2013-10-30

Segment 2 of October 29, 2013. Yishai interviews Israel’s preeminent guitarist, Lazer Lloyd about his new Jewish Unity Music Project.

The Jewish Unity Music Project was created by Israeli guitarist and singer/songwriter Lazer Lloyd to address tensions and misunderstandings between different parts of the Jewish people and the lack of identification with shared Jewish culture and traditions. At the core of the project is a healing song of Jewish unity and love, “Ha’am Sheli” (My People), with a video that has now passed 525,000 views in two weeks.

“HA’AM SHELI (MY PEOPLE)” VIDEO: youtu.be/eMjh7xLdwKM

The song was released on October 14th by Lazer together with friends who are among Israel’s greatest singers (Shlomo Katz, Aaron Razel, Gad Elbaz, and Naftali Kalfa). “Ha’am Sheli” (My People) is an effort to use music to start a conversation within the Jewish People, to spark connections and create willingness to open hearts.

Lazer says, “I try to bring people together that I meet all over the Jewish world. Words like “ultra-orthodox” and “secular” are an obstacle to the Jewish people getting to know each other. They are descriptive but create walls between people. One of my closest held beliefs is that a Jew is a Jew period. I use music as a way to build bridges, connect to our common traditions and create new relationships.”

Lazer plays rock and blues music many nights a week in Israel’s hip bars and night clubs as well as performing at events such as the annual Concert on Reb Shlomo Carlebach’s Yahrzeit, the Jewish rock festival ShemeshFest, for yeshivas and more. A series of “Ha’am Sheli” (My People) concerts will be held inside and outside of Israel throughout 5774. Jewish Unity Music Project live events are being planned in collaboration with Yishai Fleisher’s Kumah nonprofit.

A comment on one of the first Jewish Unity Music Events that took place recently at Ashdod Ulpana (Girl’s High School) from school principal, Ze’ev Gut. “Lazer’s concert for us was a virtuoso performance infused with spirituality. It is a Jewish experience through folk, rock and blues music that he combines with an amazing ability to communicate with the crowd. There was total involvement of the audience with every song. The response from our students is “When is the next concert?!”

The song was recorded in Jerusalem at SuperSonic Studios and engineered, mixed, and mastered by Amit Golan. The video for “Ha’am Sheli” (My People) was produced by Ora-le-Nehora productions and directed by Eldad Eilat. The video takes the viewer all over Israel from farm to city, meeting the faces of real folks that make up the loving face behind the homeland of the Jewish people.

All the artists donated their efforts to the song as part of the “Ha’am Sheli” (My People) Project aimed at fostering a dialogue and educating the various people of Israel to love and appreciate each other and accept their differences with understanding. Sponsors gave the funding for the video production. Coordinating the “Ha’am Sheli” (My People) Project international live events is Kumah, a non-profit organization founded by Yishai Fleisher. Web designers at New Edge Design in Israel volunteered to make the project page and volunteers prepared subtitles in 5 languages.

The Jewish Unity Music Project Components include:

1. International distribution of the song & video which is underway.

2. LIVE Jewish Unity Music events (in Israel and around the world) to take place over the course of 2014/15. Diverse musicians in each city – led by music director Lazer Lloyd – will perform “Ha’am Sheli” plus other music from different Jewish traditions, tell stories & lead a discussion during the performance, a reception with refreshments will follow to encourage breaking barriers and new connections. Advance work will ensure diverse Jewish attendance in each location. Arrangements are already being made for “Ha’am Sheli” concerts in Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Florida, Toronto, and more.

3. A “Ha’am Sheli (My People) LIVE” DVD will carry the ripples of Jewish unity & inspiration to connect to our common traditions even further with highlights of the live events, the original ‘Ha’am Shel (My People)” video, behind the scenes footage, photos, and music.

ABOUT LAZER LLOYD

Lazer Lloyd is an international recording artist (formerly of Yood and Reva L’Sheva) and one of Israel’s top guitarists. Lazer plays in Israel’s music clubs and bars 3-4 nights a week with his own original music as well as at schools, Jewish festivals, kibbutzim, simchas. He connects to audiences of all backgrounds. His recordings are reaching a global audience. After winning Best Israeli Blues Album in 2012 with “My Own Blues”, Lazer’s latest CD, “Lost on the Highway” on Blues Leaf Records (USA), has been critically acclaimed and is now being played on radio programs across the USA from Alaska to Maine as well as in Italy, UK, and Germany. Lazer appeared on two week long tours this summer in Russia and the United States. He will be playing a series of “Ha’am Sheli – My People” events this coming year inside and outside Israel and continue his ongoing performances all over Israel.

Eliezer (Lazer Lloyd) Blumen was born in the US, started his musical career in Connecticut as a teenager. After finishing music school at Skidmore College, Lazer caught the attention of Atlantic Records and was on his way to start recording with them in Nashville when his life changed one night in Manhattan 20 years ago playing a concert with Rav Shlomo Carlebach. He made Aliyah to Israel on Rav Shlomo’s advice. The roots of “Ha’am Sheli” actually started when Lazer married his wife Elana. She is the daughter of a traditional Jewish Morrocan family living in Yavneh, Israel. Lazer spent his first years after marriage selling watermelons with his father-in-law in the family business. As he settled into life and began a career in music in his new country, his experiences with his family, neighbors, and work took him to all sides of Israeli society and culture. This experience has made him a musical, story telling ambassador between the diverse and sometimes conflicting parts of the Jewish people. See more at lazerlloyd.com

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