Artists gear up for Jacob’s Ladder
The winter version of Jacob’s Ladder – the Winter Weekend – will take place at its regular Kinerretside berth of Nof Ginosar on December 10-11. As usual the program is something of a pared down version of the larger spring gathering, with just one foreign act alongside many of the popular perennial local artists. This time round, the import is 58-year-old New York City-based singer-songwriter and promoter of contemporary folk music Christine Lavin. The festival web site calls her “the funniest woman this side of Manhattan” and her songs tend to tell tales that have many a twist and turn, most of which are comedic but with plenty of emotive content.Lavin will give two performances during the festival, with the prime 9:30 p.m. Friday slot and as the grand finale on the second day. Earlier on the Saturday, festival patrons will have an opportunity to get to know Lavin a bit better at an informal 11 a.m. session. Elsewhere in the two-dayer there will be plenty of familiar faces and sounds of artists and bands that have graced the Jacob’s Ladder festival stages before over the years. Galileean singer-songwriter Diane Kaplan – who has appeared at the festival many times with Ada Moriel in the popular Ada & Diane duo – will present some psalms set to her own melodies, while the ever popular twosome Larry & Mindy will get the audience singing and riding waves of nostalgia with their Simon & Garfunkel show.For more information about the festival: www.jlfestival.com
Tindersticks add another show in TA
Having sold out their return to Tel Aviv on December 1 at the Barbie Club, British indie pop veterans Tindersticks have added another show the following night. Anchored by vocalist Stuart Staples and keyboardist David Boulter, the group has spent the better part of the last two decades crafting dreamy, dense songs featuring gentle orchestration and a wide range of instruments such as the glockenspiel, vibraphone, violin, trumpet, trombone, clarinet and bassoon. Their latest two albums - The Hungry Saw and Falling Down a Mountain – prove that there’s still a lot of life in them, and live they’re supposed to be even better.