The Weinreb Brothers, natives of Monsey, have music in their blood. When they were growing up, one would often hear the sounds of exotic rhythmic grooves and extended musical jams floating from their basement windows. Years later, The Weinreb Brothers released their debut album, The Weinreb Brothers—May’ain Olam Habah, available at your local Judaica store. It is a culmination of their musical talents and knowledge, and includes an eclectic mix of acoustics-based jams, featuring both their original songs and totally re-envisioned covers of old classics. They also just formally launched The Weinreb Brothers Band, now available to make your bar mitzvah, Sheva Brochos, kumzitz, dinner or any other event unforgettable. It’s a totally fresh sound that has never been heard before, and is sure to draw you in.

We sat down with Yoel M., the oldest brother, and had a few words with him:

JEWISH LINK: Are you really all brothers?

YM: Of course!! I’m not sure why I get that question a lot and people seem surprised…

JL: Just these past few months, I’ve been seeing your band around a lot and really love your sound. When did you form the band?

YM: Well we’ve always enjoyed playing music together but… busy schedules and logistics generally limited our gigs to family and friends. Now, after releasing our album, which was a great experience for all of us, plus the increased demand, we decided it was time to formally launch our band to share our art with the public.

JL: What do you think makes your music different?

YM: We feel that we fill a gap that’s sorely missing from the Jewish music scene. In an age when some people think that the louder the music is the better, we want to provide an alternative. Real music…classy…touching the soul with feeling and purity not just volume, and cookie cutter arrangements. We often employ acoustic guitar and African percussion to create a much more “natural” sound. Of course we still “rock the house” when appropriate… Also, I think just the fact that we are brothers and have been playing our whole lives together gives us a cohesive but at the same time spontaneous feel. At this point we almost always know what everyone else will be doing… we always try to enhance each other’s playing and not just play over one another; we’re really one unit, with four different perspectives.

JL: What instruments do you play?

YM: When I was a teenager I picked up acoustic and electric guitar. I decided I needed someone to help back me up so I pushed my next brother, CS, to accompany me on the keyboard. He then went on to play piano and bass. After that our two youngest brothers Mendy and Reuvain literally grew up surrounded by music. Mendy sings the lead vocals, plays ukulele and has become a great composer. Reuvain is really super talented, he seems to just pick up any instrument and just master it! As a 5-year-old he used to rock out with us on a Djembe (African percussion). Now he plays flute/sax/bongos/harmonica/clarinet… basically anything he can get his hands on!

JL: If you had to describe your music, who would you compare it to?

YM: I would say were definitely influenced by the Carlebach-style musicians, like Soulfarm (we actually got to work with C. Lanzbom on our album!) and Moshav band, but also Yossi and Avi Piamenta and other great Jewish musicians…

To reserve The Weinreb Brothers Band for your next event, they can be contacted at [email protected] or 347-309-2567.