On March 25 2009 I was at the Lula Lounge in Toronto for the long anticipated CD release concert of the Jewish roots /World music group Jaffa Road. This event was in celebration of the completion and release of their debut CD Sunplace and both the concert and the CD were worth the wait.

Jaffa Road is a Toronto based group of highly original and skilled musicians who have come together from a variety of cultural and musical backgrounds to create a decidedly originally and imaginative form of music that brings together elements of jazz, Middle-eastern and Indian music along with flavors of reggae, ambient, and solid pop song structures.

Musical- cultural melting pots of this sort can often become become bland and tiresome. The sounds on the CD and the corresponding live performance could not be further from that descriptive. The compositions of Jaffa Road are powerful, subtle, and full of emotion.

Jaffa Road gives priority to creative new music and the fusion of disparate musical elements happens naturally and seamlessly. Well informed listeners will hear echos of Arabic masters, Brian Eno, Bob Marley, Bill Laswell, and the tones and rhythms of India.

All the band members and their guest artists were given moments to shine in both the concert and the studio recording. The concert had so many captivating moments built around the solos of the performers. Each brought a distinctive voice to these instrumental moments. The fiery jazz virtuosity of Sundar Viswanathan (sax) was contrasted with the subtle and melodic solos of Aaron Lightstone (oud and guitar). Despite all these great instrumental moments what truly stood out was the performance of vocalist Aviva Chernick. She completely captivates the audience with her warm and stunning, unique tone. Whether singing in English, Spanish, Hebrew or Ladino (an archaic dialect of Judeo-Spanish) she brings the emotive qualities of the music and lyrics to the fore.

The standing room only crowd at Lula Lounge devoured every note and demanded more. The album has been in steady rotation on my iPod since I got my copy. This group will truly be one to watch on both the international Jewish music and world music scene in the coming years. Highly recommended!

Their CD is now available at CD Baby Digital copies of the tracks and album are available on Apple iTunes or Amazon (MP3)

Bandleader Aaron Lightstone has also informed me that the CD is available at the following stores in Toronto:

Israel's Judaica

Sonic Boom

Soundscapes

• Online Jewish Dating
  

• Generations of the Shoah - Nevada
  
• Las Vegas mohel
  
• Nageela Hebrew School
  
• Las Vegas Kollel
  
• Judaic Gifts