If you go
Matisyahu
Where: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St. NW
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
Info: $40; ticketmaster.com
Matisyahu is the sort of man who seems rather unimpressed with his own success. Yet, this unaffected state doesn’t seem to be a form of modesty. Rather it appears to stem from the balance and confidence he has in his life of which music is an important part, which should be respected.
“I can always tell when someone hasn’t heard my music,” said Matisyahu by phone from the road on his recent tour. “If they’ve heard it they ask a lot about instrumentation.”
Although it’s left unsaid, those that don’t know his music clearly reflect more on his religious than musical inspirations. That’s a shame because although Matisyahu is an American Hasidic Jew whose beliefs are reflected in his art, he’s also a world-class musician mixing reggae, hip-hop and rock.
His 2006 album “Youth,” was nominated for a Grammy and went gold. That same year, he was named Billboard’s Top Reggae Artist.
His recently released 14-track CD, “Light” is just as accessible but offers a more mature sound, moving from ska-infected new wave to acoustic folk-soul.
“In some senses this is not a conscious decision but an artistic one,” said Matisyahu of the shifts his music has taken. “It’s more than idea that I make the music that I want to make.”
Matisyahu doesn’t develop in a vacuum, though. He’s gained massive recognition for reaching out to his fans through social networking and openly praising and engaging an array of artists who create music in various genres.
That is, in fact, how “Light” was born.
To create this recent work, Matisyahu took a year off from touring and went to Jerusalem to work with a friend to consolidate three years of learning Torah into 16 songs.
After returning to New York, Matisyahu collaborated with other musicians and producers to fine-tune the songs that would eventually become the new album. Yet even with an extensive guest list of musicians and producers, the album’s songs are easily recognizable as Matisyahu’s.
That ability to take different elements of musical inspiration from sometimes vastly different genres is what Matisyahu said allows him to create his own unique sound.
“[Fans] influence me; everything influences me,” he said. “I listen to everything from Bjork to the Flaming Lips. Whatever is being played on the radio, I can take inspiration from.”
Yet the result is clearly his own.
