Jewish Roots Music

chang chang bump-changity chang, di di di, chang chang bump-changity chang, di di di chang chang bump! It doesn't take much. The strumming of simple low rhythm (chang chang) under the soft keening of tight high melody (di di di). Sitting with my back against a brick wall with my headphones on, looking up with an easy vertigo as clouds extrude from the building top. chang! A whole world in a chord.

Recently I wrote about Wolf Krakowski and the idea of a music that swaps Yiddish folk melodies with blues and country licks to create something uniquely American and Jewish. I've been listening to another album that is helping to map out the possibilities of this music. Jewish Roots Music, Tzvi Gluckin, calls it. A name for an album and for a genre. This album doesn't have the crazy brilliance of Wolf's albums or the technical sophistication of Tim Sparks, but the warm dialogue between Tzvi's guitar and Jared Sims clarinet is gentle and strong. And they remind us that the possibilities for this music are endless.

Alei Asor


Yerushaliam