomon has credited exposure to
Sephardic music
Sephardic music is an umbrella term used to refer to the music of the Sephardic Jewish community. Sephardic Jews have a diverse repertoire the origins of which center primarily around the Mediterranean basin. In the secular tradition, material is u ...
(by
Moroccan and
Yemenite Jewish
Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of persecution, the vast majority of Yemenite J ...
friends),
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
cantorial singing, and American rockers like Vedder with influencing his voice.
In contrast, co-vocalist
Duvid Swirsky typically sings with a softer folk-inflected voice, sometimes compared to
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
and Peter Gabriel,
and he and Solomon are known to utilize
close
Close may refer to:
Music
* ''Close'' (Kim Wilde album), 1988
* ''Close'' (Marvin Sapp album), 2017
* ''Close'' (Sean Bonniwell album), 1969
* "Close" (Sub Focus song), 2014
* "Close" (Nick Jonas song), 2016
* "Close" (Rae Sremmurd song), 201 ...
vocal harmonies
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chor ...
.
''Summit Daily News'' noted that the vocals on ''Misplaced'' progress from being "steeped in
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and
diminished scales" on early tracks to emulating
a cappella
Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
and country styles on later tracks.
Influences
The members of Moshav were most prominently influenced by the teachings and folk music of childhood neighbor
Shlomo Carlebach
Shlomo Carlebach (; January 14, 1925 – October 20, 1994), known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was an American rabbi and musician nicknamed "the Singing Rabbi".
Although his roots lay in traditional Orthodox yeshivot, he branched out to c ...
. Many of their songs are adapted from Carlebach compositions,
and Yehuda Solomon has said that he and his brothers "learned how to deal with an audience" performing in Carlebach's live band.
Besides for Carlebach and their father's work with
Diaspora Yeshiva Band
The Diaspora Yeshiva Band () was an American-Israeli Orthodox Jewish rock band founded at the Diaspora Yeshiva on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, by ''baal teshuva'' students from the United States. In existence from 1975 to 1983, the band infused Roc ...
, they were also influenced by American artists of the 1960s and '70s that their parents played, including
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
,
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...
,
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
,
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...
,
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...
,
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...
,
Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...
, and
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) was a folk rock Supergroup (music), supergroup comprising the American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and the English-American singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by the Canadian singer-so ...
.
Other cited influences have included American grunge band
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...
and Pakistani
Qawwali
Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...
singer
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997), also known by his initials NFAK, was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. Khan was primarily a singer of qawwali, a form of Sufi devot ...
.
The band have covered songs by
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...
,
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...
, and
Zion Golan
Zion Golan ( ''Tzion Golan''; ''Sahyoun Ghawlan''; ''Zion Golan''; born 1955), also known as Tzion Golan, is an Israeli singer of Yemenite Jewish origin.
Background
Most of Golan's songs are in Judeo-Yemeni Arabic and in Yemenite Hebrew. Most ...
.
Impact
As early as 2003,
''The Jewish Journal'' credited Moshav,
Blue Fringe
Blue Fringe was an American Jewish rock band from New York City. Formed in 2001 by lead singer Dov Rosenblatt, the band's debut album, '' My Awakening'' (2003), sold more than 14,000 copies, an uncommon feat in the limited Jewish market, and b ...
, and Soulfarm with "advancing Jewish rock",
while Ben Bresky of the ''
Cleveland Jewish News
The ''Cleveland Jewish News'' (the CJN) is a weekly Jewish newspaper headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The newspaper contains local, national, and international news of Jewish interest.
History
It was formed in 1964. I ...
'' wrote that the band was "in the forefront of a post-Carlebach
folk-rock movement."
Later Jewish artists including Blue Fringe,
Rogers Park
Rogers Park is a neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and one of the city's 77 municipally recognized community areas. Located north of the Loop along the shore of Lake Michigan, it features green spaces, early 20th-century ...
, Jacob's Ladder, and The Weinreb Brothers have cited Moshav as an influence, while artists like
Aryeh Kunstler and
Shaindel Antelis have recorded covers of their songs.
Members
Current members
*
Yehuda Solomon —
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
*
Duvid Swirsky — vocals,
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
* Tamir Bar Zeli —
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
, percussion
* Geoffrey Parry — guitar
* Matt Cheadle —
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
Past members
* Nimrod Nol —
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
* Karen Teperberg — drums
* Danny W. — guitar
* Roy Kariok — guitar
* Oneg Shemesh — rhythm guitar, backing vocals
* Meir Solomon — guitar
* Yosef Solomon — bass
Discography
Studio albums
* ''The Things You Can't Afford'' (1998)
* ''Days ''(1999)
* ''Lost Time ''(2001)
* ''Return Again'' (2002)
* ''Malachim'' (2005)
* ''
Misplaced'' (2006)
* ''Dancing in a Dangerous World'' (2010)
* ''New Sun Rising'' (2014)
* ''Shabbat Vol. 1'' (2014)
* ''Shabbat Vol. 2'' (2018)
Live albums
* ''Live At B.B.King NYC'' (2003)
Compilation albums
* ''The Best of Moshav Band: Higher and Higher ''(2005)
Singles
* 2011: "Light the Way"
* 2013: "Chicki Boom"
* 2013: "K'Shoshana"
* 2013: "World on Fire"
(ft. Matisyahu
Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30, 1979), known by his stage name Matisyahu (; ), is an American singer, rapper, beatboxer, and musician.
Known for blending spiritual themes with reggae, rock and hip hop beatboxing sounds, Matisyahu's 2005 sin ...
)
* 2021: "Rainmaker"
* 2022: "Adam"
(Thank You Hashem ft. Moshav)
Music videos
* "Eliyahu Hanavi" (2005)
* "Bereishit" (2005)
* "World on Fire" (2013)
* "Chicki Boom" (2014)
See also
*
Reva L'Sheva
Reva L'Sheva (, "a quarter to seven") was an Israeli Jewish rock band formed in 1994 by lead singer Yehudah Katz.
They released six studio albums before disbanding around 2006. On January 7, 2014, the band performed at Zappa Jerusalem, their ...
*
Soulfarm
Soulfarm (formerly known as Inasense) is an American Jewish rock band based in New York City. They were founded in 1991 by C Lanzbom and Noah Solomon.
*
Hamakor (band)
*
Baal teshuva
In Judaism, a ''ba'al teshuvah'' (; for a woman, , or ; plural, , , 'owner of return God or his way]') is a Jew who adopts some form of traditional religious observance after having previously followed a Jewish secularism, secular lifestyle or ...
References
External links
Official SiteIsraeli Management, RNY HafakotLyrics to "Jockey Full of Bourbon"– the Moshav Band's modified version
{{Authority control
Israeli alternative rock groups
Jewish musical groups
Shlomo Carlebach
Jewish folk rock groups
Musical groups established in 1995