Catching up with Rock Mishpacha
The sound of the ROSS FAMILY BAND, a.k.a. ROCK MISHPACHA, has definitely upgraded in professionalism, and the voices and faces of the boys have matured since Mishpacha first got to know the young musicians over two years ago — but the fresh, upbeat vibe has stayed the same.
Even as the kids are growing up, the band is still keeping busy, says Rabbi Yitzi Ross, the band’s bass player, who by day is a fourth-grade rebbi at Yeshiva of South Shore in the Five Towns. They’re still playing together as a family at selected gigs, and are working on various music projects.
Making sure the kids fit in music lessons and practice has not gotten any easier. The oldest, Binyamin Zev, who plays the tenor sax, is almost 19; Baruch, the drummer, is 17; Avi, the guitarist, is 16; trumpeter Mordechai is 14, and Moshe on flute has just turned bar mitzvah, so their learning schedules sometimes mean that they can’t all be at every practice. The younger members of the family are 11-year-old Yehuda, who plays alto saxophone; nine-year-old Batsheva, an acoustic guitarist who plays with her brothers but stays out of the spotlight; Dovid, a budding pianist at age six; and little Miriam, who is learning to play percussion. Long summer Friday afternoons and Sunday evenings are often devoted to the family practicing together in their basement music room.
Rabbi Ross switched from keyboard to bass guitar just three years ago, and says he sometimes feels at a disadvantage among his boys, who’ve all had many years of practice on their instruments. “If we have to go over a piece again during practice, it’s for me,” he says. Listening to their recent releases showcases how much they’ve developed as musicians since their debut, and Rabbi Ross is proud that the older boys have recently begun learning music from some of the top professionals in the Jewish world, challenging themselves to push their skills.
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