Yoshie Fruchter (born February 1, 1982)

Matthue Roth Matthew "Matthue" Roth (born June 30, 1978) is an American columnist, author, poet, spoken word performer, video game designer, and screenwriter. Beginning his career as a slam poet in San Francisco, Roth gained attention for his unusual blend o ...

“Jazz Is the New Klezmer: An Interview with Yoshie Fruchter,”
'' Jewcy'', January 27, 2009. is an American experimental

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

, oud player and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Early life and education

Fruchter was born and raised in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

, in an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

household,Mordechai Shinefield
“The Secret History of Jewish Metal,”
''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ' ...

'', March 18, 2011. singing and playing Jewish music in his youth.Christopher R. Weingarten
“Yes In My Backyard,”
''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'', September 22, 2009. His father is a musician, and his sister Temim is the former drummer of the indie punk band

The Shondes The Shondes are a rock band from Brooklyn, NY, best known for their combination of feminist punk, rock, pop, Jewish influences, and ties to political activism. The Shondes formed in 2006 and have released two demos and five full-length studio ...

. He studied jazz in the music department at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, and moved to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, in 2005.

Music career

Pitom

Fruchter's debut solo album as composer and guitarist, ''Pitom'', was released in 2008.Jim Fusilli
“They Don’t All Sound Familiar,”
''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', December 26, 2008. The ''

'' called it "a dazzling debut" and '' JazzTimes'' called the debut "audacious," describing it as klezmer music with a punk sensibility.Bill Milkowski
“Yoshie Fruchter’s Pitom,”
'' JazzTimes'', March 2009. "Pitom" is

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

for "Suddenly," and the album was named after his band, which, along with Fruchter on guitar, includes Jeremy Brown (violin), Shanir Blumenkranz (bass) and Kevin Zubek (drums). Pitom's second album, ''Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes'', was released in 2011. Fruchter again composed and played guitar, with the album further exploring Jewish music along with surf and

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...

influences. The album was chosen by ''

'' as one of the newspaper's 2011 Forward Fives, an annual list honoring five of the most important Jewish music releases of the year.“Forward Fives: 2011 in Music,”
''The Forward'', December 19, 2011. Fruchter's music combines elements of jazz, klezmer, rock, surf and heavy metal, while exploring themes of God, religion, repentance and redemption.Sean Murphy
“Pitom: Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes,”

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

, April 13, 2011. Both Pitom albums have been released on

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

Tzadik Records Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a n ...

label. Fruchter has been described as a member of the "Radical Jewish Culture" scene, a term coined by Zorn.

Schizophonia

In December 2014, Fruchter released ''Cantorial Recordings Reimagined'', an album with a new band called Schizophonia, in which he arranged Jewish cantorial recordings for a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

quintet, with world music influences. Also in the band are Shanir Blumenkranz (bass), Brian Marsella (keyboards), Yonadav Halevy (drums) and Rich Stein (percussion).

Other projects

In 2006, Fruchter collaborated with his father, Chaim (Harold) Fruchter on ''Beyond the Book'', an album of songs they co-wrote and produced that explore critical moments in the lives of various Biblical personalities. Fruchter is a member of

Jon Madof Jon Madof (born May 28, 1974) is an American guitarist, composer, and leader of the bands Rashanim and Zion80, who has performed extensively with other artists including John Zorn, Matisyahu, Marc Ribot, and Frank London. PopMatters' Sean Murphy ...

's 13-piece afrobeat group

Zion80 ''Zion80'' is the debut album by guitarist Jon Madof's Zion80 which was released in 2013 on John Zorn's Tzadik Records as part the Radical Jewish Culture series. The album combines music written by Shlomo Carlebach performed in the Afrobeat style ...

, playing guitar on the group's self-titled 2013 debut. In April 2014, Zion80 released its second album, ''Adramelech'', an interpretation of John Zorn's ''Masada Book 2: The Book of Angels'', on which Fruchter again played guitar. Fruchter is also a frequent substitute with the instrumental rock quartet Abraxas, which also performs the music of Zorn's Masada; a member of Pakistani/American collaboration Sandaraa;

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band Deveykus; and

Frank London Frank London (born 1958 in New York) is an American klezmer trumpeter who also plays jazz and world music. Early life London was born to a Reform Jewish family and grew up in New York and Connecticut. He started playing the trumpet in fourth g ...

's Shekhina Big Band,George Robinson
“Frank London’s Latest Project Is Really Big,”
''

The Jewish Week ''The Jewish Week'' is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. ''The Jewish Week'' covers news relating to the Jewish community in NYC. In March 2016, ''The Jewish We ...

'', February 2, 2013. among other projects, many of which explore the relationship of Jewish culture, identity and music.

Personal life

Fruchter resides in

, with his wife, journalist Leah Koenig, and their son. He is an observant Orthodox Jew.

Discography

Albums

Appears on

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fruchter, Yoshie 21st-century American bass guitarists American jazz guitarists American experimental guitarists American male bass guitarists American jazz bass guitarists American experimental musicians American oud players American mandolinists Jewish American musicians Jewish American jazz composers Klezmer musicians Tzadik Records artists 1982 births Living people American Orthodox Jews People from Silver Spring, Maryland Musicians from Brooklyn University of Maryland, College Park alumni Guitarists from Maryland Jewish jazz musicians Moshav (band) members Soulfarm members Guitarists from New York (state) Jazz musicians from New York (state) Jazz musicians from Maryland American male jazz composers American jazz composers 21st-century American male musicians