Music for Jewish Usage, written by Cameron Johnson, as played by Moriah

Music for Jewish Usage

Cantina Band, originally composed by John Williams, as played by Moriah

Tatooine Bar Music (Cantina Band)

The Wine Song, originally by The Cat Empire, as performed by Moriah live at the Jazz Nite 2011

The Wine Song (Live)

From Budapest with Love

"Mahalageasca" originally by Mahala Rai Banda, reimagined by Moriah. From our new live album "Live at the Arts Centre", recorded at Norwich Arts Centre on Tuesday 20th December 2011.

Mahalageasca

Moriah is an exciting new experience in musical exploration and celebration. Founded in 2009, their music is in fact a timeless blend of traditional Jewish and Eastern European tunes, and contemporary western and jazz influences, played with immense gusto by this band of virtuosos. A Moriah live performance is a spectacular affirmation of life and rhythm, and truly has to be seen to be believed.

Moriah truly deserve their reputation as Norfolk’s greatest Klezmer band, as they play such classic tunes as ‘Music for Jewish Usage’, ‘My Arrangement of Another Jewish Piece’, and of course ‘The Wine Song’ (originally performed by the incredible sensation ‘The Cat Empire’) with its ubiquitous drunken shenanigans. Cheers!

During break when everyone else was having fun outside, Dunnett and Ball were busy cooking up musical fusion and experimentation with a new genre: ‘Jewish techno’. Moriah’s ethos of cross-cultural appeal and driving dance rhythms was fundamentally influenced by this flowering of two young minds, starting out on a fresh new musical path.

The band Moriah was cemented through jam sessions during music lessons. These Hebrew-enthusiasts were not content to study the syllabus, and took every chance to play, expressing their joy through the medium of traditional (and not so traditional) Klezmer music. There was no dissuading them! Moriah pieces quickly found there way into exam work, and assessed performances.

At school they quickly found a fan base, and played at the seminal Green Man jazz club, and Jazz Nite 2010, where their live sound was able to develop. These great performers put on a real show, and it was impossible not to get up and dance. After a return to the Green Man and Jazz Nite 2011, which saw the inclusion of many more fan-faves as ‘Tatooine Bar Music’, a collaboration with the ever-excellent Vladimir Chapman, and the unfortunate destruction of a priceless tenor sax; they were able to play a prestigious open-air gig outside the Norwich Forum, to which a huge crowd turned up and left delighted and wowed by the awesome music.

Moriah features: The BBC young folk violinist of the year, Tom Moore; Norfolk young musician of the year and Royal College student Tom Isaac, on trombone; National Children’s Orchestra percussionist and black metal drummer Francis Ball; the virtuosic Eric Grunstein on piano; Matthew Dunnett, the living dog-beast, singing like an angel and playing bass guitar like a devil; David Hoare, a clarinetist of insane talent; and glorious band-leader, Cam Johnson, who does a mean turn on the trumpet.

Moriah Music

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