07/18/08 Globesonic Sound System @ Pier 1 Riverside Park South, New York, NY

From the muddy banks of the Hudson River, not all that far geographically from the stodgy Lincoln Center, the DJ/percussionist/etc. collective Globesonic Sound System soundtracked a worldly dance party with no pretension as the dirty Jersey sunset loomed off the pier.

09/09/07 Jewzapalooza @ Riverside Park, New York, NY

This sometimes annual celebration of Judaism featured the two hippie Jew bands of my slightly more religious days - Soulfarm and the Moshav Band.

The Moshav is the settlement where all the vagabond hippies live in Israel. It was started by the original rabbi to the hippies, Shlomo Carlebach.

09/17/06 Jewzapalooza @ Riverside Park, New York, NY

HaDag Nahash (The Snake Fish) is a popular Israeli hip hop group that I discovered during my time spent there. I bought their album, La Zuz (To Move) at a bus station in Tel Aviv en route to the resort town of Eilat. Halfway between the two cities, I smoked a joint at a rest stop and then listened to the album. That was quite a trip.

Anyways, they came to America as part of this Jewish music festival so I decided to go check them out. Also on the bill was Yossi Piamenta (aka the Hebrew Hendrix) whose band happened to feature my favorite lady bassist, Tal Wilkenfeld.

We went down and sipped on tallboys at the grassy park overlooking the mighty Hudson River. The tunes were palatable and the Jew factor was high.

By the time HaDag Nahash hit the stage, I unfortunately had a bit of a headache, but they rocked the river nonetheless.