Shir Madness was wonderful - and the more than 2000 people who attended the inaugural Sydney Jewish Music Festival were testimony.

Articles and photo highlights from the festival from J-wire,  Australian Stage and the Australian Jewish News are here.

40 bands on 4 stages over 11 hours - all elements of the festival were high class -  the sound quality, the efficient changeovers, the ticketing, the food and other stalls, the filming, and especially the variety of top class musical acts.

There was something for everyone -  Al taam vereach ain lehitvakeach - a Hebrew expression basically meaning - “everyone has their own taste” -

So with some accompanying pre-Shir Madness videos, here are a few personal favourites

Noam Blatt ,  Sketch the Rhyme, Tin Pan Orange,  Ange Takats; and Ido Lederman

Congratulations to Festival Director Gary Holzman, and all who worked so hard to make Shir Madness a sheer success.

The First Sydney Jewish Music Festival is coming to Bondi Pavilion Sunday August 15.  It promises to be a great day/night with 40 bands playing a variety of musical styles  on  4 stages from 11am to 10pm.

The Shir Madness website has all the detail, including the bands here.

Here is a selection of some of the acts, and their music:

Deborah Conway,  Monsieur Camembert, Ido Lederman,  Natan Kuchar, Fourplay, The Mark Ginsburg Band, The Jews Brothers Band, Three Quarters Hazel,  SqueezeBox Boogaloo, Eddie  Bronson, Klezmer Connexion  .. and many more ..

Chamesh Cochavim!! *****  Should be a great time (grab a airline ticket for those reading this from outside Terra Australis.) .. those living closer to Bondi don’t have as far to go… just get a ticket.

An excellent video here exposes the BDS group , including how part of their agenda is to block peaceful interaction between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East, whether it is in film, trade unions and universities.

One person featured in the video was Diana Buttu, a lawyer who has been on a recent Australian tour.

In Sydney, she appeared in Politics in the Pub. The show, moderated by Prof Stuart Rees, and also including Antony Lowenstein, was listed in the ABC Big Ideas series here.  It is worth looking at, to get a sense of what they are saying and stand for… including how they pressure artists to boycott Israel.   It’s useful to see how the speakers handled the questions beginning in the 38th minute (poorly!).  

BDS - BS and Dreck.

To end on a positive note, Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) former Sex Pistols front man and now of Public Image Limited (PiL), refuses to be intimidated by the BDS haters, and has a few sensible words to say in this interview - BBC6 Music, July 12th 2010

“Of course, there are all sorts of terrible politics going on down there but there is just about all over the world. You cannot separate yourself from your audience because of the political powers-that-be. 

Johnny has received a predictable amount of hate mail, but is unperturbed.  Maybe some of the anti-Israel brigade will even think again.   

I can’t say I was a Sex Pistols fan, but let’s have a look back then and now with PiL here. (the latter I like! 

Have a great concert in Israel, and Go Johnny Go!

There is something sad and dismal about Bony M being asked to not sing the song Rivers of Babylon in their concert in Ramallah, as reported  here. 

It demonstrates how reluctant the Palestinians are to officially admit the legitimacy of Israel and the long Jewish history of attachment to the land. 

Oh well, here is Bon M’s video.

The poseurs who cancelled their concerts in Israel, presumably will have nothing to say about this delusional behaviour on the West Bank.

Following the warm talks between Netanyahu and Obama,  Bibi was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos for ABC. 

While Stephanopolous was fixated on what further steps Israel was prepared to take, including about the settlement freeze,  Bibi did well in trying to present a broad picture of what was needed for peace, including direct talks.  The interview is presented here. 

Here is a video of the positive presentation from Obama and Netanyahu after their meeting… and some brief commentary from Dore Gold

Today there are Good Vibrations but what about tomorrow (after the congressional elections)?

A great musical moment in Tel Aviv: Some 30 singers from the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, mingling with the crowd in the Friday morning Food Market at Dizengoff Centre, all at once started singing The Anvil Chorus  from Verdi’s Il Travatore.

Harold Rhode in Hudson New York, has written about Turkey in the aftermath of the Flotilla, suggesting that much of the Turkish public increasingly believes that their Prime Minister blundered by unnecessarily provoking a crisis with Israel. 

As he states, ” It now appears that the average Turk — for lack of a better term - approximately 70% of the population who is not part of the political establishment, the academic establishment, or the media — now understands that this crisis has hurt Turkey internationally and politically and that there was no reason for Turkey to provoke Israel”

Rhode continues “One elderly Turk summarized this attitude as follows: Why is there all this commotion about Gaza? There is very little difference between us and the Jews. We go to our mosques and they go to their mosques (i.e., Jewish synagogues). We eat Halal meat and they Jews eat their Halal meat (kosher meat). So, I do not understand why we are trying to protect these Palestinians. Why aren’t the Arabs helping their follow Arabs as we Turks are helping each other?”

PM Erdogan may have bitten more than he could chew.

Latma has an excellent follow-up .  Ridicule is a wonderful weapon.

“Shalom, we are so happy to be back here! Ain’t nothing gonna stop us from coming, baby,” spouted John with a pumped fist in the air. “Musicians spread love and peace, and bring people together. That’s what we do. We don’t cherry-pick our conscience.”

So said Elton John, as he began his concert in Tel Aviv.

Rocket Man, Rocket Man and Remembering Ilan Ramon

According to an article in the Wall St Journal,   “Imam Fethullah Gülen, a controversial and reclusive U.S. resident who is considered Turkey’s most influential religious leader, criticized a Turkish-led flotilla for trying to deliver aid without Israel’s consent.” …   “Mr. Gülen said organizers’ failure to seek accord with Israel before attempting to deliver aid “is a sign of defying authority, and will not lead to fruitful matters.”

The article, which is here, is a reminder of some of the complexities of Turkey.

.. and I thought “Terk in America” was just a great Klezmer tune ,.. as performed in a medley here. ..  by Julien Petit, soprano saxophone, and Rémy Yulzari, double bass, members of the French “Trio Klezele”.  The “Terk In America” was originally recorded by Naftule Brandwein in 1924 and it is based on a popular Greek-Turkish melody named Uskudar. On the piano Mula Sajevich, Israeli composer and arranger. Recorded by Arik Nitsan during the seminar “Clarinet and Klezmer in Galilee” 2009, in Israel. .. and another fun version, by Baba Ganush

.. Meanwhile back to the Flotilla, evidence points to mercenaries being aboard the Turkish ship that turned violent,  David Horowitz provides an overall assessment. and a US Congressman provides a strong message of support for Israel.