Boker Tov Tel Aviv! There is no better way to wake up in the morning than to an Israeli breakfast. I was starting to look forward to going to sleep so I could wake up and have the breakfast, if that gives you any idea. An endless buffet with spreads of smoked fishes, cheeses, fresh carrot juice, dates, halvah, salads and my favorite, labane, a creamy yogurt cheese wrapped in grape leaves. I could get used to this.

In the morning we met funky soul singer Karolina, easily identifiable by her giant afro. She has reinvented herself more than once, fronting a sound system as MC Karolina, singing in a reggae soul band called Funset, forming part of one of the Israel’s most famous folk trios, Habanot Nechama, and currently releasing a solo album dabbling in Turkish psychedelia! Here is one of my Karolina favorites, "Sorry Charlie": 

and jamming out to Funset's hit "Lion" at the Israel Desert Reggae Festival with some of Israel's biggest musicians Axum and Kuti! Looks like a blast!

We followed her through streets of restored pastel-colored old houses and quaint cafes. Built in 1887, Neve Tzedek is trendy yet charming and home to many famous writers and artists. We stopped by Karolina’s favorite cafe, Dellal, which featured delicious pastries and an astroturf mini park with porch swings and picnic tables across the street where you could sit and enjoy your coffee. Just as I was getting comfy I unfortunately had to say goodbye and drag myself away to start heading to the airport. 

When music and travel are your passion, there is no richer experience than learning about a culture with the most influential musicians of that country as your guides. In a country perceived by the world as a war-torn, troubled land filled with conflict, it was enlightening and refreshing to feel the pulse of cosmopolitan life, the power of history, the beat of the music, and the warmth of the people that make Israel so unique. It has been a grand adventure, and I am deeply thankful to the MV crew and the Israeli Board of Tourism who made it possible! Until next time!

Be sure to check out Music Voyager on PBS and www.musicvoyager.com for all local listings and you too can join in on the adventure!

On the road to Tel Aviv we stopped in Arcadia to check out the beautiful beach and grab some lunch. Even in winter the temp was 70º and sunny! There was literally one person lying on the beach in a bathing suit. Power to you sister. If this is winter in Israel, I’m trying to imagine how crazy things must be here in the summer along the Med coast. 

We arrived back in Tel Aviv to meet Ehud Banai, “the Bob Dylan of Israel.” Voted the 28th most important Israeli of all time, Ehud is renowned for mixing rock and Middle Eastern rhythms.

He chose his favorite childhood park as his personal stage to perform on his acoustic guitar. The park, set high up on a hill, overlooks the city of Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean. Ehud told us a funny anecdote about the song he decided to play for us, “Blue Kna’ani”. One time he was with his daughter in London, and they were watching a street performer play guitar. The performer randomly handed Ehud his guitar out of everyone in the crowd. His daughter told him to play “Blues Kna’ani”, and the surprised crowd went wild.That street performer must’ve been pretty intuitive!  Listen to the song here: 

Ehud noted that one of his favorite things about Israel is that it is a very small country, but traveling not even one hour from modern cosmopolitan Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, you feel as though you are going 3,000 years back in time! He walked us around the park pointing out where he used to play cowboys when he was a kid, and where he had his first kiss. We watched the sun begin to set over the city then went back to the hotel to get ready to shoot our next band, Boom Pam, that night. 

Idan Raichel, a very well known Israeli musician on Jacob’s label, Cumbancha, was rehearsing that night with Ana Moura, one of the most famous Fado singers from Portugal. I jumped at the opportunity to check it out with Jacob. Idan and Ana were each teaching each other a song in their native languages, weaving together their musical traditions. Watching these two legends collaborate and rehearse together at the Tel Aviv Opera House was incredible!

The next musical guest, Boom Pam, invited us to join the group in the studio as they recorded their latest album. I have to admit what first attracted me to Boom Pam was the group’s description on their website: “A Mediterranean surf rock tuba driven power trio, seasoned with dueling guitars and alcohol soaked wedding party ecstasy.” Sign me up. 

Check out their video in collaboration fellow Israeli musician and video artist Kuti Man:

After shooting some footage in the studio, Jacob and Steve, the MV soundman, and I went out to grab some late night falafel. It was an easy walk along the beach from our hotel to the illuminated ancient city of Jaffa. This was my last night with the crew before heading back to work in Buenos Aires. We reflected upon our favorite moments of the trip while sampling all different kinds of pickled toppings on our falafel. We turned in early to get some rest before another early morning shoot.

We wake up at the Dan Panorama Haifa, twenty-one stories high on Mount Carmel. The panoramic views are incredible-the city of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa Bay and the Mediterranean. One of Haifa’s renowned attractions is the Baha’i temple, and the MV crew went to check it out and get some temple shots. 

Conclusion: worth the hype.

We hit the road, heading north, to the ancient city of Akko. Akko is packed with tourists in the summer, but in winter was very quiet except for its bustling old city marketplace. We walked through the historic stone tunnels, had fresh squeezed pomegranate juice, peeped in and out of traditional barbershops, leather stores, spice and pickle shops. I picked up some Bedouin tea while the guys got some footage in the old city. 

Next stop, the Roman amphitheater in Caesaria to meet Mosh Ben Ari. Mosh is the lead singer of the Israeli super-group Sheva, famous for its mix of Muslim and Jewish band members and songs promoting peace around the world. Mosh is from Yemenite heritage, and mixes all different elements of the Middle East and West into his music. Once we arrived at the amphitheater I immediately understood why Mosh selected this location in Caesaria. Over 2,000 years old, the historic amphitheater is fully intact and overlooks the ocean. It is still an active venue for concerts; imagine performing on the same stage where gladiators fought! The crew started setting up the equipment in the middle of the amphitheater, trying to figure out how to balance the soundboard on 2,000-year-old rocks. It was an incredible sight, just Mosh and his percussionist playing in the center of this ancient amphitheater. Mosh shared his thoughts about this extraordinary venue with Jacob. “Here you can feel the power of history. It reminds you that you are just here for a second.” 

Mid-interview, a large group of Chinese tourists entered the amphitheater. One of the tourists from the group stood in the center of the amphitheater and began to sing a Chinese opera. Needless to say, this interrupted Mosh’s interview and the cameras had to cut. We all sat in silence watching this man sing in Chinese in the middle of the Roman ruins on the Israeli seaside. Then, the tourists watching from the steps joined in with him and started swaying with their hands in the air. That was certainly not on the Music Voyager schedule, but hey, why not!

If you thought it had been too long since we were last invited to try “the best hummus in Israel”, not to worry. Mosh took us to his personal favorite place called Blue Bus. After trying at least 10 different “best hummus restaurants in Israel” in my opinion, Blue Bus definitely won the blue ribbon. First of all, the restaurant is literally an old blue hippie bus-turned restaurant. Blue Bus’s amazing hummus combines local olive oil, whole chickpeas, a hard-boiled egg, labane cheese, spices, and fresh cilantro on top. Blue Bus for the win!

Afterwards, Mosh invited us to his home with his very own organic farm. We entered through a magnificent blue and orange archway, a door from India, 

which was given to him as a present. We walked through the gardens, admiring the Asian statues and when we entered his loft, I had arrived at Allie’s Barbie Dream House. The living room had a vast music and travel book collection with giant oriental lanterns, teapots, and an extensive Bedouin jewelry collection framed on the walls. Mosh’s Belgian girlfriend chatted with us on the couch and served fresh mint nana tea. I was ready to move in. We went out to the porch to see his organic garden with its expansive view of the valley beyond.

I was so impressed by Music Voyager’s access to such personal, intimate moments with the featured musicians. Mosh was our tour leader in Caesaria, from the hummus to his personal Bedouin jewelry collection. What could be better than having one of Israel’s most famous pop stars as our guide!

I met up with some friends from Northwestern for breakfast at a great cafe called Tmol Shilshom. It's a legendary spot frequented by Jerusalem scholars with  poems inscribed on every plate and killer eggplant and goat cheese shakshuka (tomato based egg and vegetable dish). After picking up some spices at the Old City market we hit the road, headed north towards Tzfat.

Tzfat is a town up in the mountains of the Upper Galilee that's famous for many things: the birthplace of Kabbalah, a thriving artists' colony, the annual Klezmer festival, and its historic synagogues. We met our host, Bar-Sela Chanan, who runs the annual Tzfat Klezmer Festival in August. Klezmer players from Korea to Argentina come every year to participate at the event. If you aren’t familiar with Klezmer music check out this link with the Klezmer 101. 

We walked through the stone tunnels of the old city to the artists' colony that features beautiful artisan crafts. We stopped at the old synagogue painted in a gorgeous cerulean blue.The crew wasn't allowed to film in the synagogue and decided to try to catch the mountain view. The sky had been covered in fog all day but as the cameras started rolling, the fog mystically lifted to reveal a beautiful mountain sunset. As the clouds parted, Chanan began to play accompanied by his accordion player and then he and Jacob discussed the Klezmer Festival. A young man walking by stops us after the recording and asks about where he can hear more of that music. I would have assumed he would be familiar with Klezmer most likely being from Tzfat, but regardless it was great to see young people enthusiastic about such traditional music.

After Jacob finished the interview we climbed to the top of the roof of the building next to the clearing. Chaim, a Hasidic Jew, overheard us talking in English and ended up striking up a conversation with us. Originally from Chicago, he moved to Tzfat and was married here. We all sat together on the roof with the crew chatting and watching the sunset before heading to Haifa for the night. 

We return to the Machne Yehuda market to shoot a daytime interview and live performance with Hadag Nahash. It’s pouring rain on a chilly Jerusalem winter day so the crew warms up with ‘nana’ (fresh mint) tea in Sha’nan’s bar, Casino de Paris, that we’d visited the night before. The plan was to shoot the band playing outdoors on the patio in front of the bar, but like all backpacking and travel television show adventures, expect the unexpected. 

New plan: shoot the band playing under an awning of one of the market passageways. Now, Israelis have a reputation for having pretty bold personalities, similar to that of New Yorkers, and no one was going to let a live TV shoot get in the way of their regular market shopping. Everyone from kerchief-covered old ladies to young market salesmen took pleasure in parading right through the middle of the band, in front of cameras, stepping over chords, marching through mic stands to get into the market even though there was an identical pathway leading to the same entrance about 2 feet away. It ended up being pretty hilarious, and got some great footage of the local characters. 

When the crew finished shooting we went to get some coffee and baklavah in the market place. Farook, the show’s producer, asked Sha’nan how to ask for a coffee in Hebrew. After repeating the words a few times he confidently stepped up to the counter and in his best Israeli accent asked for the coffee. The whole cafe bursts out laughing. Turns out that he had mispronounced it and had actually asked for “a coffee up the ass, please”. Never a dull moment.  

While gathering up the gear in Casino de Paris, Broza calls about a jam he’s hosting that night in the recording studio of some friends in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian group Sabreen. Sha’nan overhears the discussion and tells us that we should definitely go, an opportunity to jam in that studio with both Israeli and Palestinian musicians is very rare, and it would be a great experience to share with the MV audience. “This will make Hadag Nahash very happy” he assures us. So why not! We recharge our batteries in the hotel for a few hours and off to East Jerusalem we go.  

Although I have many more stories to tell, I have to admit this was probably the highlight of my trip. Growing up as a Jewish-American East Coaster, it is incredibly rare that I would have an opportunity to get to experience Palestinian culture in the middle of East Jerusalem, let alone through a musical exchange! We follow David to the studio and meet our hosts, Sabreen, and also the band G Town, an Arabic rap group headed by the son of one of the Sabreen players, accompanied by a big group of his friends.

We explored the studio and even though we had just eaten, the Arabic girls wouldn’t take no for an answer offering us kebabs and hummus. As we sat eating and drinking before the jam, the girls went back and forth teaching Jacob Arabic words and cracking up at his pronunciations. It was incredible to connect with these people who were my age, and just talk about normal things like what we had studied in school, their favorite music, G Town’s tour in Mexico, even extending an open invitation to hang out with them in Jordan. 

A couple of the young guys from G Town start jamming on the keys and drums. Jacob joined in on the dumbek and a friend from a reggae band Toot Ard from the Golan Heights starts playing the melodica. Eventually, some of the guys from Sabreen joined in taking over on keys. It was a pretty magical moment to see this unlikely musical connection across generations, countries, religions, and styles. Check out the video below for a brief taste: