Siach HaSadeh, formed on a Saturday night in the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec, explores and performs off the beaten track Chassidic and spiritual Jewish melodies, primarily from the early sages of the Chassidic movement, as well as some piyutim from the Eastern Jewish traditions - music that was used to express the deepest emotions, and to attain spiritual heights and closeness to the Creator, in dveikus. Much of the repertoire comes from transcriptions from songs as they are sung in the Chassidic communities of today, as well as from early 20th century recordings from Europe.
The approach to the material is reverential, and minimalist, but also improvisatory and bringing the voices of the two musicians (and guests) into the mix. Drawing on their diverse musical background and experience, without losing touch with the original intent.
Joel Kerr - Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Joel’s rather eclectic musical interests as well as his versatility have taken him throughout Canada, the US, Europe, Central America and the Caribbean, performing jazz, classical, rock, folk, avant-garde, funk, bluegrass, klezmer and other styles of music. After having worked as a professional musician in Regina, Toronto, Krakow (Poland) and Vancouver, Joel moved to Montreal in 2008 to pursue a Master of Music degree in Jazz Performance at McGill University.
He is currently the leader, composer and arranger for the jazz ensembles The M-Theory Collective and The Joel Kerr Sextet, Quintet and Trio; a member of experimental jazz trio Bean; one half of experimental klezmer duo Siach Hasadeh; a member of the original experimental rock project Kids Eat Crayons; the leader and arranger for the classical string ensemble Trio Da Capo; and a freelance musician performing, recording, composing and arranging for a wide variety of artists and ensembles. Joel also has 12 years of private teaching experience.
Yoni Kaston is a multi instrumentalist living in Montreal, QC.
He began to play piano when he was two years old, and since then has added to his arsenal, the double bass, guitar, clarinets, oud, banjo, kora, accordion, and others. He completed a Bachelor of Music degree at McGill University, in piano and harpsichord, having studied with Kenneth Woodman, Hank Knox, and Richard Raymond. He then spent a year in Victoria furthering his harpsichord studies with Colin Tilney. While there, he helped start a baroque orchestra at the University of Victoria Faculty of Music, as well worked intensively in a progressive klezmer band, Mitzvah, which performed actively around BC, notably, at the IPA Folk Festival at Victoria Harbour, and to sold out shows at the JCC and others.
Since coming back to Montreal and having a personal musical renaissance, Yoni has been focusing primarily on Jewish music, klezmer, chassidic and sepharadic, as well as traditional music from the people of the world, particularly West African, Turkish, Balkan musics. His current projects include this duo, a jazz inflected Turkish/Balkan band Massapan, a 5 piece klezmer band Baleboste, as well as leading a group in a recording of Jewish music from the village of his family, in Staszow, Poland.
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