Yoshie Fruchter (born February 1, 1982)

Matthue Roth Matthew "Matthue" Roth (born June 30, 1978) is an American author, poet, columnist, spoken word performer, video game designer, and screenwriter. Beginning his career as a slam poet in San Francisco, Roth gained attention for his unusual blend ...

“Jazz Is the New Klezmer: An Interview with Yoshie Fruchter,”
''

Jewcy ''Jewcy'' is an online magazine of Jewish pop culture and offbeat news. The site was launched on November 15, 2006. ''The Guardian'' has described ''Jewcy'' as "a cultural icon" and "at the forefront of a reinvention of Jewish identity by you ...

'', January 27, 2009. is an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

, oud player and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Early life and education

Fruchter was born and raised in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

, in an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

household,Mordechai Shinefield
“The Secret History of Jewish Metal,”
''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'', March 18, 2011. singing and playing Jewish music in his youth.Christopher R. Weingarten
“Yes In My Backyard,”
''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'', September 22, 2009. His father is a musician, and his sister Temim is the former drummer of the

indie punk Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels, by th ...

band The Shondes. He studied jazz in the music department at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, and moved to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, in 2005.

Music career

Pitom

Fruchter's debut solo album as composer and guitarist, ''Pitom'', was released in 2008.Jim Fusilli
“They Don’t All Sound Familiar,”
''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', December 26, 2008. The ''

'' called it "a dazzling debut" and ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...

'' called the debut "audacious," describing it as klezmer music with a punk sensibility.Bill Milkowski
“Yoshie Fruchter’s Pitom,”
''

'', March 2009. "Pitom" is

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

for "Suddenly," and the album was named after his band, which, along with Fruchter on guitar, includes Jeremy Brown (violin), Shanir Blumenkranz (bass) and Kevin Zubek (drums). Pitom's second album, ''Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes'', was released in 2011. Fruchter again composed and played guitar, with the album further exploring Jewish music along with surf and

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom or simply sludge) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, down-tuned guitars and nihilis ...

influences. The album was chosen by ''

'' as one of the newspaper's 2011 Forward Fives, an annual list honoring five of the most important Jewish music releases of the year.“Forward Fives: 2011 in Music,”
''The Forward'', December 19, 2011. Fruchter's music combines elements of jazz, klezmer, rock, surf and heavy metal, while exploring themes of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, religion, repentance and redemption.Sean Murphy
“Pitom: Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes,”

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

, April 13, 2011. Both Pitom albums have been released on

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

Tzadik Records Tzadik is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a not-for-p ...

label. Fruchter has been described as a member of the "Radical Jewish Culture" scene, a term coined by Zorn.

Schizophonia

In December 2014, Fruchter released ''Cantorial Recordings Reimagined'', an album with a new band called Schizophonia, in which he arranged Jewish cantorial recordings for a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

quintet, with

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

influences. Also in the band are Shanir Blumenkranz (bass), Brian Marsella (keyboards), Yonadav Halevy (drums) and Rich Stein (percussion).

Other projects

In 2006, Fruchter collaborated with his father, Chaim (Harold) Fruchter on ''Beyond the Book'', an album of songs they co-wrote and produced that explore critical moments in the lives of various Biblical personalities. Fruchter is a member of

Jon Madof Jon Madof (born May 28, 1974) is an American guitarist, composer, and leader of the bands Rashanim and Zion80, who has performed extensively with other artists including John Zorn, Matisyahu, Marc Ribot, and Frank London. PopMatters' Sean Murph ...

's 13-piece

afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

group Zion80, playing guitar on the group's self-titled 2013 debut. In April 2014, Zion80 released its second album, ''Adramelech'', an interpretation of John Zorn's ''Masada Book 2: The Book of Angels'', on which Fruchter again played guitar. Fruchter is also a frequent substitute with the instrumental rock quartet Abraxas, which also performs the music of Zorn's

Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...

; a member of Pakistani/American collaboration Sandaraa;

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band Deveykus; and Frank London's Shekhina Big Band,George Robinson
“Frank London’s Latest Project Is Really Big,”
''

The Jewish Week ''New York Jewish Week'' (formerly ''The Jewish Week'') is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. History In March 2016, ''The Jewish Week'' announced its partners ...

'', February 2, 2013. among other projects, many of which explore the relationship of Jewish culture, identity and music.

Personal life

Fruchter resides in

, with his wife, journalist Leah Koenig, and their son. He is an observant

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tran ...

Discography

Albums

Appears on

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fruchter, Yoshie 21st-century American bass guitarists American jazz guitarists American experimental guitarists American male bass guitarists American jazz bass guitarists American oud players American mandolinists Jewish American musicians Jewish American composers Klezmer musicians Tzadik Records artists 1982 births Living people American Orthodox Jews Musicians from Silver Spring, Maryland Musicians from Brooklyn University of Maryland, College Park alumni Guitarists from Maryland Jewish jazz musicians Moshav (band) members Soulfarm members Guitarists from New York (state) Jazz musicians from New York (state) Jazz musicians from Maryland American male jazz composers American jazz composers 21st-century American male musicians