Hillel Tigay

Hillel Tigay (born 1969 ), formerly performing as Dr. Dreidle, is an American musician and chazzan. Influenced by rock, alternative, Spanish, and Middle Eastern music in his childhood, Tigay studied musicology at the University of Pennsylvania before leaving to Los Angeles in the hope of starting a music career. His initial stints with A&M Records and Jewish rap group M.O.T. were unsuccessful, but in 2005, Tigay found success as the chazzan and music director of IKAR, a Jewish congregation. From the IKAR Music Lab, and with the help of congregants influential in the music industry, Tigay has released several albums and launched his own music group, Palms Station.

Life and career Hillel Tigay was influenced by music from an early age, deciding to learn guitar after hearing the Beatles' Abbey Road at the age of 11. Other early influences include Tears for Fears, the Who, and Led Zeppelin, as well as Middle Eastern and Sephardic music he recounted picking up while visiting Israel. He studied musicology at the University of Pennsylvania, He then joined a Jewish rap group called M.O.T. in the late 1990s, performing as Dr. Dreidle alongside companion Ice Berg. M.O.T.'s style of rap heavily involved self-aware Jewish puns, in a style similar to the Beastie Boys. M.O.T. was beset by commercial failure, releasing an album with no marketing budget in the same week as much more popular artists Madonna and Seal. Tigay also performs music from other genres, such as Tears for Fears' "Mad World"; him and Brous cite songs like these as part and parcel of their religious practice.

The congregation responded positively to Tigay's music, and members of the congregation helped connect Tigay back to the music industry. With the backing of congregant and music executive Jeff Ayeroff, and as the first project of the IKAR Music Lab, Tigay assembled musicians from a broad array of backgrounds to create his 2012 album Judeo, including Armenian, Iranian, and Turkish traditional instrumentalists and trumpeter Herb Alpert. The album, taking Hebrew and Aramaic prayers for lyrics, is a cross between what music might have sounded like in the antiquity and what Liel Leibovitz of Tablet described as "hyper-contemporary world music".

Palms Station Albums Stand Together. Fall Apart. (2022)

Singles "Alive" (2021) "I Don't Know the Way to Your Heart" (2021) "I Can't Find You" (2021) "(You Can Have) Everything You Wanted" (2021) "Amen Hallelujah" (2021) "Greater Glory" (2021) "I Don't Know the Way to Your Heart (Acoustic)" (2021) "I Can't Find You (Acoustic)" (2021) "Blue Skies Back (feat. Torii Wolf)" (2022) "Jealous All The Time (feat. Torii Wolf)" (2022) "Alive (feat. Torii Wolf)" (2022)

Solo Albums Judeo (2012) Judeo Vol. II: Alive (2020)

Singles "Alive (Radio Edit)" (2020) "Echad" (2020) "Ozi V'zimrat Yah" (2020)