Crossing Cultures:
The Afro-Semitic Experience in Concert
Explorations of the sacred and secular music
of the African and Jewish diasporas
February 15, 2006
Student Union Ballroom
UMass Amherst
Founded by Jewish bassist and Amherst native David Chevan and African American pianist Warren Byrd, The Afro-Semitic Experience is a cross-cultural band with a positive message about racism, anti-Semitism and Black-Jewish relations.
The six-piece jazz ensemble performs innovative and uplifting arrangements of sacred and secular melodies from the Jewish and African diasporas. Their music is drawn from sources as diverse as Jewish liturgy, Gospel, klezmer, blues, spirituals, swing, hip-hop and classic jazz.
“The Afro-Semitic Experience rocks the house” (George Robinson, The Jewish Week)
“A mind-blowing experience" (New Haven Advocate)
"Think Jewish wedding, revival meeting and Charles Mingus all at once... Many of the songs sound like straight-ahead jazz at a cursory listen, but the details get cross-cultural fast - the melody might turn Middle Eastern while the rhythms go African. When lap steel comes sliding in with a bluesy twang, all bets are off, and the multi-ethnic party really begins. This is multi-culturalism with its hair down, and well worth a listen. The Afro-Semitic Experience brings home the bacon and the gefilte fish." (James Heflin, The Valley Advocate)
Presented by the Office of Jewish Affairs and UMass Hillel, and cosponsored by Multicultural Student Services, Black History Month Committee, Center for Student Development, Student Affairs & Campus Life and WMUA 91.1 FM. Funded in part by grants from Barbra Weiner (the Jewish Cultural Fund of UMass Hillel) and the Jewish Arts & Culture Initiative of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.
Read a review of The Afro-Semitic Experience in concert
Background:
The Office of Jewish Affairs was created to foster better relations between Jewish, African American and other students. Programs like the annual Multicultural Freedom Seder (a collaboration between OJA, the Black Student Union and other groups) and this concert of Jewish and African American music, help build these bridges of friendship and understanding between racial, ethnic and religious communities. Fostering such good will and mutual respect is the core mission of the OJA, and an important component of the University’s stated commitment to diversity.
Download press release
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