Blending a psychedelic sensibility and a pan-Mediterranean sensuality, Basya Schechter leads her band, Pharaoh's Daughter, through swirling Hasidic chants, Mizrachi and Sephardi folk-rock, and spiritual stylings filtered through percussion, flute, strings and electronica. Her sound has been cultivated by her Hasidic music background and a series of trips to the Middle East, Africa, Israel, Egypt, Central Africa, Turkey, Kurdistan and Greece.

She began retuning her guitar to sound like a cross between an Arabic oud and a Turkish saz, with harmonic minor melodies, and odd time signatures. With the many amazing musicians, named below and others as well she has recorded four albums, three with Pharaoh's Daughter and one instrumental exploration with Persian santur player, Alan Kushan. PD also appears on three Tzadik label compilations: Voices in the Wilderness, the 10 year of anniversary of Zorn's Masada compositions; a collection of Sasha Argov music; and, a Brazilian Jewish composer from earlier in the 20th century, Jacob Du Bandolim.

Pharaoh's Daughter has toured extensively through America, Eastern and Western Europe, as well as Greece and the UK. This past summer, Pharaoh's Daughter had the honor of debuting at Central Park's Summer Stage series in August 2004, and has played such presigious stages as Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. When she's not touring or performing, Basya plays darbuka, riq and frame drum as part of the B'nai Jeshurun music ensemble that accompanies Friday night services.

Over the past two years, Basya was the recipient of numerous compositional and project grants from NYSCA (New York State Council of the Arts) American Composers Forum (for Trance, and multilayered sound and video installation collaboration with fillmaker Pearl Gluck) and the American Music Center. She hopes to record Pharaoh's Daughter's fifth album, Hagar, within the next year.

 

 

Originally from Israel, now based in New York, recorder player Daphna Mor began her music studies at the age of eight. Ms. Mor has been seen in performances throughout Europe, Israel and the United States both as a soloist and as ensemble/band member. Awards and performances include solo recitals in Germany, Croatia and Switzerland; Orchestra member with the New York Philharmonic (Alan Gilbert, Conductor) and with City Opera, Lincoln Center, NY; Solo recital at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts and Trinity Church, New York; Soloist with The New York Collegium, (Andrew Parrot, conductor); Guest Appearances with Piffaro- the Renaissance Band, Monteverdi Vespers with Washington Bach Ensemble (Harry Christophers-conductor); First Prize in the Settimane Musicali de Lugano Solo Competition; Twice the winner of the Boston Conservatory Concerto Competition 1996, 2000, Boston; As a band member In World Music, Ms. Mor has appeared on prestigious stages as Summer Stage-Central Park ,NY; Teatro Manzoni, Milano; Gesteig, Munich; and in festivals and halls all over the United States, Canada, Poland, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Greece, Italy, Spain and Israel. 

Ms. Mor has received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Boston Conservatory with highest honors, as Valedictorian of the class of 2000. She is a graduate of Thelma Yelin School For the Arts, and was awarded the prestigious status of "Privileged Musician" for her mandatory army service with the Israeli Defense Force. 

Daphna acts as a musician for the Education department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York.

Her teaching experience includes positions for The New York Collegium outreach program; coaching for the American Recorder Society Workshops, and faculty position at Jerusalem International Early Music Workshop and Pinewoods Early Music Week. She also specializes in early childhood and pre school education and completed three years of Music Education at the Boston Conservatory.

Ms. Mor is a strong advocate for Contemporary Music for the recorder. She has premiered numerous new pieces for solo recorder and different ensembles. 

Ms. Mor has been involved in numerous recording of classical, film scoring, popular, and world music. She is a musician at residence at Bnai Jeshurun Synagogue in New York City

Composer, violinist and erhu player Meg Okura is one of the leading voices in today’s chamber jazz scene, directing the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, while performing extensively with some of the biggest names in music.  Her versatility has led her to perform with Michael Brecker, David Bowie, Terrence Howard, Lee Konitz, Diane Reeves, Steve Swallow, Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, Philip Glass, Ziggy Marley, Lenny Kravitz, and many others. She has been heard as a soloist all over the world on TV, at festivals, concert halls and arenas including Carnegie Hall, Barbican Hall, Kennedy Centre, Hollywood Bowl, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Madison Square Garden, as well as received over a dozen grants and awards both as a composer and violinist. Her credit appears on over fifty recordings and she has written numerous works for the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, as well as films, documentaries and modern dance.

 

Meg earned B.M. and M.M. from the Juilliard School as a classical violinist, only to make the difficult shift to jazz violin upon graduation.  Her talent and flexibility landed her a few small gigs in L.A., including a concertmaster chair backing up for Herbie Hancock, Shirley Horn, Diana Krall, Terence Blanchard, conducted by Quincy Jones, Jerry Goldsmith, and Jack Elliot.  She has also toured with the Cirque du Soleil’s “Varekai” as the featured violinist. 

Meg Okura started her violin and piano lessons at four in Ome, a small town in Tokyo.  By age six, she was playing the piano and organ for the local church, while receiving intensive musical training at Toho School where, barely in her teens, she became one of the top students and was the youngest winner of the Young Musicians' Debut Audition in Tokyo in 1990.  At seventeen, Meg was invited to take the prestigious concertmaster chair in the Asian Youth Orchestra, leading one hundred of the finest young musicians from nine countries and touring all of Asia.  The following year, Ms. Okura was invited back as a soloist to tour with the orchestra, under the baton of the great American composer Lukas Foss.  Meg Okura made her US debut at the Kennedy Center as a soloist with the late Alexander Schneider’s New York String Orchestra, settled in New York City where she was the concertmaster of the Juilliard Opera Orchestra.

 

In 2005, Meg Okura founded the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, one of the leading world chamber jazz ensembles in New York City.  The ensemble features shinobue (traditional Japanese bamboo flute) and erhu (traditional Chinese violin) as well as instruments typically associated with classical music such as flute, violin, cello, piano and percussion, while incorporating music from her native country Japan, and from around the world. Their self-titled debut album, “Meg Okura’s Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble” was one of the “Best Album” finalists in the 6th Independent Music Awards, and has received critical acclaim. Since then, the ensemble has made over thirty public appearances including the NYC Winter JazzFest 2008 at the Knitting Factory, the Asian New Year Celebration at Kumble Theater, and Asian Leaders Conference at MoMA.

For the past seven years, Okura has been giving workshops, master classes and lecture concerts at the Lincoln Center’s Kaplan Penthouse for the Meet the Artist School Program.  Her most recent school program called “Cool Connections To Classics” explores classical music through the medium of films and television. Students are invited to create a new original score with Ms. Okura and her trio to an existing film, tapping into their imagination and creativity. This past summer, Ms. Okura returned to Puerto Rico to give improvisation clinics at Martin Goldman’s  Suzuki School.

Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble is now working on their second album to be released in January, 2009.

Yuval Lion grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel and and after playing with Israel's top artists, moved to the US in 1997, where he has become one of the most sought after drummers in New York City.Yuval Lion Yuval has played and recorded with Joy Askew (Peter Gabriel, Joe Jackson), Warner Brothers recording artist Lizzie West, New York funk master Milo Z to name a few. Currently he tours and records regularly with two NYC rock acts — The Blam and Pink Noise — and makes national and international appearances with more ethnic ensembles like the Moshav Band, Michal Cohen's Henna Project and Pharaoh's Daughter. In all of his projects he has the masterful flexibility to fuse his uncompromising grooves with an array of ancient middle Eastern rhythms, hip hop, funk and rock and roll.

Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz — acoustic/electric bass, oud —was born in 1975 in Brooklyn, NY. Shanir has recorded and performed extensively with Satlah, Rashanim, and Pharaoh's Daughter, all who have made many records on John Zorn's Tzadik label. Shani Ezra BlumenkranzOther CDs recorded for Tzadik include a compilation of music by Israeli composer "Sasha Argov", a compilation of music composed by Zorn called "Voices In The Wilderness" for the tenth year anniversary of his band Masada, a compilation of unheard Masada compositions called "Unkown Masada", a compilation of music by Brazilian composer "Jacob Du Bandolim", "John Zorn: Filmworks XV" featuring Zorn and Cyro Baptista, and a new CD by Basya Schechter called Queen's Dominion.

Other CDs which feature Shanir on bass and oud include "Chinatown" - Nottwo Records, featuring Daniel Carter. "Sextet 2003" - Parallactic Records, featuring Anthony Braxton and Sonny Simmons. Trio Tarana's "Climbing The Banyan Tree" - Cleen Feed Records, featuring Ravish Momin and Jason Kao Hwang. Shanir has performed in many clubs and festivals around the world, including a concert for BBC Radio in London with Zorn. Shanir is also a featured performer in the May 2000 issue of Bass Player Magazine.

Shanir has also collaborated with Ravi Coltrane, Fred Sherry, Satoshi Takeshi, Hank Roberts, Sabir Mateen, Roy Campbell Jr., Tony Malaby, Will Connell, Jon Madof, Daniel Zamir, Jenny Scheinman, Daniel Kelly, Eyal Maoz, Avishai Cohen, Kevin Zubek, Jazz Mandolin Project, Lemon Juice Quartet, George Garzone, Okkyung Lee, Brad Shepik, William Winant, Jim Puglesie, Jim Black, Jamie Saft, Anthony Coleman, Mark Dresser, Charlie Burnham, Sonny Simmons, Ned Rothenberg, Marty Ehrlich, Trevor Dunn, Sylvie Courvoisier, Susie Ibarra, Min Xiao-Fen, Michiyo Yagi, Kasu Uchihashi, Makigami Koichi, Cyro Baptista, Marc Ribot, Kenny Wollesen, Joey Baron, Anton Fier, Eric Friedlander, Mark Feldman, Roberto Rodriguez, Louie Belogenis, Ikue Mori, Bill Laswell, and John Zorn.

In 1995 at age 20, Mathias Kunzli, a member of the Swiss Jazz Orchestra was awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. Some of his most prominent teachers included Jamey Haddad, Ian Froman and Hal Crook. After making his residence in NYC in 1998, he became a widely sought after drummer and percussionist to Lauryn Hill, Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, John Zorn's Electric Masada, Paul Winter Consort, Alessandra Belloni, Matt Dariau and Frank London to name a few. He has been hired for countless scores and recordings, ranging in styles from Pop, World, Classical, Jazz, Funk, Singer Songwriter. He is part of Rashanim, a trio with Shanir Blumenkranz and Jon Madof, who is one of the most prolific recording artists on Tzadik Records, with a sound that crosses boundaries into Jewish Middle Eastern, Eastern European Jazz and Jamband. Their appeal is wide both in America and abroad in Europe where they tour yearly.

 

Walking a fine line between jazz and world music, the accordianist, pianist and compsoer Uri Sharlin has become an established musician in the New York scene and around the world. His knowledge of both Western and Middle Eastern music feeds his unique composition style, expressed in the music of his band Cardamon Quarteet. Living in New York for the past 7 years, Uri trained as both a classical nad jazz musician while participating in some of the most exciting world projects in the city. He recorded several albums inlcuding a first album with Cardamon Quartet. Uri also performed with bands inlculding Anistar, Kaiku, Sul Norte, Ayyuab as well as musicians Cliff Korman and Roberto Rodgriguez. Recently, Uri spent an extended period in Brazil learning Choro and Forro musical styles among others on accordion and percussion. In 2005 a three week tour with Anthon and the Johnsons brought him to such venues like Montreux Jazz Festival, Town Hall New York, and Royal Festival Hall in London.

 

Alan Kushan is best known for his unique techniques and performances in the world avant-garde music on his self made Santur. Composer, singer Alan Kushan lead a very diverse childhood traveling through Persia, India, Pakistan, Israel, Russia, China, Turkey, Greece, Japan and Europe. It was these early travels that laid the foundation for his unique love and understanding of global music and culture.

He studied music composition in Zurich, Köln and Berlin then he continued his further education in improvisation with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, avant-garde theory with Karlheinz Stockhausen .He quickly became recognized as one the most dynamic forces within contemporary world music and has performed and collaborated with some of today's greatest musicians, including Miles Davis, Paco De Lucia, Max Roach, Billy Cobham, Ronald Shannon Jackson and Mickey Hart.