Ben Zion Solomon

Ben Zion Solomon
Born	San Francisco, California
Origin	Mevo Modi'im, Israel
Genres	Jewish rock, folk
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, musicologist
Instruments	Vocals, violin, banjo, mandolin, guitar, trumpet
Years active	1975-present
Associated acts	Diaspora Yeshiva Band, Shlomo Carlebach, Ben Zion Solomon and Sons

Ben Zion Solomon is an American-born Israeli musician, best known as a founding member of the seminal Jewish rock group Diaspora Yeshiva Band, for whom he played fiddle and banjo from 1975 to 1983. A disciple of Shlomo Carlebach, Solomon and his family were among the first residents of Carlebach's moshav, Mevo Modi'im. His sons later founded the bands Moshav, Soulfarm, and Hamakor.

Solomon graduated from Berklee College of Music, where he studied music history.

While living in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in the early 1970s, Solomon attended gatherings at The House of Love and Prayer. There, he met the shul's founder, Rabbbi Shlomo Carlebach, who convinced him to move to Israel.

Solomon attended the Diaspora Yeshiva and co-founded the Diaspora Yeshiva Band in 1975 with fellow students Avraham Rosenblum, Simcha Abramson, Ruby Harris, Adam Wexler, and Gedalia Goldstein. Playing a mix of rock and bluegrass with Jewish lyrics, the group was highly influential in Jewish music and recorded six albums before disbanding in 1983.

Solomon recorded three albums with his children under the name Ben Zion Solomon and Sons. They played alongside Reva L'Sheva at Binyanei HaUmah in 1998 to commemorate Carlebach's fourth yartzheit. They returned to the venue in 2012 for another Carlebach tribute concert, this time joined by Yehudah Katz, Chaim-Dovid Saracik, Shlomo Katz, and Aharon Razel.

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Wikipedia