Jacob's Ladder / HaMakom (The Place)

I am mightily impressed by Jacob's Ladder, a Jewish bluegrass band based near our own town in the Boston, MA area. I first saw them at the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto two years ago. Last week we enjoyed one of the more joyous album release concerts in recent memory. The performance at times included dancing around the hall, the bass player pogo-ing as he played, and an eye-popping number of instruments (actually, just a handful each for the core trio Cantor Wyner and instrumentalist/vocalist G Rockwell, but it made for a crowded stage!), along with the wonderful violin of Sofia Chiarandini (recently awarded a masters in ethnomusicology for her research into Jewish bluegrass) with local favorites Zach Meyer and Itai Dayan joining on reeds, drummer Dor Herskovits, and the aforementioned pogo-prone stand-up bass player (Max Ridley?)

The album opens with a rare song containing composed lyrics (versus lines from psalms or prayers), an expanded version of the morning prayer, "On top of a mountain (Modeh Ani)" (I give thanks). "Nigun Hoda'ah/Pogo Big" seems very much a bluegrass nigun. In contrast, "Ascension Nigun" is very much a traditional-style nigun (wordless vocal melody). The band occasionally moves beyond that pure bluegrass sound. "Hallelujah (Psalm 150) benefits from a Middle Eastern feel anchored by Yoni Avi Battat's oud and voice. Likewise, "Hariu," a more traditional melody, is enhanced by Battat's oud. "Etz Chayim Hi" (She is a tree of life), the song sung as the Torah is returned to the ark during morning services, is given a new reggae beat. Most of the songs, like "Bimheira" (speedily in our days) or "Mi Chamocha" (Who is like unto thee) remind me of the late Shlomo Carlebach—not musically—this is primarily bluegrass, not the folk traditions from which Carlebach drew—but in the way a frequently used phrase from the liturgy is given new life and new focus with a new tune. G Rockwell takes a rare vocal turn on the more traditional heartfelt and deep "Kerachem Av" (like a merciful father). "Mighty Waters" (another psalm) is very much a bluegrass song, while "Elohai Neshama" (God the soul you have gifted me) soars on Sofia Chiarandini's vocals and the band harmonies/call/response.

One of my favorite tracks here on the album (and when I saw them live) is "Mareh Kohen" which is in some ways bluegrassy traditional American Jewish song, but with improvisational touches that suggest that the bandmembers have more than a passing familiarity with jam bands and psychedelia. The album ends with the traditional gospel song, "Don't you hear Jerusalem moan" merged with traditional Jewish prayer and bluegrass picking. That's it. In the end, this is still primarily a Jewgrass album, one filled with unusual joy. It's not a preachy album. It is also impossible not to hear these common prayers, psalms, niggunim, and piyuttim without hearing them anew, with fresh ears, and with wonder.

Reviewed by Ari Davidow, 19-June 2026 .

Songlist

1. On Top of a Mountain (Modeh Ani) (Ariel Wyner) 4:05
2. Bimheira (Ariel Wyner) 4:02
3. Etz Chayim Hi (Ariel Wyner; Vocal arr: Ariel Wyner) 5:18
4. Mi Chamocha (Ariel Wyner; Vocal arr: Ariel Wyner) 4:22
5. Hallelujah (Psalm 150) (Ariel Wyner Vocal arr: Ariel Wyner) 4:34
6. Ascension Nigun (Ariel Wyner; Vocal arr: Ariel Wyner) 6:01
7. Mighty Waters (Ariel Wyner) 4:31
8. Elohai Neshama (Ariel Wyner; Vocal arr: Mayta Cohen) 4:55
9. Kerachem Av (Ariel Wyner) 5:40
10. Keili Atah (Ariel Wyner) 4:36
11. Pe'er V'chavod (Ariel Wyner) 4:18
12. Hariu (Ariel Wyner; Vocal arr: Mayta Cohen) 6:38
13. Nigun Hoda'ah / Pogo Big (Gershon Albert: Nigun Hoda’ah; Joe K. Walsh: Pogo Big) 4:12
14. Mareh Kohen (made famous by Yigal Calek; Vocal arr: Mayta Cohen) 6:36
15. Don't you hear Jerusalem moan (trad folk) 4:55

(Tracks 5, 6, 12) were recorded in front of a live audience

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