Jerusalem Cafe and Night Life - Serial Tourist's Guide

December, 2006 - Copyright by Morris Rosenthal - - contact info

Live Music in Jerusalem Pubs

I've been going out to bars with live music every night I can. The two women on the left and below comprise the group "Bright Bows" and they've been appearing every week in Artel, a jazz club on Heleni Hamalka 9. In their new location, Artel seats upwards of 50 people on two floors, and sports one of the few pianos you'll find on the local scene.. Instead of pretzels, you can expect dried, salted sardines with your beer - very tasty. Violin is something I'm used to hearing in a large hall, so I can't get over the sound they produce in such a small place.

Speaking of large halls, it seems that Israelis prefer their live music in performance venues. The bar scene is dominated by DJs, trance music, and kids. The three or four bars downtown with regular live music draw a more mature and varied crowd. The musicians I've seen at Artel so far include; the lovely Bright Bows, a guitar duo who alternated between Russian and Irish folk songs, a one man band who accompanied himself (by means of a repeater) on keyboard, bass, guitar and violin, and a male guitar and violin combo with a female vocalist. Plenty of acoustic music can be heard in Jerusalem cafes and just on the street.

Mike's place is more of an American style pub, and all of the bartenders speak flawless English. There's no food at Mikes place (asside from corn chips) but there's plenty of booze, and live music every night. Mike Perry (unrelated to Mike who sold the place to Assaf) is playing with friends to the left, and frequently appears with his band Soul Train. There's no cover charge, and a Happy hour from 4:00 to 9:00 every day. There's also a Mike's Place in Tel Aviv which recently experienced a suicide bombing. Assaf and his new wife Lat (below) always seem to be working, so drop by 9 Mounbaz and say "Hi."

Another downtown bar is the Syndrome, on Hillel, which draws some quality Israeli acts. There's usually a 20 IS (say $4) cover charge, but the alcohol seems to be a little cheaper than the other places. The primary clientele is the 20 or 30 something Israeli crowd, and I wasn't terribly surprised when the singer of the guitar duo appearing there the other night made an impassioned "Don't Vote for Likud" speech between songs. Based on the audience response, I'd say half the place was voting Meretz, and the other half Aleh Yarok, Israel's Green Leaf party which favors the legalization of soft drugs. Hillel has a large number of cafes as well, mainly an Israeli crowd.

This guide is in progress, and I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions.