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Rikki Rose (formerly Horowitz), will have left Israel for America by the time this issue hits the streets. Perhaps Rikki was not very well known within the Israel folk commu- nity, but those of you who read the Jerusalem Post have seen her name and read her writings on an amazing plethora of subjects.

To those who have experienced her music, she shall ever be remembered as a songbird who didn't need to wait for the drop of a hat to sing. Rikki sings everywhere and any time. Despite her relatively small amount of voice training, or maybe because of the lack of it, her voice is pure, warm, rich and sweet.

Indeed, Rikki is remar- kable in many ways. simultaneously juggling a number of successful careers, and has made a profound impact upon those who have encountered all the hats in her hat box. In addition to her writing, Rikki is a holistic healer (I hope I got that right). Both a teacher and a practi- tioner, her gentle hands are powerful in many ways.

Rikki Horowitz Rose

But of course, the reason she has found her way into FolkNotes is her music. I first met her when the Alte Rockers (of which I was a member), needed a female vocalist. She sang to me over the phone and I was hooked -- line and sinker. I high-tailed it over to her apartment and she sang all my blues away for hours. She joined us and was a smash with the audience. Eventually the group disbanded, but she and I continued performing together at various times, including once at the Tel Aviv Folk Club, with the Clarsfelds on the same bill. The April Jerusalem Folk Club was, in effect, a goodbye party for her. Rikki's repertoire is based more on ballads than anything else -- she loves Carol King and performs many of her songs. On the other hand, she is very flexible and can and will sing anything from Fifties Rock to Folk Rock and beyond. Her singing in the 1987 AACI song contest earned the composer, Batya Walker, fourth place.

Above all else, Rikki will be missed because she is such a special and warm person. To all of us, she was a friend unsurpassed. It's difficult to refrain from gushing, especially since she doesn't like it. Too bad! She was always there when you needed her. Even when things were rough, she was a warm ray of sun- shine that lit up all our lives.

All that remains to do is to wish Rikki, her lovely husband Michael, and their soon-to-be born child good luck upon their return to America. Perhaps someday, she will again return here to grace our lives.

--Larry Gamliel

April's Karmiel Folk Klub was our 2nd Annual Open Stage. Last year only four acts took the stage, this year we had ten different combinations of musicians who were seeking their 15 minutes of fame. We had a large variety of music styles as well as a large range of talent. One performer had picked up a guitar for the first time in his life only one month earlier. He had the crowd behind him as we struggled together through "The Streets of London." On the other hand, Dave Eyal from Matat, who also sang last year, was great -- I'm sorry we had to cut his set due to time constraints.

Also returning from last year were Dave Lewis and Menachem Vinegrad who sang two songs a cappella. A whole crop of new people made their appearance for the first time, most notably Imprompt3, a trio from Jerusalem who never played together before but should definitely do it again. The trio consisted of Laura Fink (who has appeared at Karmiel before) with friends Joe and Paul. Paul also sang an original piece about moving from the city to the country, proving to be very capable as both a singer and a songwriter.

The first part of the evening may not have been the greatest display of talent, but without doubt it was one of the most fun evenings we ever had!

The second half (delayed because of all the new local talent) featured Shelley Ellen. One cannot say enough about not only Shelley the musician, but also Shelley the person. And here is a confession. This year it seemed that no matter what I did, I had it in for Shelley. Earlier this year I lost my diary and in doing so, I forgot (!) about two musicians who I had booked months in advance.

One of them was Shelley.

After being told of my mistake, she was nice enough to reschedule for April, and in addition to perform at Charlie's, a nearby restaurant. The performance at Charlie's could have been a disaster if Shelley was not such a professional. Despite adver- tising in all of the settlements in the area, only seven people made it out that evening.

Shelley was not put off at all and gave one of her best performances ever. In addi- tion to her original songs (which can be found on her CD Shot out in the night), she played requests for a full hour and a half. She said that she preferred to play for seven people that came to hear her than for a crowd of 200 that couldn't care less about the music!

This month when Shelley appeared in Karmiel and didn't take the stage until 11:30, once again she showed her professionalism and played a full set without complaint. After a fun evening of chiefly amateur talent Shelley was the perfect end to the evening.

For those of you who haven't had a chance to listen to Shelley's album, do yourself a favor and invest the 50 shekels, you'll be glad you did.

Here it is, a hot-off-the- press and timely review of this year's Jacob's Ladder. To be more precise, a perhaps subjective view of one participant, little ol' me -- who with thousands of others witnessed the event at a brand new location, the Youth Hostel of Karei Deshe. It is located on the western side of the Kinneret, just opposite Ha'On, where the festival was held last year. But what a difference! The Vinegrads hit the jackpot both in the choice of the site and the timing. Not only was it not hot, it was positively cool on Friday night! The performers did not melt into puddles of jelly this time round. Part of the reason is because many of the performances were held in a grand air-condi- tioned concert hall. To my mind all of the facilities were top of the line, from room to board. The folks at the complex might have been a bit overwhelmed by the sheer numbers at first, but they got hold of them- selves quickly and I didn't hear any complaints from anyone in that regard.

Rating performances is always subjective. Thus anyone is invited to take the following with as many grains of salt as desired. Obviously I had my favorites, and those I like less. We had, among others, two guests from the States: Bob and Woody. Each is a virtuoso guitarist. Both separately and together they showed us amazingly gifted guitar work, with perhaps a blues tinge.

Indeed, the blues were very pronounced this year, with Celtic music taking a bit of a back seat. I was struck by the abundance of musical styles. We had everything from the quiet singer/songwriter Noah Zacharin to the boisterous and experimental Essev

Bar. We even had pure electrified country and western music with Steve Haggard and the Rangers from Nashville -- a group I had never heard of before.

Saturday is the real heart and soul of Jacob's Ladder. Then you hear the best of our own homegrown talent. People had two simulta- neous shows to choose from, outside and inside. To leave anyone out would be an injustice, but since we don't have all that much space, let me mention a few outstanding artists. Marc Miller, who performed with Harold Jacobs and Eli Marcus, was a gem. As is the beauteous Shelley Ellen. Ray Scudero, accompanied by Marc Gittelson (the two of them being Scuditelsons?) was a wonderful crowd pleaser.

The JoyfuNoise was the icing on the cake for those indoors. Three girls and one guy --sounds like another musical harem. Really great stuff! And how can I not mention Judi and Lynn Lewis, who crooned and spooned and sounded fine.

The bottom line: without the weather to worry about, it was very worthwhile. Now, I am a relative new- comer to the Festival. And perhaps because of that, it was most wonderful to wander hither and yon among the participants and hear my name called out in greeting by people whom I don't think I even know. To me that symbolizes the wonderful atmosphere and feeling of kinship that pervades our only national folk festival. See ya'll next year!

-- Larry Gamliel

For many, the festival will be remembered as the year of the Blues. Woody and Bob, Southbound Train, Eli Marcus and Marc Miller, Midnight Mojo Blues Band, and a new personal favorite, Noah Zacharin. A lot of great talent in a 24 hour span.

What will always stay with me from this year's JL did not take on place on the Main Stage or The Lecture Hall, but davka in the cafeteria and on the grass outside of the hostel.

Friday night at around 2:00 a.m. I went to the cafeteria to warm up a little with a cup of hot coffee when Bracha and Yossi from Irish Cream came in, sat down, pulled out their guitars and started playing. After a few minutes Gal, Michal and Eitan of Evergreen walked in and joined the party. With- in 20 minutes the rest of Irish Cream as well as another five or six musicians were jamming in an intimate circle with about a hundred fans surrounding them. Though most of "EverCreams'" music was instrumental they played a couple of singalongs which featured Hal and Yuval. This Celtic dream continued non-stop until 4:30 in the morning.

On the way back to my tent to get some much needed sleep, I ran into Haim Gefen and Julio's Friends sitting on the grass. They were doing what they do best, playing some Rhymin Simon, and other favorites of the same genre.

They were joined by some of the people who left the previ- ous jam session and were too pumped up to sleep. After a half an hour I pulled myself away to get some sleep. An hour later, after being convinced by my son that it was time to get up, "Julio's Friends and Friends" were still going strong. In fact they kept on going until the festival officially restarted at 9:00 a.m.

An opportunity for the country's best musicians to perform, jam and enjoy each others talents; while we "poor working slobs" perhaps lacking in talent but with a song in our souls; hum, sing, dance, and clap along - this is what JL is all about.

--Larry Rosenfeld

i Bob Brozman

Family ties took me back to Rochester, NY this spring. I was met by snowy skies and wintry weather, and prevailed upon a local Rochester folkie, used to driving in that "white stuff" to give me a ride to the Golden Link Folk Singing Society sing-around.

Golden Linkers get together weekly and I was lucky to attend 4 meetings. "Chorus songs" were on the agenda for my first sing- around. Songs by women songwriters followed, which gave me the opportunity to sing Peggy Seeger's Buffalo Holler and Mona as well as one of my own. Malvina Reynolds, Joni Mitchell and Kate Wolf were also quite popular that night. Other evenings were non-thematic, sort of a pot-luck repertoire.

Let me add an explanation here. Each time there is a leader who orchestrates the order of singers. One may make a request or simply pass. Refreshments are available during the break, set out by whoever is in charge of hospitality. This all makes for a very pleasant and informal musical evening. I was made to feel at home and welcome by a great group of warm local folkies. I would like to give some special mention here to Ray Baumler, a veteran member of GL and a wonderful performer and songwriter. Ray sings beautifully, with a quiet intensity as he accompanies himself on the guitar. His music captivated me and I was privileged to spend an entire morning with him sharing musical repertoires. Ray presented me with a homemade cassette of his songs the night before I left - a real treasure to be cherished. We'd all be richer were he to record a CD and let's hope he does!

Ray Baumler and Mike Strobel, another talented local musician, also presented an interesting and entertaining perfor- mance of labor songs at Border's Bookshop prior to Worker's Memorial Day. They were loudly applauded by an enthusiastic audience.

GL and the Rochester Labor Council co-sponsored a Workers Memorial Day Concert, featuring John McCutcheon and Dave Rovics. McCutcheon, a superb singer/songwriter, was dubbed "Virginia's rustic Renaissance Man" by the Washington Post. He is one of the most widely traveled and inventive folk musicians, if I may para- phrase from his Sprout Wings and Fly CD insert. An extremely talented musician, he has mastered a dozen different instru- ments including guitar, fiddle, banjo, autoharp, piano and hammer dulcimer. His velvety rich voice filled the auditorium as he serenaded the audience and "wove yarns." For all you hammer dulcimer fans -- you haven't seen or heard anything till you see JM on stage! He would be a great headliner for Jacob's Ladder and attempts should be made to find a way to bring him here. For those who would like to bring him into their homes, I highly recommend his CD JM Live at Wolf Trap, which includes some of my favorites: Calling All the Children Home, Joe Hill and Cut the Cake. (To the best of my knowledge, Rounder Records Corp. produces all his CDs.) The concert was certainly one of the highlights of my trip.

Have you ever heard of the Free Time Cafe in Toronto? (They've got awebsite!) That's where Noah Zacharin hosts an open mike the third Monday of each month. I hopped an Amtrak train to that city for a couple of days and had the pleasure of meeting Noah and spending time with him. I also got a chance to perform at the Cafe and get a taste of local Toronto talent. By the time this goes to press we will have had a chance to hear Noah perform at Jacob's Ladder and many other local venues. I look forward to hosting him here down in the Deep South.

For those of you finding yourselves in the NE and looking for some folk music, see the GL website at: http://www.goldenlink.org or call the Golden Link Folk Fone 716 234-5044.

The JFC is moving to its latest and hopefully permanent home at 13 Helena Hamalka, in the Haganat HaTeva (Nature Society) building. We are very grateful to Naomi and Haim Zur whose warm support made this possible. To inaugurate our new home, on June 15^th, at 8:30 pm, there will be a Larry Gamliel Special (since the poor boy never gets to appear or play in public). He will perform well-known and loved songs for every- one. Come and sing along.

The Second Southern Fried Jam will be on Friday, June 16^th. We'll gather by 11am in the Lahav forest at the horseshoe of benches and picnic tables, just a staircase beneath the Joe Alon Beduin Center. The area is shaded and has no roads close by so it's fine for kids in tow. It is just over an hour from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or Sde Boker. The turnoff is about 1/2 hour after Route 3 from where the Jerusalem highway meets the Route 40 highway heading for Beersheva. Continue south past Kiryat Gat on 40. (Pass a gas station on your left.) Turn left onto Route 326 at Dvira Junction. After about 7 km on that road, you'll see a map of the Lahav forest. Turn right and go up the hill to the Joe Alon Center and park. Look for the stairs across from the center. Bring your instru- ments and your own picnic lunch! See ya's there.

For further information call me at (07) 653-2080. I'll have my cell phone on from about 10:30 that morning for anyone who is "lost"! () 966-635.

--Laurie Za'arur

Harpist Sunita Staneslow will return to live in Israel this July. She was a fixture on the Israeli folk scene in the late eighties and has returned several times during the past decade. Since living in Israel Sunita has released 12 recordings on the Excelsior, Maximilian and Windham Hill labels, and published numerous books of her arrangements for harp. Sunita recently co-produced and performed in Gaelfest!, a St. Patrick's day extravaganza of music and dance that included Riverdance singer Katie McMahon. After settling back in Israel Sunita plans to continue her musical collaborations with musicians here, as well as maintaining her touring schedule in Europe and the United States. For more information on Sunita's recordings, books and performances point your internet browser at www.musicmax.com

Happy Birthday to: Chen Brill, Cyrelle Forman-Sofer, Carol Fuchs, Ruth Ish- Horowicz, Andrew Jennings, Jonathan Jennings, Kevin Jennings, Alan Lewis, Marc Miller, Doron Raz and Mike Rogoff. Refuah shlema to Lynn and Judi's granddaughter after her surgery.

Mazal Tov to Daphna Whetstone on her Bat Mitzva.

NOT TRAD ADS - fee is NIS 10 (NIS 5 for members).

**SHELLEY ELLEN guitarlessons, available for performances (03) 674-5356. **Jill Rogoff's "THE CELTIC CRADLE" and ACROSS THE NARROW SEAS (ALC 129) are available on cassette (NIS 40) or CD (NIS 60). Tel/Fax (02) 679-0410.

**SUZALEH'S SILK ART - Glassed and Framed, modestly sized and modestly priced, door signs, mazal tovs, etc. Handmade by Sue Tourkin-Komet (02) 676-3346.

DISCLAIMER: FolkNotes is the official publication of the Israel FolkStuff Society. Views are those of the writers, not necessarily those of IFS.

FolkNotes and all of the articles, photographs and material contained therein are, unless otherwise noted, copyrighted by IFS 2000.

Our Trad Ads section is free to IFS members. Display ads are priced according to the following schedule:

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Israel Dulcimer Society : Meetings have resumed - every 2nd Monday evening. For further information call Dena at (02) 561-8910 or Cyrelle at (02) 566-2682.

Thursdays, 8:30-11pm. Balkan Dancing at Moadon Hasport, 30 Hatsfira, Moshava

Germanit, call Cyrelle (02) 566-2682.

Thurs. June 15. JERUSALEM FOLK CLUB at its latest (and hopefully last) new location. The evening will begin with Hachmoni and continue with Larry Gamliel - 13 Helena Hamalka (Haganat HaTeva) 8:30 pm. Admission NIS 20.

Saturday, June 3, 8 pm. Scottish Folk Dancing at St. Andrew's Scottish Hospice, David Remez 1 (near Rakevet). Please call to verify time, etc. (02) 673-2401.

First Friday of every month. Oppenheimer English Storyteller Center for Adults. Come listen,

learn, share, and enjoy. Please call ahead and reserve a place. Email: dvoras@netvision.net.il or call Dvora at (03) 546-2913. (11 Yotzer Blvd, near Assuta Hospital).

Tuesday, June 6. Irish Pub at the Gordon Inn Pub, 17 Gordon Street. Instrumental jam of Irish music unless Yuval shows up, in which case it will be an instrument jam plus Yuval. Some time in the evening, probably around 8:30pm. For more information call Roi Becker (03) 527-3725.

Wednesday, June 7, 8:30pm. TEL AVIV FOLK CLUB, with David Barshaw, Irit Ma'ayan and Sylvia Sara Ber together with Larry Gamliel. Bikurei Ha'itim 6 Heftman St. For more details, call Ariela: (03) 683-7441.

Wednesday, June 21, 8:30pm. TEL AVIV FOLK CLUB, with Laurie Orenstein Za'arur and Ray Scudero. Bikurei Ha'itim 6 Heftman St. For more details, call Ariela: (03) 683-7441.

Wednesday, June 28, 9pm. KIBBUTZ TZORA FOLK CLUB. Annual birthday party for Lynn and Ray plus, plus, and the usual great line-up. Call: Judi & Lynn Lewis: (02) 990-8382 or (051) 348-061 or judilynn@tzora.co.il

Thursday, June 1, 9 pm. Matnas Megadim, with Noah Zacharin, Jug ' o' Punch and others. Contact: Larry Rosenfeld (04) 990-2455.

Try to get your information to the appropriate persons for the Calendar, as early as possible, so we can meet publication deadlines (15th of each month). Contact Sue Tourkin-Komet (02) 676-3346 for Jerusalem activities; all areas: Larry Gamliel at (02) 641-1043 or (053) 801-202, or by fax to Carol at: (02) 675-8376.

ISRAEL FOLKSTUFF SOCIETY Membership (clip and MAIL today) Oh, yes!! I'd like to become a member of/renew my membership in IFS. Includes a subscription to FolkNotes, discounts on IFS-sponsored concerts and Home Hoots, etc. (Send to IFS, P.O.B. 12188 Jerusalem 91120 Israel)

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