Community Corner
Israeli Jazz & World Music Festival Announces Line-up
8 Venues ∙ 9 Artists ∙ 10 Shows
From Afro-Caribbean to heavy metal, from Brazilian to Jewish klezmer, and from Middle Eastern to smooth, straight-ahead jazz, festival fans can expect a diverse fusion of sounds. The second and newly expanded Israeli Jazz & World Music Festival will be held Tuesday, May 6, through Saturday, May 17, 2014, at eight different venues throughout Chicago. Each of the nine artists reflects the multicultural mosaic and collaborative spirit of Israel. The festival highlights the global hospitality and international cultural scene in Chicago.
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The festival kicks off on May 6 with world-music sensation Mika Karni in free celebrations at Daley Plaza and the Chicago Cultural Center to announce the festival opening. Throughout the week, festival fans can enjoy free shows at the Chicago Cultural Center (Reut Regev), Old Town School of Folk Music (2013 festival favorite Hadar Noiberg), and Beth Shalom B’Nai Zaken and Temple Sholom congregations (Mattan Klein). City Winery hosts two global stars: Keren Ann and Avishai Cohen. The festival finishes with two internationally-renowned and Chicago favorites: Idan Raichel making his Auditorium Theatre debut, and Anat Cohen playing a double bill at the Green Mill Jazz Club.
Find out what's happening in Lakeviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The 2014 Israeli Jazz & World Music Festival is presented by the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
The full schedule for the festival is included, and can also be viewed at http://isra.li/jazzfest.
For updates and festival information, join us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/IsraelinChicago.
Tuesday, May 6
Mika Karni Kol Dodi Trio and Jaman Production
Daley Plaza
50 W. Washington St., Chicago
Noon
And
Chicago Cultural Center
Preston Bradley Hall
78 E. Washington St., Chicago
312.744.5000
6:30 p.m. show
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_culturalcenter.html
Free
http://www.jaman.co.il/jaman-eng.html
Mika Karni, a trained classical violinist, could read music notation before she knew her ABCs (Alef Bet). Her youth was filled with all of the local and European extra-curricular classical music enrichment programs, as well as WITZO Art School in Haifa and the Berkeley affiliated RIMON School of Music in Tel Aviv. Besides her disciplined personal artistic endeavors, Mika also shares her knowledge and academic gifts by teaching young developing musicians, writers and singers. Her current project is her Jewish Gospel Choirs. Her ensemble “Hashmiini” includes a phenomenal 64 female voices singing biblical psalms set to original music. “Kol Dodi” is her latest album and live show, honoring “Shir Hashirim” (“Song of Songs”), with a cast of Israeli artists and musicians of many backgrounds, all set to Mika’s spiritual compositions.
Wednesday, May 7
Keren Ann
City Winery
1200 W. Randolph St., Chicago
312.733.9463
8 p.m. show
$20/$22/$25
Singer-songwriter, composer, sound designer and producer Keren Ann Zeidel has released six solo albums and provided diverse soundtracks, including a recent original score for Eytan Fox’s latest feature Yossi, and songs for TV series (Grey’s Anatomy, Six Feet Under, Big Love) and TV campaigns (H&M, Galia, SkyTeam, Orange). Her songs have been performed by many internationally acclaimed artists, including Jane Birkin, Francoise Hardy, Rosa Pasos, Henri Salvador and Iggy Pop. She is based largely in Paris, Tel-Aviv and New York. She has lived and recorded in France and New York for many years.
Thursday, May 8
Mattan Klein Quartet
Beth Shalom B’Nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation
6601 S. Kedzie Ave., Chicago
773.476.2924
http://www.bethshalombz.org/
7 p.m. show
Temple Sholom
3480 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
773.525.4707
6:15 p.m. Shabbat services
Free
Mattan Klein is one of today’s hottest jazz/world music flutists, blending a new clear and fluent flute sound with some of New York’s brightest contemporary new voices. Born and raised in Jerusalem, Klein performs extensively on stages across North America, and often is touring the world as a leader and as a sideman. Past performances include Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and 92nd Street Y in New York. His most recent CD release features the Naomi Shemer songbook arranged in a variety of world music styles. Critic Yossi Harsonsky describes the project: “Klein is an extremely versatile jazz man, an exceptional flute performance…”
Sunday, May 11
Avishai Cohen Trio
City Winery
1200 W. Randolph St., Chicago
312.733.9463
http://www.citywinery.com/chicago/tickets/avishai-cohen-trio-5-11.html
8 p.m. show
$25/$35/$40 tickets
http://www.avishaicohenmusic.com/
Trumpeter Avishai Cohen has been described by the New York Times as “an assertive, accomplished trumpeter with a taste for modernism.” He has earned renown as a musician with an individual sound and a questing spirit, an ever-creative player-composer open to multiple strains of jazz and active internationally as a leader, co-leader and sideman. The trumpeter also records and tours the world as part of the prestigious SFJAZZ Collective, as he does with The 3 Cohens Sextet – the hit family band with his sister, clarinetist-saxophonist Anat, and brother, saxophonist Yuval. With The 3 Cohens, Avishai has twice headlined the hallowed Village Vanguard, as well as appeared on the cover of the January 2012 issue of DownBeat.
Tuesday, May 13
Reut Regev’s R*Time
Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington St., Chicago
312.744.5000
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_culturalcenter.html
6:30 p.m. show
Free
http://reutregev.com/press.html
Born and raised in Israel, trombonist, composer and bandleader Reut Regev collaborates, records and tours with some of the finest musicians in various fields, including Latin, klezmer, rock, blues, jazz, contemporary classical and improvised music. She has recorded and toured with Anthony Braxton, Butch Morris, Joe Bataan, Hazmat Modine and Frank London, to name a few. In her band R*time, Reut combines influences from her versatile experience, while keeping soul and creativity as the guiding light. Her music has been described as “Stoner Funk,” “Futuristic Tribalism,” “worldly informed,” and as music that “straddles the heavy metal bebop divide.”
Wednesday, May 14
Hadar Noiberg Trio
Old Town School of Folk Music
4544 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
773.728.6000
https://www.oldtownschool.org/
8 p.m. show
Free
Hadar Noiberg is a flutist, composer and arranger who has established herself as a major force in the Cuban, Jazz, and World music scenes. With a language that transcends her Middle Eastern roots, she fuses styles seamlessly, distinguishing herself as both innovative and highly skilled. Hadar started her career from a young age as a classical musician, playing and touring with the Israeli Young Philharmonic Orchestra, and studying at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music with flutist Yossi Arnheim (principal flutist for the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra).
Thursday, May 15
Idan Raichel Project
Auditorium Theatre
50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago
7:30 p.m. show
Tickets: $25-$68
http://www.idanraichelproject.com/en/
The Idan Raichel Project burst onto the global music scene changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering “a fascinating window into the young, tolerant, multi-ethnic Israel taking shape away from the headlines” (Boston Globe). An enchanting blend of African, Latin American, Caribbean and Middle Eastern sounds coupled with a spectacular live show, Idan Raichel makes his Auditorium Theatre debut after sold out shows at the Old Town School of Folk Music and City Winery. The Project’s spectacular live show has enchanted audiences worldwide. They have headlined in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including New York's Central Park Summer Stage, Apollo Theater, Town Hall and Radio City Music Hall, Los Angeles’ Kodak Theater, the Sydney Opera House, Zenith and Bataclan in Paris, London’s Royal Albert Hall and many international festivals.
Last year was overflowing with praise, awards and acclaim for Idan Raichel and the Project. Raichel and the Project were honored with an invitation to perform at a private concert for President Barack Obama during his official visit to Israel in March. In July, world-renowned pop star Alicia Keys invited Raichel on stage for a special duet during her sold-out concert at Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv. One month later, Raichel shared the stage with French superstar Patrick Bruel. In September, at the end of the Jewish year, popular Israeli entertainment magazine Pnai Plus selected Raichel as "Man of the Year," and the song "Ba'Layla (At Night)" from the Idan Raichel Project's latest album was honored as "Song of the Year.” Raichel is consistently a top-selling artist throughout Israel.
Friday-Saturday, May 16 & 17
Anat Cohen Quartet
Green Mill Jazz Club
4802 N. Broadway, Chicago
773.878.5552
9 p.m. Friday/three sets
8 p.m. Saturday/three sets
Tickets at the door
Clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen has won hearts and minds the world over with her expressive virtuosity and delightful stage presence. Anat has been voted Clarinetist of the Year seven years in a row by the Jazz Journalists Association, as well as 2012’s Multi-Reeds Player of the Year. Anat has toured the world with her quartet, headlining at the Newport, Umbria, SF Jazz and North Sea jazz festivals, as well as at New York’s Village Vanguard. In September 2012, Anzic Records released her sixth album as a bandleader, Claroscuro. The album ranges from buoyant dances to darkly lyrical ballads, drawing inspiration from New Orleans and New York, Africa and Brazil. In 2014, Cohen will be showcasing her love of all Brazilian music – including BMP, Tropicalia and Choro – in a new project called Celebrando Brasil: From Rio to Minas. The project features a septet of musicians from all over the world playing both traditional Brazilian instruments and backed by her trusted quartet.
