Jaffa Road
A Toronto ensemble founded by Aaron Lightstone (oud, guitar): Tamar Ilana's voice and five musicians bring Jewish, classical Arabic and Indian music together with jazz, blues, electronica, rock and dub — a journey at once ancient and modern, acoustic and electronic, sacred and secular.
Biography
Jaffa Road is a Toronto ensemble founded by Aaron Lightstone — oud and guitar — bringing together some of Canada's most inventive interpreters of intercultural music. The current lineup features Tamar Ilana on vocals, Justin Gray on bass and bass veena, Sundar Viswanathan on saxophone and flute, Rakesh Tewari on drums and percussion, and Shawn Rompre on electronic percussion and effects.
Their sound is a journey at once ancient and modern, acoustic and electronic, sacred and secular: it draws on Jewish, classical Arabic and Indian music and brings it together with modern jazz, blues, electronica, rock, pop, funk and dub. The band challenges accepted notions of Jewish music while creating a new form of expression that breaks cultural boundaries.
The honours followed: two JUNO nominations (Best World Music Album), the 2013 Canadian Folk Music Award for World Music Group of the Year for Where The Light Gets In, and the Grand Prize of the John Lennon International Songwriting Competition for “LYG”. Their third album, Until When (October 2021), earned the band Recording Artist of the Year at the 2022 Folk Music Ontario Awards and the 2022 Tina Awards. Their musical odyssey has taken them to festivals and theatres across North and South America — including Mundial Montréal, on November 21, 2013.
Stages and milestones
2013 — Mundial Montréal — November 21, 2013 · Festivals and theatres across North and South America
Discography
2025 — Shavateynu Kabel (single, December 5, 2025) · 2024 — Wordless Melody — ECCODEK REMIX (single, March 2024) · 2021 — Until When (album, October 2021) · 2012 — Where The Light Gets In (album) · 2009 — Sunplace (album) · Ya'ala Ya'ala (single)
Calendar
- Coming up — No date announced at this time — this profile will be updated as soon as the band makes its next official announcement
Show formats
- A six-piece ensemble — vocals, oud and guitar, bass and bass veena, saxophone and flute, drums and percussion, electronic percussion and effects
- An intercultural repertoire, in concert and festival settings alike: from sacred and secular music to jazz, rock and dub grooves