is a conceptual collaboration between Dan Blacksberg and Rabbi Yosef Goldman about their musical lives as American Diaspora Jews. In it, Dan weaves together the sounds of two Jewish histories - his Ashkenazi background and Rabbi Goldman's Sephardi and Mizrahi heritages- refracting them through the cutting edge of jazz. Utilizing the idioms of co-improvisation, Dan brings all the musical ideas and personal stories in dialogue with one another in real time. 

The piece that has emerged from this process is full of hard-driving Middle-Eastern dance grooves, new settings of Yiddish and Hebrew poetry, original nigunim, and fiery contemporary jazz. Its debut at the Kimmel center was performed by an ensemble of rising stars of Jewish music, jazz, and more.

“How do we see ourselves in today's world as musicians and as Jews?”

“Where do we come from and what does it mean to "come from somewhere as American Diaspora Jews?”

“What sounds and groups of people do we want to be connected to now and in the future?”

“How does our knowledge or lack of knowledge inform or drive our desires?”

Rather than a set of answers to these questions, Name Of The Sea is a celebration of the search, internal and external, that these questions set us on.

Name Of The Sea (2019)

Judith Berkson (Voice & Piano), Nick Millevoi (Guitar), Tom Kraines (Cello), Dan Blacksberg (trombone, composition)

Lozt Arayn! Hot nit keyn hertser fun shteyn! Let us in! Don't let your hearts become stone! 

This lyric from a song recorded by the great Yiddish theater star Aaron Lebedeff in the early 20th century was referring to the plight on Eastern European Jews trying to come to America. It resonates with the struggles of immigrants today much, much too easily.

Together in Struggle, highlights this shared history by reinterpreting the songs and poetry of Yiddish-American culture. Its aim is to make clear that conditions oppressed peoples face today are not new, but endemic to the system we live in.

Ashkenazi Jews faced similar struggles in the past around immigration, poverty, state violence, discrimination, and workers rights. By hearing these songs presented in novel settings, we can reconnect to the culture often lost or minimized by the forces of assimilation. This music is not meant to bring Ashkenazi Jews back into the pain of our forebearers. Instead, this music can give us energy. It is an opportunity to see the humanity of the people presently under oppression, to spur us to more effective action so that we can face the challenges of our world. 

Together in Struggle (2017)

Rabbi Goldman (Joey Weisenberg’s Hadar Ensemble), Jaimie Branch (trumpet, Fly or Die), Chad Taylor (drums, Marc Ribot, Eric Revis Quartet), Nick Millevoi (guitar, Desertion Trio, John Zorn), Matt Engle (bass), Dan Blacksberg (trombone, composition)

Premiered in 2019 as a part of Dan’s concert series Encounters at the Mothership, he brought together five stalwarts of the experimental scene (Susan Alcorn, Ashley Tini, Michael Szekely, and Matthew Stein) to play compositions rooted in a smokey ambiance. These are coordinated improvisations which never lost their freeness and which fall softly on the ear. The resulting architectures are perfect for a night of hard rain.

Out of Heaven (2019)

Deyvekus

In 2012, Blacksberg brought together 5 musicians (Nick Millevoi, Yoshi Fruchter, Eli Litwin, and Johnny DeBlase) whose work spans experimental rock, metal, and Jewish music to form the band that would execute a new sound, Deveykus. The band name means “To cleave to god” and refers to an ecstatic, trance-like state brought on by the singing of nigunim. The band’s massive sound projects the meditative, spiritual qualities of these songs far beyond their original context, creating a transcendent musical experience that is accessible to everyone.

Their debut album Pillars Without Mercy (2013) was released on Tzadik Records as part of their Radical Jewish Culture Series.

is the long standing collaboration between Nick Millevoi and Dan Blacksberg. More than just a performing band, the energy generated by these two Masterman High classmates has exploded and evolved over the years to include a bevy of projects. From a performance series at the Rotunda, to a successful Kickstarter commissioning project, to an album with the famed no-input mixer Toshimaru Nakamura.

They’ve collaborated with some of the leading improvisers and composers of the day, including: neuroscientist Dave Soldier, free funk pioneer Jamaaladeen Tacuma, pedal steel wizard Susan Alcorn, and 25-piece electro-acoustic Spectrum Ensemble.

Archer Spade

Their debut album, Orbital Harmony, establishes a new paradigm for improvised chamber music.

A collection of new works by Mick Barr, Gene Coleman, Johnny DeBlase, Dave Soldier, as well as, Blacksberg & Millevoi, Orbital Harmony features tonal melodicism, harsh chromaticism, textural investigations, and deep harmonic interplay.