Moishe Band represents Jewish musical traditions from Slovakia.

Despite their short lifespan, this trio has built up a real presence in the Central European Klezmer scene – mostly thanks to their innovative take on Jewish regional traditions from former Hungarian territories.

„… Moishi was the original name for Klezmers who lived in Slovakia. Instead of playing traditional Jewish music, these musicians devoted themselves in Slovak music because of sustenance. Therefore, in lot of regions, there came to be a beautiful symbiosis of stylistically different components into one specific musical whole… “ – explains band leader Michal Paľko, singer, composer and dulcimer player.

Thanks to their rich interpretive skills and multi-genre musical background, they are able to create a unique, progressive „neo-klezmer“ style.

Since the founding of Moishe Band, its members have been invited to many prestigious festivals, including the Jewish Culture Festiwal Krakow, Mazal tov Košice, Samajim – Třebíč, Simcha – Wroclaw, Pohoda at Trenčín and many more. The band has also worked in collaboration with Abraham Geiger Collegue, a rabbinical school in Berlin, as well as collaboration with reformed Jewish community Beit – Krakow.

In 2017 Moishe Band won a prestigious prize at the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam. During 2018 they performed at their first tour in Israel.

Michal Paľko – cimbalom, vocals, brass instruments
František Kubiš – accordion, vocals, drums
Jakub Stračina – double bass, vocals

Tanya Segal & Mojše Band: Reguitah (Môlča Records, 2017)
Mojše Band a priatelia: Tfilos un Nigunim (Pavian Records, 2018)
Mojše Band: Zipserim (Moishee Publishing 2018)
Mojše Band a priatelia: Tehillim (Moishee Publishing, 2019)
Mojše Band: Sárosi – Šarišskí (Moishee Publishing, 2020)

Awards:
Finalists of the International Jewish Music Festival, Amsterdam, 2017
Youtube prize on International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam for the best music video clip (Happy – Mazeldik), 2017

Reviews/Quotes:
„The fact that the Moishe Band was admitted to the Grand Finale is a clear sign of appreciation of the jury for this group. Their strongest point is their musically expressive and virtuoso use of their instruments, their authentic awareness of Hassidic musical tradition and the manner in which they convey this to the audience. Another very positive point is their sincere ambition to rejuvenate the Jewish musical tradition of the former Austro-Hungarian border areas. For these points, they are to be applauded.“
The International Jewish music festival Amsterdam, Jury report: Hankus Netski – Klezmer academy band, Shura Lipovski – jiddish singer, Dubi Lenz – Red see jazz festival, Bob Zimmer – composer

„At the Czech Music Crossroads conference in Ostrava, one of the most surprising and interesting groups was the Mojše Band playing Jewish music from Slovakia. They are a trio, with leader Michal Palko on cimbalom and vocals, František Kubiš on accordion and Jakub Stračina on double bass, and they made one hell of a party. The substantial Jewish population of Ostrava and Spiš (Zips in Yiddish), a region of Slovakia, was devastated in World War II, so what they are doing on Zipserim is essentially an imaginative reconstruction. ‘We have not reconstructed, revived or imitated anything, they say. ‘We have been looking for a connection between us and those
that are not here anymore, but have left us with this heritage.’ Much of the Jewish culture of Spiš was Hassidic, so there are several nigun melodies, wordless prayers including ‘Kazak’,which develops into ‘Wygoda Tanz’ with a strong character of roughly played local highland music (gorale). The band are much closer to a folk group than a klezmer band. But there’s music here from many sources and this album is too long, lacking any consistency of approach. Palko’s cimbalom skills are formidable, but sometimes his enthusiasm overrides his singing ability. That said, they’re great live and are clearly doing really interesting work in a little-known area.“
Simon Broughton – Songlines 1-2/2020 on ZIPSERIM album