Track 5 rocks

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst Hillel is rocking to the tunes of Track 5 this week.
By Matt Hoffman
December 8, 2005

The two-year-old band is the brainchild of Sam Krentzman and Oren Persing. Krentzman, studying at a music program on a kibbutz in Israel, has taken a year off from playing in the band.

The group plays a mix of music in Hebrew and English rock music, consisting of originals and covers. Some of the cover music includes artists such as Jack Johnson, Stone Temple Pilots, Fastball and a number of David Broza tunes. (Broza is a popular Israeli songwriter living in America who writes lyrics in English, Hebrew and Spanish.) The group also plays songs from the 70s Israeli band “Efoh HaYeled” (“where is the child”).

The members of the band are Ed Jaffe on electric guitar, Mark Franklin on acoustic guitar, Eitan Novotny on tenor sax, Ilan Persin on vocals and Matt Bertuzzi on the piano, djembe and darbuka drum.
The band is named Track 5 because “the first song that we learned was track 5 on David Broza’s CD. And now it symbolizes the five members of the group,” according to Bertuzzi.

Track 5 plays Israeli rock songs, popular American music and their own original creations with other Jewish musical groups from Hillel. The group aims to perform a variety of music, while focusing on Jewish themes.
The band has played at a sukkot event at Heritage Academy in Longmeadow. The band also performed at a series of Beit Caffes – an Israeli open-mic, at the Hillel House. The band has been very well received.
The chemistry among the group members is magnetic. Bertuzzi points out, “We like to give everybody a chance to solo.”

On Dec. 8, the band plays at the annual Chanukah Bash in the Reading Room of the UMass Campus Center. The festivities begin at 7 p.m. The band will also play with Kolot, the a cappella group at UMass, and Ben-Tap Soul, a group of Jewish students whose performance consists of tap dancing.
Bertuzzi said, “We're looking for new tours dates in the spring and are eager to play all over Massachusetts for all different occasions.”

http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/entertainment/?content_id=587