BJ MUSICIANS
Congregation B'nai Jeshurun is fortunate to have some of New York's finest musicians on its staff, lead by Music Director and Hazzan, Ari Priven. These musicians have performed on two BJ recordings, available online:
Meet the artists forming the community of resident musicians that play at services throughout the year below:
Eugene Carr
Cello
Eugene Carr has been a resident cellist at BJ since 2001. He originally trained at the Juilliard School, and then earned undergraduate degrees at both the Oberlin Conservatory and Oberlin College. There he was the founder and manager of the Oberlin Trio, representing Oberlin Conservatory in tours across the United States, as well as a member of the Long Island Youth Orchestra, where performed in more than 50 countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Today, Gene's musical activities are focused in the world of free improvisation. He participates regularly in workshops and concerts of improvised music, and has recently worked with the noted cellist David Darling.
Gene is also the founder/president of Patron Technology, which provides web-based e-mail marketing software to more than 900 arts and non-profit institutions across the country and overseas.
Contact: genecarr@gmail.com
Saskia Lane
double bass, voice, and composition
A graduate of The Juilliard School, Saskia Lane (double bass, voice, and composition) performs throughout the tri-state area with a variety of jazz, world, pop, and classical artists. Currently, Saskia tours internationally with Dan Zanes & Friends and nationally with her critically-acclaimed cocktail pop quartet The Lascivious Biddies. She can also be seen sharing the stage with the likes of Jay-Z, Beyonce and Natalie Merchant. In addition, Saskia is active in education and outreach performing in the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series.
Saskia's television credits include a national commercial for Chili's Restaurants and appearances on The Discovery Channel, The Food Network, Fuse TV, and CBS Evening News, and she can be seen in the movie Mona Lisa Smiles, featuring Julia Roberts.
Her discography includes recordings with Nicole Paiement, featuring the works of Lou Harrison (New Albion Records), The Gotham Ensemble (Albany Records), along with three albums and a concert DVD (Eastway Records) with The Biddies.
Amanda Monaco
Guitar
Playing guitar has led Amanda Monaco to perform at the Blue Note, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Birdland, Tonic, Joe’s Pub, and the JVC Jazz Festival, as well as other venues in the United States and Europe. Amanda has recorded several CDs as both a leader and a sideman, and has shared the stage with musicians such as Milt Hinton, Norah Jones, Steve Wilson, Ada Rovatti, Michael Blake, Michael Sarin, Ed Schuller, Harvie S, Michael Jefry Stevens, and Matt Wilson. As an educator, Amanda has served on the faculty of Berklee College of Music, New School University, and the National Guitar Workshop; has recorded fifty jazz guitar instructional videos for the innovative web site WorkshopLive; and is the author of Jazz Guitar for the Absolute Beginner (Alfred Publishing). Amanda received a B.M. degree from William Paterson University in 1996, and will graduate with a M.A. from The City College of New York in May 2008.
BabySue calls Amanda "a musicaholic... she may also be one of the truly unique jazz voices of the 21st century." Her second CD as a leader, Intention (Innova Recordings, 2007) has been described as "chock full of thoughtful, provocative compositions rendered with strong conviction" (Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes). Projects as a leader/co-leader include her group am4; her quintet, Playdate, which includes saxophonist Wayne Escoffery and pianist Noah Baerman; and her new quartet with saxophonist Michaël Attias, bassist Sean Conly, and drummer Satoshi Takeishi. As a sideman, Amanda works with the composer/arranger Joe Phillips and the bandleader JC Hopkins, among others.
Web site: www.amandamonaco.com
Contact: Amanda@amandamonaco.com
Daphna Mor
Recorder
Originally from Givataim, Israel, recorder and woodwind player Daphna Mor started her music studies when she was seven years old. She has performed throughout Europe, Israel, and the United States, and has won many competitions as a classical recorder player.
Daphna received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Boston Conservatory with highest honors and was valedictorian of the class of 2000. She was awarded the prestigious title "Privileged Musician" for her service in the Israel Defense Forces.
Since moving to New York, she has been teaching at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Collegium, the American Recorder Society, and other private institutes; she teaches everyone from toddlers through adults. Daphna plays early, popular, world, and film music, and is a member of the band Pharaoh's Daughter.
Web site: www.daphnamor.com
Contact: daphna@daphnamor.com
Jessie Reagen
Cello
As resident cellist in the genre jumping/fusion group DBR & THE MISSION and the string quartet Equation, Jessie enjoys working both acoustically and amplified. Broadway and Off-Broadway theater credits include Light in the Piazza, American Girl Review, Little Women, Orlando in Love and a cellist/inmate in Misterioso. Collaborations include performing with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Savion Glover (Classical Savion), DANCE This..., Divahn, New York Continuo Collective, East Village Opera Company, Frantic Turtle, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Philip Glass.
Creator of the Hustla Symphony Orchestra, Jessie performed with Jay-Z (and special guests) celebrating the 10th anniversary release of “Reasonable Doubt” at Radio City Music Hall. Jessie has also performed on TV and in concert with Kanye West, Adam Levine, Il Divo, Enya and Jewel. Bach & Beats, Jessie’s solo show was premiered at NYC’s 92nd St. Y in 2006. She has also performed with various other groups in France, Luxembourg, Japan and throughout the United States.
Jessie has a B.M. and a P.S.D. from Mannes College of Music where she was a scholarship student of Timothy Eddy (Orion String Quartet) and Carter Brey (New York Philharmonic). In her early days, Jessie attended Solomon Schechter Day School in Skokie, IL where she learned to sing in d minor. Jessie is currently on faculty at the United Nations International School in Manhattan.
web site: www.cellochic.com
e-mail: JReagen@gmail.com
Basya Schechter
Percussion, Vocals
Blending a psychedelic sensibility and a pan-Mediterranean sensuality, Basya Schechter leads her band, Pharaoh's Daughter, through swirling Hasidic chants, Mizrachi and Sephardi folk-rock, and spiritual stylings filtered through percussion, flute, strings and electronica.
Her sound has been cultivated by her Hasidic music background and a series of trips to the Middle East, Africa, Israel, Egypt, Central Africa, Turkey, Kurdistan and Greece. She began retuning her guitar to sound like a cross between an Arabic oud and a Turkish saz, with harmonic minor melodies, and odd time signatures. With the many amazing musicians, she has recorded four albums, three with Pharaoh's Daughter and one instrumental exploration with Persian santur player, Alan Kushan called "Queen's Dominion". Pharaohs' Daughter has toured extensively through America, the United Kingdom, and both Eastern and Western Europe. This past summer, Pharaoh's Daughter had the honor of debuting at Central Park's Summer Stage series in August 2004, and has played such presigious stages as Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. When she's not touring or performing, Basya plays darbuka, riq and frame drum as part of the B'nai Jeshurun music ensemble that accompanies Friday night services.
Over the past two years, Basya was the recipient of numerous compositional and project grants from NYSCA (New York State Council of the Arts) American Composers Forum (for Trance, and multilayered sound and video installation collaboration with fillmaker Pearl Gluck) and the American Music Center. She hopes to record Pharaoh's Daughter's fifth album, Hagar, within the next year.
Web site: www.pharaohsdaughter.com
Contact: basya.s@gmail.com
Uri Sharlin
Accordion, Piano
Since his arrival to New York in 1999 composer, accordionist and pianist, Uri Sharlin has become an established "world "musician. His knowledge of both Western and Middle Eastern music feeds his unique composition style, expressed in various projects. Among them: Anistar, Pharaoh's daughter, Ayyub, Kaiku, The Metropolitan Kleizmer Orchestra, Antony and the Johnson, Roberto Rodriguez Quintet, and many others. His band the cardamon quartet released their first album in 2005, which was warmly received by the critics. Recently, Uri spent an extended period in Brazil learning Choro and Forro musical styles among others on accordion and percussion.
Web site: www.urisharlin.com
Matt Turk
Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals
Playing what one astute critic calls "literate tunes with heart and muscle," Matt Turk exemplifies the consummate musical artist. He's a veteran performer/eternal idealist who has engaged audiences around the world, both as hard-rocking bandleader and acoustic folk troubadour. A soulful vocalist who has been playing guitar and mandolin since his teens, Matt's adept at combining folk, rock and world music styles in a personable and winning manner.
Matt graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. from New York University with a major in history and a minor in Religious Studies In the early 1990s Matt had a run at rock stardom with The Hour, one of the leading proponents of the jam-happy sound that grew out the Manhattan club scene. He then teamed up with world famous folk music icon Pete Seeger as part of "The Street Singers," a roving collective organized to teach folk songs to schoolchildren and others in and around New York City. Putting his career on hold for three years to work for God's Love-We Deliver, a not-for-profit grassroots group that brought meals to homebound AIDS sufferers and their caregivers, Matt returned to the tuneful arts in 1996. Since then he has released three albums, including 2002's highly-acclaimed What Gives, and his latest, Washington Arms, which showcases Matt's indie- and alt-rock prowess.
Illustrative of his wide-ranging appreciation of artistic traditions and historical contexts, Matt has also researched Jewish folk music from the Middle East and North Africa in an attempt to keep ancient melodies and songs alive. In 2000 he formed the folk-flavored world music group Mandolin Caravan with drummer Kevin Hupp to perform some of the timeless songs he has collected over the years; their first album, Desert Soul, was released in 2003.
For the past several years Matt has coordinated and hosted the "Circle of Song" tent at the Great Clearwater Music and Arts Festival, an event inaugurated by Pete Seeger in the 1960s that's held each June on the banks of the Hudson River. While most at Congregation B'nai Jeshrun know Matt as a resident musician, he has also performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, using his music and energy to promote peace.
Web site: www.turktunes.com
Contact: matt@turktunes.com