By COLlive reporter
Jewish singer and recording artist Eitan Katz has launched his new Chabad Album, featuring 12 niggunim, in concert at The Arches in Crown Heights.
Eitan was born in New Jersey and lived in Los Angeles, California, where his father Avsholom Katz served as a chazzan. “The niggun ‘Ki Hiney’ is one of the first Chabad niggunim I heard,” he says. “My father sang it on Yom Kippur.”
After living in Israel, his family returned to Los Angeles. There, he accompanied his brother Shlomo Katz and his band to perform at Chabad events, like the Chanukah celebrations in San Francisco led by Shliach Rabbi Yosef Langer. “I even sang backup for Yehuda Glantz at a Chabad Telethon in Los Angeles,” Eitan recalls.
Eitan currently lives in Far Rockaway, NY. He performs worldwide, and two of his bandmates are Chabad musicians Yoni Lorber and Yehuda Piamenta, whose influences have been significant both on the road and on this album.
“I still listen to the Nichoach (Niggunei Chassidei Chabad) albums,” he told the COLlive Magazine’s Tammuz 5784 issue. “They transport me back to old Russia, enveloping me in the music.”
These influences are evident in his live shows and performances at simchas, where Chabad niggunim, especially during the dancing, is a staple. It led him to create the new Chabad Album which has been five years in the making.
VIDEO:
Eitan sings Chabad with the heart!
I love his music!
I was at this event it most on fire!