Mostly Kosher | Musica Viva!

MOSTLY KOSHER, the acclaimed Klezmer/Rock band, radically reconstructs Judaic and American cultural music through ravenous klezmer beats and arresting Yiddish refrains. Mostly Kosher is a musical feast that explodes into a global food-fight of Jazz, Latin, Rock, and Folk. In response to the poetry and folk music of Judaic roots, their original voice resounds with themes of social justice, human dignity, and mutual understanding. Led by frontman Leeav Sofer, one of Jewish Journal’s “30 under 30” most accomplished professionals in the Los Angeles Jewish diaspora, Mostly Kosher is comprised of some of the highest regarded Los Angeles musicians: violinist Janice Mautner Markham, drummer Eric Hagstrom, bassist Adam Levy, accordionists Gee Rabe and Nigel Wilson, trombonist Bob Lawrence, and Ben Tevik on clarinet and sax. Longtime collaborators also include Aníbal Seminario, Taylor Covey and Will Brahm.

Mostly Kosher is a fixture at renowned California stages such as the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Skirball Cultural Center, Torrance Center for the Arts, and Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center. They have also graced the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for a live television broadcast to over half a million viewers in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. The ensemble has headlined multiple summer festivals including the Silicon Valley Jewish Music Festival and Claremont Folk Festival. Mostly Kosher had the honor of being the first Jewish music ensemble at the Disney parks with 2022 marking their sixth season performing during the 2-month long Festival of Holidays. Mostly Kosher was credited for “stealing the Festival of Holidays Show” by the acclaimed Fresh Baked Disney podcast. For the 2017 holiday season, Mostly Kosher added Epcot Center in Florida to their list of holiday performance venues, becoming Disney’s first Jewish cultural music performed on both coasts.

Staying true to giving back to the community, Mostly Kosher is proud to be teaching artists for Urban Voices Project, performing and educating in underserved areas in and around Southern California including prisons, community clinics and shelters serving men and women suffering from homelessness. Mostly Kosher is also a mentor ensemble to the Jewish Youth Orchestra, a project of the Jewish Federation of San Gabriel Valley, offering performance opportunities and ongoing workshops for middle school and high school musicians.

The band’s self-titled debut album has won international acclaim by World Music Network, Songlines Magazine, and BBC radio. The first track, Ikh Hob Dikh Tsufil Lib (I Love You Much Too Much), was recognized as one of World Music Network’s Top 6 Songs of 2014. Mostly Kosher’s music videos have been garnering accolades on the film festival circuit, receiving two nominations at the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema and Best Music Video at the Glendale International Film Festival. 2021 will mark the indie film debut of Mostly Kosher, as they will be featured in the wedding scene of the upcoming feature film, “The Accursed”, starring Izabela Vidovic and Melora Walters.

Mostly Kosher kicked off their 2022 live performance schedule with a long-anticipated record release of “This World is Yours” on February 24th at the Skirball Museum, and a tour of Arizona beginning with the magnificent Chandler Performing Arts Center. Other performances in the 2022-2023 season include the debut of the Mostly Kosher family show, “Roots and Wings”, headlining the Ashkenaz Music Festival in Toronto, the largest Jewish & Eastern European event in the western hemisphere, and performing for “Sunday Funday” at the Wallis Annenberg Theatre. Mostly Kosher was honored to be included in the flagship series, “Secret Chord”, a live concert taping sponsored by the UCLA Department of Music and the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.