An innovative Israeli ensemble of composers and performers, Tafillalt navigate the multicultural soundscape of 21st-century Israel, presenting a deeply personal interpretation of various traditional and modern Jewish materials (sacred Hebrew poetry from North Africa and the Middle East, Hassidic Niggunim, modern secular Hebrew poetry and more), as well as their own original musical and literary compositions. Established in 2000, the members of the Tafillalt ensemble are also founding members of the Jerusalem contemporary music collective, Haoman Hai, a counterpart of the Radical Jewish Music projects in New York City. Tafillalt have performed widely throughout Israel, as well as the USA, England, Hungary, and Ukraine at venues including the Lviv Klezmer Fest, Jewish Summer Festival, Budapest, Wesleyan University, and the Israel National Museum. In addition to concert performances, the ensemble frequently gives workshops on both traditional and modern approaches to Jewish music.
 

Adventurous arrangements breaking new ground in Jewish music

John Zorn

The trio excels in its surprising fresh interpretations of well-known songs and prayers in a way that assimilates past multicultural ensembles innovations...an impressive debut by a very promising trio.

Eyal Hareuveni- All About Jazz
Yair Harel - Voice and Percussion
Yair Harel is an expert in traditional Jewish repertoires as well as on Middle Eastern and North African musical repertoires. He studied zarb (Persian drum) with Roger Yshay and the outstanding Persian master Deghmeshid Chemirani in Paris. Additionally, he studied Persian classical music with Peretz Eliyhau, Andalusian music with Rabbi Meir Attyah and Haim Louk, and improvisation with André Hajdu. He participated in several multimedia productions based on encounters between traditional and contemporary music. With the Harel-Ben David Trio he recorded a CD “Yedid nefesh”, released in France in 2004 by the Alpha label. He is a founding member of the Singing Communities Project, and is the director and chief editor of the website Invitation to Piyut and is the Musical Director of the Jerusalem-based Piyut Festival.

Nori Jacoby - Viola and Melodica
Nori Jacoby composes chamber and orchestra music as well as music for theater and dance. His music been performed at distinguished festivals around the world, including the Singapore Art Festival (2006), Chicago World Music Festival (2005), Melbourne Festival (2005), London Jewish Culture Festival at the Place Theater (1999), Krakow Dance Festival (2001) and Israel Festival (2007, 2004, 2003). Nori has been involved in many interdisciplinary and intercultural music projects such as Overtones (Singapore Art Festival, 2006) in which he wrote music for overtone singers and cross-cultural ensemble. He has written music for the rock band the Tracktor's Revenge and the Israeli Contemporary String Quartet (2004). More information about Nori at www.norijacoby.com.

Yonatan Niv - Cello and Voice
Yonatan Niv's performances and compositions combine the cello with singing, storytelling and dance. He participates in ensembles performing different Jewish traditions from North Africa, Iraq, East-European music and more. Yonatan is a member of contemporary composer Ronen Shapira's Third Temple Ensemble and is a leading musician in the "Beit Tfila Israeli" congregation in Tel- Aviv. Yonatan was awarded scholarships from the UICF for composition between 1998-2001, and studied music at the Israeli Art and Science Academy, specializing in composition under Prof. André Hajdu. He graduated from the Academy for Music and Dance in Jerusalem as a cellist where he studied with Dudu Sella.




Regular Guests
Eitan Kirsch (bass, vocals)
Yarden Erez (multi-instrumentalist)
Carmel Raz (violin)
Omer Avital (bass, oud)











 Tafillalt
Tafillalt's new album, released by John Zorn's distinguished Tzadik label, contains texts and melodies from daily prayers, sacred songs of the past decade, poems by the modern Israeli poets, Hassidic pieces, a letter on a scrap of paper found in the streets of Jerusalem set to music by the members of the group, as well as a tune from the oldest surviving manuscript of Jewish music from the 12th century.

> Buy this CD
 
 

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Nori Jacoby