Jonathan Lewis Band combines modern music and Jewish liturgy - providing listeners with a joyous and transporting Jewish music experience. Led and created by multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer, Jonathan Lewis, these musicians bring new life to beloved Jewish prayers through original compositions and arrangements.
The band members have vast musical experience in many genres, and bring this to their playing and singing. The influences of jazz, latin, middle eastern and popular music can be heard in their performances. Their musicality enhances services, and their songs stand alone in concert.
Jonathan Lewis - Vocals, Piano, Arrangements and Compositions
Jonathan Lewis is the architect of the Jonathan Lewis Band, and has arranged, composed, played piano and keys and sung on a soon-to-be released debut album of Jewish Liturgy-Shabbat Yachad music. The album will include original compositions mixed with traditional Jewish prayer melodies and prayers adapted to fit popular secular songs
In the Jewish music world, Jonathan sang and played trumpet on Debbie Friedman’s
He has sung and played piano for Cantor Paul Zim, and has also been musical director for Cantor Mark Biddleman’s Rock Services and Shabbat Yachad services at Temple Emanuel in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. Most recently, he performed cantorial duties for Congregation Gesher Or’s contemporary High Holiday services in coordination with Cantor Paul Zim and Rabbi Jay Levy from Los Angeles.
In secular circles, Jonathan has compositional credits for 3 films for Danny Aiello’s documentary film company and had several songs on pop radio, including Corina’s “Loving You Like Crazy” and a dance record “Bliss” on Universal Records 2008.
He has performed, toured or recorded with Celia Cruz, Cyndi Lauper, Marc Anthony, LL Cool J, Richard Bona( Grammy Award winner) Run DMC, Mariah Carey, Reuben Blades, Chris Botti, and Gregory Abbott and Willie Colon. He also wrote arrangements on Willie Colon’s Grammy nominated “Altos Secretos” album.
Rachel Hanser - Vocals
Rachel Hanser’s passion for singing started at Camp Ramah in Palmer, MA, where her love for Jewish music was also ignited, and has continued to this day.
Rachel was a member of the Poppy Seed Players through the Kaufman Cultural Center, and had lead roles in Jewish holiday-themed musicals for families that were performed at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City.
As part of the Jonathan Lewis Band, Rachel sings at Fort Lee’s Congregation Gesher Or’s contemporary High Holiday services in coordination with Cantor Paul Zim and Rabbi Jay Levy from Los Angeles.
She was also a long-time member of the a capella group, Downtown Vocals. Rachel can be seen singing and playing percussion instruments at various cabaret rooms and clubs around New York City, such as Don’t Tell Mama and The Duplex.
Rachel’s vocal versatility enables her to sing a variety of styles from pop and folk to standards and jazz.
Mark Skanga - Acoustic and Electric Guitars
Having played on the Jewish scene for years for concerts and private events, Mark has fused influences from South America and around the world. Mark creates an entrancing travelogue as an instrumentalist.
The 2009 winner of The International Finger Style Guitar Championship, Mark has enthralled audiences from Stockholm to Kuala Lumpur. He recently headlined at the Cape May Jazz Festival in New Jersey and at the Thredbo Jazz Festival in Australia.
Mark has appeared in NYC at Iridium, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, & S.O.B.'s, amongst many others.
He has also toured and recorded with Indian violin virtuoso, Dr. L. Subramaniam (alongside Larry Coryell & Herbie Hancock), and performed all over the US, including a Santa Cruz, CA concert opposite the legendary Taj Mahal.
In 2008 Bergen Health & Life Magazine voted The Mark Sganga Trio "Best Jazz Group"
Mark’s exciting guitar skill, diversity and wealth of musical experience and stage power makes him a staple on the Jonathan Lewis Bands recordings and live performances.
Kenny Shanker - Woodwinds, piano, vocals
Kenny Shanker is a saxophonist, pianist, vocalist, and award-winning composer. He grew up in Pleasanton, CA and began playing piano when he was two years old. Of Kenny, Grammy Award-winning producer, Jeff Jones has said that “he taps into a universal soul with his playing. . . . With fluidity and ease, he can capture the heart and mind of the many. He is a classic.”
Kenny won an ASCAP award for composition, and wrote music for the soundtrack of the independent film, Out of the Fog. His first album, Steppin’ Up, was released on September 6, 2011 on Posi-Tone Records. Todd Barkan, Programming Director at Jazz at Lincoln Center, hailed it as “a masterful recording with a tremendous amount of heart and soul.” All About Jazz called it “impressive” and “immediately enjoyable, with enough twists and turns to reward repeated listening.”
Kenny has performed with the New World Symphony, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, R&B singer, Shannon (“Let the Music Play”), David Benoit, Richard Bona, Shelly Berg, Martin Fry, Lage Lund, and many others. He has also played the national anthem for the Oakland Raiders and the Golden State Warriors and toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Japan. Locally, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Smoke, Birdland, Fat Cat, The Garage, The Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. He currently resides in New York City.
