Yoshie Fruchter | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Yehoshua Fruchter |
| Born | 1 February 1982 Silver Spring, MD |
| Genres | Jazz, klezmer, world music, rock, heavy metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, bass, oud, mandolin |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Tzadik Records Blue Thread Music |
| Website | yoshiefruchter.com |
Yoshie Fruchter (born February 1, 1982) [1] is an American experimental jazz guitarist, bassist, oud player and composer.
Fruchter was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, in an Orthodox Jewish household, [2] singing and playing Jewish music in his youth. [3] His father is a musician, and his sister Temim is the former drummer of the indie punk band The Shondes. [1] He studied jazz in the music department at the University of Maryland, [4] and moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 2005. [5]
Fruchter's debut solo album as composer and guitarist, Pitom, was released in 2008. [6] The Wall Street Journal called it "a dazzling debut" [6] and JazzTimes called the debut "audacious," describing it as klezmer music with a punk sensibility. [7] "Pitom" is Hebrew for "Suddenly," [8] and the album was named after his band, [3] which, along with Fruchter on guitar, includes Jeremy Brown (violin), Shanir Blumenkranz (bass) and Kevin Zubek (drums). [7]
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 influences. [2] The album was chosen by The Forward as one of the newspaper's 2011 Forward Fives, an annual list honoring five of the most important Jewish music releases of the year. [9]
Fruchter's music combines elements of jazz, klezmer, rock, surf and heavy metal, while exploring themes of God, religion, repentance and redemption. [2] [3] [10] Both Pitom albums have been released on John Zorn's Tzadik Records label. [10] Fruchter has been described as a member of the "Radical Jewish Culture" scene, a term coined by Zorn. [2] [3]
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 quintet, with world music influences. [11] Also in the band are Shanir Blumenkranz (bass), Brian Marsella (keyboards), Yonadav Halevy (drums) and Rich Stein (percussion). [12]
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. [13]
Fruchter is a member of Jon Madof's 13-piece afrobeat 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. [14]
Fruchter is also a frequent substitute with the instrumental rock quartet Abraxas, which also performs the music of Zorn's Masada; [15] a member of Pakistani/American collaboration Sandaraa; [16] doom metal band Deveykus; [1] and Frank London's Shekhina Big Band, [17] among other projects, many of which explore the relationship of Jewish culture, identity and music. [1]
Fruchter resides in Brooklyn, New York, [3] with his wife, journalist Leah Koenig, and their son. [9] He is an observant Orthodox Jew. [2]
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Beyond the Book
|
| 2008 | Pitom
|
| 2011 | Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes
|
| 2014 | Cantorial Recordings Reimagined
|
| Year | Album | Artist | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Shemspeed Alt Schule | Juez | Bass |
| 2007 | Eitan Katz Unplugged | Eitan Katz | Bass |
| 2008 | Monkey Dance | Soulfarm | Guitar, bass |
| 2009 | Boruch Hu | Eitan Katz | Guitar, bass |
| 2010 | Holy Ground | Soulfarm | Bass |
| Yiddish Princess | Yiddish Princess | Guitar | |
| Have No Fear | Breslov Bar Band | Bass | |
| 2011 | Eitan Katz Unplugged 2 | Eitan Katz | Bass |
| Resonance | Asefa | Guitar, oud | |
| Joey's Nigunim: Spontaneous Jewish Choir | Joey Weisenberg | Vocals | |
| 2012 | Joey's Nigunim Vol. II: Transformation of a Nigun | Joey Weisenberg | Mandolin, vocals |
| Willamette | Willamette | Guitar | |
| 2013 | Shuvu | Eitan Katz | Bass |
| Pillar Without Mercy | Deveykus | Guitar | |
| Joey's Nigunim Vol. III: Live in the Choir Loft | Joey Weisenberg and the Hadar Ensemble | Bass, vocals | |
| Zion80 | Jon Madof | Guitar | |
| Happy Hour | Breslov Bar Band | Bass | |
| 2014 | Joey's Nigunim Vol. IV: Brooklyn Spirituals | Joey Weisenberg and the Hadar Ensemble | Upright bass, vocals |
| Adramelech: Book of Angels Volume 22 | Zion80 | Guitar | |
| 2017 | Cat Toren's HUMAN KIND | Cat Toren's HUMAN KIND | Guitar, Oud |
| 2020 | Scintillating Beauty | Cat Toren's HUMAN KIND | Oud |
| Ruthless Cosmopolitans EP | Ruthless Cosmopolitans (Eprhyme, Jon Madof) | Bass | |
| 2022 | Holy Chutzpah | Breslov Bar Band | Bass |
Masada is a musical group with rotating personnel led by American saxophonist and composer John Zorn since the early 1990s.
Frank London is an American klezmer trumpeter who also plays jazz and world music.
John Zorn appears on over 400 recordings as a composer or performer. This is a selection of recordings released under his name, bands he was/is part of, collaborations with other musicians, and significant albums to which he has contributed. The year indicates when the album was first released and any subsequent years if the following release included additional material.
Filmworks XVIII: The Treatment features a score for film by John Zorn. The album was released on Zorn's own label, Tzadik Records, in 2006 and contains music that Zorn wrote and recorded for the romantic comedy, The Treatment (2006), directed by Oren Rudavsky.
Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 5: Masada Rock is the fifth and final album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project. It features 10 Masada songs performed by Jon Madof's Rashanim trio with Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on bass and Mathias Kunzli on drums in addition to Madof's guitar with guest appearances from Marc Ribot on two tracks. It was released in 2005 on Zorn's Tzadik Records as part of the Radical Jewish Culture Series.
Masada Anniversary Edition Volume 3: The Unknown Masada is the third album in a series of five releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of John Zorn's Masada songbook project. It features twelve previously unreleased Masada compositions performed by Erik Friedlander's Quake (1), Rashanim (2), Dave Douglas (3), Tatsuya Yoshida (4), Naftule's Dream (5), Jamie Saft (6), Zahava Seewald (7), Koby Israelite (8), Julian Kytasty (9); Fantômas (10), Wadada Leo Smith and Ikue Mori (11), and Eyvind Kang (12).
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-profit, cooperative record label.
Eyal Maoz is an Israeli-born American guitarist, bandleader, solo performer, and composer. His music has been described as a synthesis of rock, jazz and avant-garde, tinged with deep electronic and radical Jewish-middle-eastern music.
Mount Analogue is the fifteenth studio album by John Zorn released in January 2012 on the Tzadik label.
Eden Daniel Pearlstein, better known by his stage name Eprhyme, is an American Jewish rapper and producer based in Brooklyn, New York. While attending The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, he became involved with the Olympia music scene as half of the hip hop duo Saints of Everyday Failures, with which he released two albums. According to Nic Leonard of the Weekly Volcano, Eprhyme "played a major roll [sic] in the creation of the Olympia hip-hop scene." He was noticed by local independent label K Records, who released his first two singles, "Punklezmerap" and "Shomer Salaam". He then released his debut album, Waywordwonderwill (2009), through Shemspeed Records, before returning to K Records for his follow-up, Dopestylevsky (2011). He is currently part of the alternative hip hop groups Darshan, with vocalist Basya Schechter, and Ruthless Cosmopolitans, with Jon Madof.
Caym: Book of Angels Volume 17 is an album by Cyro Baptista's band Banquet of the Spirits performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, "The Book of Angels".
Abraxas: Book of Angels Volume 19 is the debut album led by Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, "The Book of Angels".
Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz is an American bassist and oud player who has recorded and performed extensively with Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits, Daniel Zamir's Satlah, Rashanim, Pharaoh's Daughter, and John Zorn. Blumenkranz studied at the Manhattan School of Music, the Rimon School of Music in Israel, and holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 2012 he released the first album under his leadership Abraxas: Book of Angels Volume 19 featuring compositions by John Zorn. Blumenkranz was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States.
Banquet of the Spirits is an album by percussionist Cyro Baptista which featured the debut of the band that would become known as Banquet of the Spirits – Baptista, bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, keyboard player Brian Marsella, and drummer Tim Keiper – which was released on the Tzadik label in 2008.
Psychomagia is the second album by Abraxas, led by Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, performing compositions written by John Zorn, which was recorded in December 2013 and released on the Tzadik label.
Rashanim is the eponymous debut album by guitarist Jon Madof's Rashanim trio with Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on bass and Mathias Kunzli on drums released in 2003 on John Zorn's Tzadik Records as part of the Radical Jewish Culture Series.
Adramelech: Book of Angels Volume 22 is the second album by Zion80, a musical ensemble led by guitarist Jon Madof, which was released in 2014 on John Zorn's Tzadik Records. It is part of the Zorn's Book of Angels Series, a songbook of Zorn compositions performed by a wide range of performers.
Zion80 is the debut album by guitarist Jon Madof's Zion80 which was released in 2013 on John Zorn's Tzadik Records as part the Radical Jewish Culture series. The album combines music written by Shlomo Carlebach performed in the Afrobeat style of Fela Kuti.
Breslov Bar Band is an American experimental klezmer band based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2009 by bandleader Binyomin Ginzberg, the band has released three albums, Have No Fear (2010), Happy Hour (2013), and Holy Chutzpah (2022). They are noted for their experimental interpretations of traditional Breslov nigunim.
Aram Bajakian is an American guitarist of Armenian descent who has recorded and toured with John Zorn, Lou Reed, Diana Krall, and with Madeleine Peyroux in 2018.
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