Black Ox Orkestar
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Black Ox Orkestar is a European Jewish Folk quartet of musicians from Montreal, Canada that formed in the summer of 2000 to explore their common Jewish heritage for sounds that could speak to them in the present. They are at the forefront of a "New Jewish music" that rejects contemporary fusion and musty nostalgia in equal measure. By creating original song-settings for Jewish folk ballads (which traditionally were sung a cappella), by writing and performing new, politically-charged Yiddish texts, and by borrowing freely from traditional and contemporary musical sources, Yiddish and otherwise, Black Ox Orkestar hopes to challenge the artistic and political orthodoxies that would try to define the meaning of "New Jewish music."
Member Scott Levine Gilmore has said, "We certainly didn’t have any grand ambitions when we started. But we did share an idea of playing social music, music that was very danceable and approachable. And also to be doing it in a sort of indie rock milieu."
It's members have backgrounds in folk, weird-folk, punk rock, out jazz, and free jazz; the group's four musicians distill Balkan, Central Asian, Arabic and Slavic sources into a coherent, impassioned sound that gives teeth to old Jewish songs. The music is entirely acoustic and sung in Yiddish; the group celebrates Yiddish diasporic art as a living alternative to state culture in every form and as an alternative to holding Israel as the cultural and ideological Jewish center. They use Yiddish as a code meant for deciphering, a message from the recent past that cautions against the separation of peoples. As a hybrid tongue, Yiddish has never stood for disengagement and enclosure; it has always thrived on contact and exchange.
Much of the music revolves around political statements. Singing in Yiddish becomes a celebration of their heretige and a rejection of the assimilation that most immigrants faced.
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[edit] The Inspirations
Poet, Itzik Fefer, Pre-War Jewish and Non-Jewish Music
[edit] The Discography
- Ver Tanzt? (Constellation Records, 2004)
- Nisht Azoy (Constellation Records, 2006. Recorded in Montreal's Hotel2Tango Studio)
[edit] The Members
- Thierry Amar (contrabass)
- Scott Levine Gilmore (vocals, cymbalom, guitar, mandolin, saz, violin, percussion)
- Gabriel Levine (clarinet, guitar)
- Jessica Moss (violin)
Thierry Amar is a member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion. He has contributed to countless recordings and live musical projects in Montreal, figures prominently in the jazz and improv scene, and currently studies with Jacques Beaudoin of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He co-founded the Hotel2Tango recording studio, where he works as a recording engineer.
Scott Levine Gilmore studied Yiddish Literature at McGill University in Montreal. He currently plays in A Silver Mt. Zion and Friends of Cush (with composer Sam Shalabi). Former musical projects include Luftmentsch Fareyn (with Josh Dolgin, aka So Called). He was a founding member of Le Petit Theatre de líAbsolu, a puppet theatre that toured a children's show through Israel and the occupied West Bank in the fall of 2003.
Gabriel Levine played in Montreal groups Sackville, Friends of Cush (with Sam Shalabi) and the Wild Lawns. He has worked in Vermont for the Bread and Puppet Theatre, and was a co-founder of Le Petit Theatre de l'Absolu. He is currently finishing a post-graduate degree in Social and Political Thought at Toronto's York University.
Jessica Moss has been playing her instrument since she was five. Breaking with her classical training early on to seek out more exciting and innovative ensembles and genres, she has been a part of many bands and collaborations in Montreal, and has been a guest player on numerous records in Montreal and Toronto. She plays in A Silver Mt. Zion, has been a contributor to Broken Social Scene, creates illuminated boxes, and makes soundtracks for film.
[edit] The External Links
Constellation Records' Black Ox Orkestar website
