This Friday and Saturday: A Jazz Shabbat Weekend

Friday, March 19 and Saturday March 20, deliver a Jazz Shabbat weekend to SAJ. Featuring the Afro-Semitic Experience at the Friday night service and a talk on "The Fusion of Jazz A Synagogue Music" given by Cantor Lisa Arbisser on Saturday, this weekend will be a unique experience and merging of different music styles.

The music of The Afro-Semitic Experience, an intricate tapestry of distinct cultures and heritages, delivers a positive and meaningful message about Black-Jewish relations. The band, founded by African-American jazz pianist Warren Byrd and Jewish-American jazz bassist David Chevan, weaves stories and music together to celebrate and explain Jewish and African-American sacred traditions. The service takes place on Friday, March 19 at 6:30 PM. Meet the band at a kiddush reception after services. After the reception, there will be a dairy or parve potluck dinner. We ask attendees to bring a dish for 6 people.Click here to RSVP for the kosher dairy/parve potluck dinner or call 212-724-7000. Please click here for more details about the SAJ kashrut policy. RSVP not required if you are only attending the Jazz service.

For more information on the Afro-Semitic Experience, click here.

Then, on Saturday, March 20 at 1:15 PM , using audio demonstrations, SAJ Cantor Lisa Arbisser,
an award-winning graduate of the School of Sacred Music at the Hebrew Union College, will discuss how jazz, as a uniquely American musical genre has been integrated into synagogue music since the early 20th century.