Yehudah Katz

Yehudah is the founder and leader of the popular Israeli Jewish rock and soul band Reva L’sheva. In hundreds of worldwide concerts, the band has been painting a picture of joy, optimism and unity. It has been enthusiastically received at universities, large music festivals, Jewish community centers and synagogues, and by organizations such as the General Assembly of Jewish Federations, the Limmud Conference, International Hillel on campus, Israel Bonds and The Israel Festival. In Israel, Reva L’sheva has also shared the stage with many of Israel’s most popular artists such as Ehud Banai, Shlomo Gronich, Ariel Zilber and Meir Banai.

As a solo artist, Yehudah has been blessed with the opportunity to touch many lives with his own unique approach to Jewish spirituality, music and story. Reb Shlomo Carlebach was a critical influence, given the 23 years during which Katz watched the master open hearts through music, story and personal connection. For the past eight years Yehudah has helped continue his legacy by directing the annual Reb Shlomo Carlebach Memorial Concerts at the Binyanei Haumah Convention Center in Jerusalem.

Katz offers workshops and seminars in Hebrew and English on themes such as “The Power of Music and Melody,” “Music Composition: Roots and Influences,” “Music and Spirituality: An Individual and Communal Journey,” and “Jewish Folk Culture- Tracing Roots from Temple Times to the Modern Era.” On his own quest to connect with Jews in the four corners of the earth, he has performed and taught in communities large and small in the U.S., Canada, England, Germany, the former Soviet Union, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Croatia, The Czech Republic and Africa.

Beyond his soulful musicianship, Katz brings to his Jewish educational projects his Yeshiva University education, an M.A. in guidance and counseling, and coursework completed towards a doctorate in clinical psychology. He served the community for 12 years in the field of informal Jewish education, working for the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Jewish Community Centers Association, and the National Conference of Synagogue Youth, specializing as a pioneer in outreach to unaffiliated young people

Brian Levine

Brian Levine was named Bass Player of the Year in 2005 at the LA Music Awards.

Danny Roth

Danny Roth is a Jewish educator and active performing musician. A native of Los Angeles and graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Danny moved to Israel in 1990, where he immersed himself in traditional Jewish studies at noted Torah academies in Jerusalem. Danny has been involved as a Jewish educator in a number of programs in Israel for overseas students and in leadership training seminars.

As a musician, Danny is an accomplished drummer. He has recorded and performed around the world with many popular Jewish artists, including Reva L’Sheva, the Moshav Band and the great Reb Shlomo Carlebach, z”l. In his playing, he aims to draw inspiration from a deep, soulful place so that the music can reach a deep, soulful place in others. That is the heart of Jewish music.

Danny is a co-founder of Artists and Musicians for Israel (A.M.I.), a unique educational project that uses music and the arts as conduits of community-building, centered on the theme of Israel.

Chanan Elias

As a child, Chanan remembers being mesmerized by music. He would become truly transported to a different time or space; he was naturally drawn to it. He found it was a great way to express feelings without having to verbalize them. And even better, when true feelings were not coming clear, music would give him clarity. This extra-verbal way of experiencing the world led Chanan to start thinking about the root of it all, where the song began… the Source… the Creator.

And then he heard the song “Al Eileh Ani Bochia”( for those I cry), a Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach melody based on a verse from the Book of Lamentations. A new world was opened up for him… so much depth pouring out of one soul. At the time, he was a recent graduate of the Los Angeles Theatre Academy, living in Los Angeles and looking for his first job as a professional actor. It was a time of trying to fit in, but Chanan was not quite sure where he belonged. He was on the cusp of a journey, but not quite ready. He hung out a little bit with the “Shlomo crowd” in LA and started to get really turned on by the music, the prayer, meditation. After a short stop over in NYC, playing keyboards with Neshama Carlebach (Shlomo’s daughter) Chanan soon realized there was only one place for him: Israel.

His first day in Israel he landed on the “Moshav.” There was a wedding and he was invited up to play. There he met some musicians who asked him to join their band, “Ein Safek” and suddenly, he was playing music and traveling all over Israel. Not long after he met his wife and found his place in Israel- working in the theatre as a director, doing voice-overs for cartoons, producing and playing music, and most of all as a father and husband. He has continued to develop these aspects of his life in Israel. For example, in addition to studying music at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Rimon School of Jazz and producing several albums, Chanan has directed a number of shows in Israel including “Little Shop of Horrors,” and has acted in “Guys and Dolls” as well as two feature films.

Chanan loves playing music all over the world. Music, says Chanan, has this power to make people smile… Just let go for a while and dance!

Eliezer Blumen

Eliezer was raised in the small country towns of Connecticut and New Jersey. He soaked in his father’s folk guitar playing and the good tunes he always had playing on the stereo. At age 15 Eliezer was already playing guitar himself and singing in local pubs. He went on to study at Skidmore College, from which he has a degree in Musical Performance and Composition. Eliezer has been composing and recording for 25 years and has performed all over the globe. He has been influenced mostly by the blues, folk, rock, and jazz of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. He has recorded for Atlantic Records, as well as with many Israeli artists. His own release from 2000, “A New Song,” on Gal-Paz Records, is a combination of these different styles. Eliezer has released two additional Hebrew albums with Gal-Paz records: “Straight to You” and “L’maan Tzion” as well as his own blues album in English: “Lazer Lloyd and The Folk Spirit Blues-Higher Ground.”

It was his contract with Atlantic, over ten years ago, that brought him to New York City, where he had the opportunity to meet and perform with Reb Shlomo Carlebach. This greatly contributed to his decision to make Aliya to Israel and his re-Jew-venation, part of which involved the long hair at the back of his head moveing to take up residence on his face, for a more traditional look. Through his educational, musical and spiritual activity, Eliezer actively seeks world peace and the unification of its creatures. When Eliezer is not playing and touring with Reva L’Sheva he can be seen playing in clubs around Tel Aviv and Israel with his original power trio, Yood.

Yitzchak Attias

Yitzhak Attias is a percussionist and songwriter originally from Gibraltar, a British colony in the south of Spain.

Having grown up on the Mediterranean, Yitzhak brings African, Latin, and Flamenco influences into his music, which mingle with the Sephardic traditions on which he was raised.

Yitzhak was extremely moved on his first visit to Israel by the desert – the Dead Sea, Ein Gedi, and the Sinai. The profound change he felt from this trip drew him back to Israel, where he has lived since 1980.

He has played professionally for over twenty years, and has performed and/or recorded with Shlomo Carlebach, Yehudah Glantz, Reva l’Sheva, Chaim David, Avraham Rosenblum, Moshe Yess, Mordechai Ben David, Moshav Band, Peter Himmelman and others.

Yitzhak and Toronto-based drummer Yoseph “Joe” Levy, together with New York-based guitarist Elie Massias, grew up playing music together. Joe first sparked Yitzhak’s interest in drumming and song-writing.

In the late 70′s they formed what must have been the first Latin/Afro/Jewish band, Toledot.

1980 found Yitzhak in Israel where he led his own bands “Ladino,” “Yerushalmi” and “Azamra”. It was around that time that he formed a duo with Argentinean multi-instrumentalist Yehudah Glantz.

He then recorded “Gather the Sparks” which reflects the influence of Rebbe Nachman’s teachings on his music, and includes some of Israel’s finest musicians.

In the mid 80′s, Yitzhak met percussionist Nadav Serling who had spent time in Africa studying traditional drumming

Nadav had a powerful influence on Yitzhak’s playing and they have maintained a close musical and personal friendship since.

He joined Reva l’Sheva in the mid-90′s recording two Cds with them.

In 2003, Yitzhak and Elie Massias re-met in Gibraltar for an almost-un-rehearsed performance. The result was electrifying.

Their repertoire ranged from Jazz to Flamenco, Latin to traditional Jewish songs.

Yitzhak is currently working on new material drawing heavily from Gibraltarian liturgical melodies and from his own wanderings in the Jerusalem forest.

Yitzhak lives with his wife and children in Jerusalem where he works in music and provides graphics for the award-winning web site, aish.com.