More Jewish Music

While trying to dig up more information about King Django, I came across two other bands existing in the space between Jamaican ska and Judaism. The first is Matisyahu, described as a "Hasidic Reggae Superstar" on his web site. I'll leave you to judge the accuracy of the claim, but the one full-length song the site offers is pretty good.

King Without A Crown

The next band is Klezska. Their bio gives some insight into the Jamaica-Jewish affinity - What’s interesting is how the Jamaican and specifically Rastfarian story parallels much of the history and story of the Jews. From slavery to redemption and from Klezmer to Ska, Klezska! Is trying to bring this musical and cultural blend to the world.

Skavanagila (live)
Tradition (live instrumental)

Both of these bands both join the ska tradition in its oldest forms, alternatively substituting rocksteady, reggae, and ska in their descriptions. It's certainly an interesting relationship - and one that reminds me how flexible ska can be, merging alternately with big band sounds, reggae, hip hop, and punk music with almost equal effectiveness.

Share and enjoy!

Alerte Rouge!

France probably isn't a country that most people associate with ska - at least, not if you're primarily English speaking. That doesn't mean there isn't a French ska scene though - and like it's American counterpart, current French ska seems to also have an affinity for punk aesthetics.

Alerte Rouge's last album was "Paradis Paradis", released on M10 in 2002. They have 3 complete mp3s on their site:

Cafard Noir
Vamos A La Vida De Noche
Paradis, Paradis

If you like these songs, be sure to check out the band's older work - their official site has a handful of other mp3s available off "Alerte Rouge" (1997) and "Trop De Tension" (2000)

King Django

Yiddish ska? This is one I -really- wish I could find somewhere on the 'net, folks. It has to be heard to be believed.

King Django's Roots & Culture Band - L'Khayim

The main artist behind this is a guy named King Django - who apparently floats between bands and projects fairly often. I haven't found much in the way of downloadable mp3's anywhere - if I do I'll add them here...

More on this guy later.