About Us
Jacob's Ladder is an internationally touring band pushing the boundaries of contemporary Jewish music and traditional American Roots music through Jewish communal singing and prayer. In melding these two musical worlds, they tell their story through Eastern European Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish traditions, but also through their American heritage and its influence on their unique musical style. Their debut album “Beit El”, explores genre-bending across choral and cantorial traditions finding their way into communal prayer, rock, West-African styles, bluegrass, and American folk song. Jacob’s Ladder has been performing coast to coast, highlighted by their 2024 appearance at Ashkenazfest, 2023 Bay Area tour, Nashville's 2nd Annual NashFest, and have headline for 3 years in a row at Portsmouth's Jewish Arts and Music Fest. They have performed and offered residencies to dozens of Jewish communities nationally, and continue to shed light on the conversation of identity, particularly regarding what it means to be an American Jew.
Their early inspirations were drawn from bluegrass icons such as Tony Rice, The Bluegrass Album Band, and Bill Monroe, as well as original “Jewgrass” musicians from the 70’s and 80’s, including Andy Statman, David Grisman, and Stacy Phillips. Their recent record, "Beit El" takes a step away from the more traditional bluegrass path, and taps into multiple different genres, including rock, gospel, and klezmer, packed with diverse and eclectic vocal and instrumental arrangements.
With roots music as the bedrock of their expression and instrumentation, their melodies and songs are inspired by the likes of Shlomo Carlebach, Eitan Katz, Zusha, Moshav Band, and Joey Weisenberg and the Hadar Ensemble, to name a few.
Jacob's Ladder is rooted in the traditional liturgy that one might find in an Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or Traditional Jewish setting. They believe that Jewish liturgical music can expand beyond traditional melodies while maintaining its essence in a traditional prayer structure. Additionally, they believe in the power of these prayers to have meaning and purpose outside of a prayer setting. These age-old lyrics are at the heart of what makes up their music, and have been at the forefront of our Jewish story for centuries.
Their creative process incorporates different approaches and techniques. While all of their core band members are rooted in their own idiosyncratic musical styles and approaches, they joyfully approach the challenging process of weaving their stylistic differences into the fabric of new arrangements. Together, they strive to highlight each of their individual sources of inspiration into their ever-changing and evolving sound. At heart, Jacob's Ladder is comprised of bluegrass musicians, and they center themselves–and thus their new music—in its natural groove and language.
Bios
Ariel Wyner
Ariel Wyner is a composer, arranger, producer, multi-instrumentalists, vocalist and co-founder and band leader of Jacob's Ladder. His musical works have pushed the boundaries of Jewish music, bluegrass, folk, rock and American roots music, all stemming from his strong foundation of classical training.
Ariel is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Contemporary Writing and Production, where he discovered his passion for American Roots music as a mandolin principle instrumentalist. He was commissioned in 2021 by Freshgrass at Mass Moca and Berklee College of Music to compose the "Bluegrass Concertos" alongside The Steep Canyon Rangers.
He currently works as the Director of Musical Engagement and Hazzan at Kehillath Israel in Brookline, MA. For the past 5 years, Ariel has been a touring artist with The Ruta Beggars, Boston's premier Bluegrass band and 2023 IBMA official showcasing artists, Freshgrass Award finalists, and Skyline Records artists. From 2020-2022, Ariel was the founder and CEO at Auri Productions, a music, videography and live streaming production company based in Boston.
Sofía Chiarandini
Sofía Chiarandini is a music educator and performer, fiddling and singing through the styles of traditional American and Jewish musics. Currently performing with Jacob’s Ladder (Jewish bluegrass), Sofía has traveled to appear at concerts, residencies, and festivals across the US and Canada. She was the recipient of the Freshgrass Fiddle Award (2021) and Fletcher Bright award (2018), and has collaborated and recorded on over a dozen studio albums. Sofía has led workshops on improvisation, instrumental technique, and American music history at programs across the nation, and teaches private violin lessons in Cambridge, MA. She has registered educational training in the Suzuki method, and serves on the board of the Suzuki Association of Massachusetts. Sofía graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2020 and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in ethnomusicology, focusing her studies on American and Jewish musical traditions.
G Rockwell
G Rockwell is a banjoist, guitarist, mandolinist, vocalist and composer. G brings a progressive edge to his American Roots music, fusing his bluegrass background with influences of bebop, gypsy jazz and swing.
Performing and competing on stages around the country, G has won numerous awards for his banjo and guitar playing. In addition to performing with Jacob's Ladder, G leads the G Rockwell Band and also performs solo. His debut album "Spark" was released in March of 2019.
G graduated as a student at the New England Conservatory of Music in 2024, where he studied Contemporary Improvisation.