Idan Raichel & India.Arie get down in O-town

On Saturday Oct. 15 Idan Raichel and India Arie came to Oakland as part of the annual SF Jazz festival. They performed songs from their collaborative album “Open Door,” to be released in the spring of 2012.

Arie twisted and swiveled around the stage in a flouncy dress. Idan fed off of her hippie-dippy energy, even abandoning his piano bench for an electric bass during one song.

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Matisyahu releases “Elijah’s Song”

Matisyahu just racked up major brownie points in my book by releasing "Elijah's Song" in memory of a young boy who he met that was suffering from cancer.

 Matisyahu said: "I wrote and recorded this song with my friend Elijah just hours before he passed away last December. Proud to be able to share his voice and story while helping his family on their road to recovery. If you like it, you can make a donation and get…

Yemen Blues Grooves in S.F.

Monday August 1 Israeli singer Ravid Kahalani and his nine-member blues band, Yemen Blues, rocked the Independent in San Francisco. Kahalani sings in both his native Hebrew and his family's Yemeni dialect of Arabic, fusing jazz, Middle Eastern melodies, and funky blues into one modern brew.

Yemen Blues are no strangers to the Bay Area. They opened this year's Jewish Music Festival in…

SNL’s Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island Unleash Album

Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg met his The Lonely Island cohorts Justin Taccone and Akiva Schaeffer (all three Jewish) during the trio's junior high years in our beloved Berkeley. It's safe to say they've done quite well for themselves. They score album guest stars like Justin Timberlake and Michael Bolton. They can rap convincingly. And they are hysterical.

Their second album — "Turtleneck &  Chain" — dropped May…

Chassidic-vegan reggae superstar tour

photo/daniel sieradski/jta

Matisyahu is revving up to embark on his summer tour.

He'll play a slew of shows across the U.S. during these hot sticky months (elsewhere), finally hitting (cold, windy) San Francisco on Aug. 2 at the Regency Ballroom. Get your tickets now, they could go fast — he's everyone's favorite Chassidic-vegan reggae superstar. Added bonus: here's a photo of his son looking super cute.

Hot Jewish music releases

Some big Jewy music news this week! Chasidic rapper, Y-love’s “See Me” EP hits stores today, as does the second Girls in Trouble record “Half You Half Me”  (Jdub).

Check out Y-love’s new video (and get the E.P.) here.

You can pick up your copy of Girls in Trouble's lush new record here (and trust me, you want to) here. As you may recall, we at…

G N’ R Drummer’s Appetite for Reconstruction

FREE Jewish freak-folk album

Get your Shabbat started early with a totally free, freak-folk download from Jdub. It's described as a "psychedlic spin on the traditional Friday night service."

The album, "Sabbapath," had inauspicious beginnings. It started with a dusty old record Rob Markoff found called "Sing Out it's Shabbos" which, based solely on the cover, reminded him of his synagogue in the 1970s. He expected lo-fi, feel-good '70s group sing-along, but instead heard sullen…

The Maccabeats urge you to raise your glass

Yes folk, it's that time of year again — Purim parody videos! This one comes courtesy of The Maccabeats, sung to the tune of Pink's "Raise Your Glass."

It's cute, real cute. So cute, that there's a baby Esther in a pink tutu and a toddler Haman in that signature three-point hat and sporting a drawn-on mustache. So go, watch, kvell.

New Sway Machinery video!

The always-excellent Jdub act Sway Machinery has a sparkly new video up this week. The song "Gawad Teriamou" is off the bands forthcoming album The House of Friendly Ghosts, Vol. 1

The video was made in Mali  while the Sway Machinery was recording the album with African musicians including Khaira Arby, Vieux Farka Toure, Djelimady Tounkara and Super 11.

See above. Then get dancing.