Yah’el Yizracyah Yisrael is a breath of fresh air on the New Orleans music scene. His expansive album Sunlight was released earlier this year, and another album is slated for 2025. He’s known for a funky modern jazz vibe and has become an in-demand studio musician. Yet, as stellar he is on piano and keyboards, this all goes beyond music. Yisrael clearly seems in the world, but not of it.

While Yizracyah israel’s most recent release Sunlight—with its blend of traditional, ...