Neta Elkayam Howa Jani at Tempel Synagogue / The Angelcy at Cheder Cafe (Jewish Culture Festival day 8 and day 10)

That was the last concert in the Tempel's Synagogue of this year's edition of the festival. Part of the "classic" side of the program, although the music certainly didn't sound too classic for the european ears.

Neta Elkayam and her band are part of the revival of Moroccan music with its ecstatic rhythms and exotic melodies. The petite singer has a most charming smile, a strong voice and unlimited energy on stage. The muisicians follow her bravely, the piano and bass adding a bit of classical, slighly jazz touch along the percussive madness and cutting violin solos.

Neta would talk about how the music is not only for the sould but also for the body, and there was certainly a solid group beside the stage dancing, not able (and not willing) to resist the groove. For me, among the more dance-oriented concerts of the week, Howa Jani band was among the most soulful performances. With a modern approach but keeping intact the mysterious element of music. Ecstatic yet meditative.  

TheAngelcy closed the festival with a concert in a very overcrowded Cheder Cafe. The air was filled with sweat, and sounds that made it more than worthwhile to stay inside. The group's cleary indebted to Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen and to all the anti-war pets of the era but also modern songwriters (I'm thinking of groups like The Shins or Zero 7).
The music they play is modest and hearftelt, at times melancholic, at others quite joyful, always utterly charming. I'm listening through the band's debut "Exit Inside" and just can't put the cd away. It's simply a collection of beautiful songs. Put to words, it seems too simple, yet its simplicity like this can be priceless.

Oh my darling babe,
take me in your arms,
don't let me be a stranger.
Oh I wish I'd find
a giant heart to crawl up inside and sleep,
where everything is still,
where there is no war,
where everything is one.
In your arms, where everything is one,
In your arms I shine
(from the song "Giant Heart")

Howa Jani:

Neta Elkayam - vocal; Amit Hai Cohen - piano; Elad Levi - violin; Netanel Ben Shitrit - darbuka; Moske Bakhar - oud; Gal Maestro - double bass; Meir Amar - percussions

Tempel Synagogue. 04.07.2014. 24th Krakow Jewish Culture Festival

TheAngelcy:
Rotem Bar Or - vocal, guitar; Maya Lee Roman - viola, voice; Aner Paker - double bass; Maayan Zimry - percussion; Udi Naor - percussion; Uri Marom - clarinet, flute, vocal

Cheder Cafe. 06.07.2014. 24th Krakow Jewish Culture Festival