Alex Jacobowitz (born 19 May 1960 in New York) is a classically-trained street performer who plays the marimba and xylophone.
During the 1980s and 1990s he played in New York City, including at the Lincoln Center’s “Meet the Artist” program, Yeshiva University, Zabar’s, Central Park, the 84th Street Synagogue, International House, the New York Hilton, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Coney Island’s “Sideshows by the Seashore”. He was an Official Street Performer at the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan, a member of Musicians Under New York, and Young Audiences of Rochester. He has performed at Arts Councils and Imagination Celebrations throughout New York State. He has performed on Entertainment Tonight, and has been an artist-in-residence at Artpark (New York) and Holland Village (Japan).
In 1991, he moved to Europe, mainly performing in Germany, and living in Berlin. Jacobowitz performed classic and Jewish traditional music on German television (ARD, ZDF, Third Programmes), and occasionally in Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, South Korea, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Russia and Ukraine. In 2006, he was invited to perform at the Busker’s Festival in Ferrara, Italy.
In 1994, he began the study of traditional Jewish instrumental music (klezmer) with Giora Feidman. In 1997, he saw Brave Old World in concert, and trained under Alan Bern, their musical director.
Solo klezmer appearances include festivals in Jerusalem, Schleswig-Holstein, Safed, Kraków, Fürth, Bamberg, synagogues throughout Germany, including Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue in Berlin, chabad houses in Prague, Geneva, Zürich, the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt, Hackescher Hoftheater in Berlin, Kibbutz Nahal Oz, Kibbutz Ma’ale HaChamisha, and settlement Mitzpe Jericho.
He has performed with Shelly Lang’s Neshoma Orchestra (NYC), the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Kammerphilharmoniker. He has performed Jewish music at Pisa’s Jewish Festival (Italy, 2011) Sydney’s Shir Madness festival (Australia, 2010), the Warsaw Jewish Festival (Poland, 2012), the Trondheim Jewish Culture Festival (Norway, 2012), the Düsseldorf Jewish Film Festival (2012, Germany), the Budapest Jewish Film Festival (Hungary, 2012) and the 4th Munich (München) Jüdische Filmtage (Jewish Film Festival, January 2013).
Since 2010 he has been performing klezmer music with violinist Yona (Stas) Rayko at Jewish cultural festivals throughout Europe.
He is the recipient of a Meet the Composer award. His Art of Xylos CD was released in 2002 by Sony-BMG[3] under the Arte Nova label, and was nominated for the Echo Prize under the crossover category. He won competitions in Montreal (1981), Lucerne (1994), Ludwigsburg (2004) and Osnabrück (2007). (by wikipedia)
Alternate frontcover
This is his first album, recorded between 1988 and 1996, in New York, Israel, and Germany. And it´s a real unique and beautiful album … listen !
Personnel:
Alex Jacobowitz (xylophone)
New York, 1985
Tracklist:
Isaac Albéniz (1869 – 1909) from España, opus 165:
01. Prelude 1.55
02. Tango 2.38
03. Malagueña 3.52
Isaac Albéniz (1869 – 1909) from Cantos de España, opus 232:
04. Prelude – Leyenda 5.39
Francisco Tárrega (1852 – 1909):
05. Recuerdos de la Alhambra 4.40
06. Capriccio Arabe 4.31
Enrique Granados (1867 – 1916) from Danzas Española, opus 37:
07. Dance No. 4 Villanesca 5.51
Domenico Scarlatti (1685 – 1757):
08. Sonata in E major, K. 380 – Andante commodo 4.50
09. Sonata in b minor, K. 87 – Andante mosso 5.20
10. Sonata in a minor, K. 11 (original in c minor) 2.38
11. Sonata in d minor, K. 9 – Allegro 3.27
12. Sonata in A major, K. 209 – Andante cantabile 3.59
Anonymous:
13. La Romanza 2.03
ManyFantasticColors 