ESSENTIAL LISTENING
A curated guide to the recordings that define New Jewish Music.
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The Rabbi’s Lover
JENNY SCHEINMAN
Tzadik 2002
To understand New Jewish Music, start here. Scheinman explores the emotional landscape of Jewish life through a singular musical language blending timeless tradition with modern jazz. The result is personal, contemporary, and unmistakably Jewish.
LISTEN FOR…
Lyrical violin melodies
Hypnotic acoustic grooves
Adventurous improvisation
Klezmer sounds woven into modern settings
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Dance Party 1929
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Spirit Stronger Than Blood
FRANK LONDON AND THE ELDERS
ESP Disk 2024
Trumpeter Frank London, a founding father and prolific contributor to the New Jewish Music movement, returns with a powerful statement at the intersection of Jewish modal traditions and post-bop jazz. Recorded just before London’s treatment for a rare blood disorder, it is a deeply personal record, reflecting themes of healing and resilience.
LISTEN FOR…
Spiritual jazz influence of Mingus, Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Abundant Love
The name is a direct translation of Ahava Rabbah, a traditional Jewish prayer mode whose distinctive tonality shapes the composition.
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Alive and Well
Yoshie Fruchter & PITOM
2025
On the heavier side of New Jewish Music, guitarist Yoshie Fruchter leads PITOM through adventurous prog-rock explorations rooted in Jewish folk melody and Middle Eastern modes. Electric guitar and violin channel the intensity of Mahavishnu Orchestra and King Crimson, balancing heavy riffs and distortion with inventive melodies and rhythmic interplay.
LISTEN FOR…
Jazz-fusion aesthetic with a hard-rock edge
Sonic intensity interspersed with moments of beauty
Unexpected shifts between tightly arranged passages and spontaneous interplay
ESSENTIAL TRACK: False Profits
ESSENTIAL PLAYLIST:
John Zorn’s Book of Angels
32 albums. 316 Songs. Dozens of brilliant artists.
Enjoy this NJM-curated sample from the mellower side of John Zorn’s Book of Angels series.
Consider this your bar mitzvah brunch playlist.
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YESOD:
BANQUET OF THE SPIRITS
Tzadik 2019
John Zorn’s Book Beri’ah, Vol. 9
One of the most captivating recordings from the Masada songbooks. Masterful Brazilian percussion meets virtuosic modern jazz piano with a hint of Klezmer tonality and deep groove from start to finish.
LISTEN FOR…
Brazilian grooves
Middle eastern inflections
Clever melodies with suprising twists
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Iggulim
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Buer:
John Zorn’s Book of Angels, Vol. 31
BRIAN MARSELLA TRIO
Tzadik 2017
A defining statement in New Jewish Music. Marsella’s piano trio brings equal parts fire and beauty, Jewish tonality and modern jazz tradition to Zorn's brilliant compositions.
LISTEN FOR…
Adventurous piano virtuosity
Explosive trio interplay
Surprising stylistic turns
Jewish melodic language
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Akzariel
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Warriors
ZION80
Tzadik 2017
Zion80's signature mashup of Afrobeat, jazz-funk, electric blues, surf rock, and more comes to life through Jon Madof's inventive arrangements creating an expansive sonic landscape.
LISTEN FOR…
Infectious Afrobeat grooves
Unmistakeably Jewish melodies
Soaring horn arrangements
Madof’s blues-rock guitar phrasing
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Holy Brother
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OUR BEAUTIFUL GARDEN IS OPEN
SEPHARDIC TINGE • Anthony Coleman
Tzadik 2002
Coleman's piano style evokes Thelonious Monk's angular harmonies and rhythmic outbursts, creating a playful, distinctly modern setting for traditional Sephardic melodies alongside his own unique compositions. The trio's third and final album finds Coleman, bassist Ben Street, and drummer Michael Sarin at their most focused and lyrical, with a more straight-ahead trio sound than its eclectic predecessors.
LISTEN FOR…
Subtle Sephardic flavors
Monk-like angles
Flashes of avant-garde atonality
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Et Dodim
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Luminescence
BORAH BERGMAN TRIO
Tzadik 2009
On Luminescence, pianist Borah Bergman draws on the melodic contours of Jewish cantorial singing in a deeply expressive modern jazz trio. Contemplative and searching, the music moves fluidly between Jewish tradition and free improvisation.
LISTEN FOR…
Bergman’s meditative piano improv exploring traditional Jewish scales
Dynamic interplay with Greg Cohen (bass) and Kenny Wollesen (drums)
John Zorn saxophone guest appearance on Luma
ESSENTIAL TRACK: Parallax