Third Annual South Florida Cantorial Concert

Shabbat Shalom everyone,

I'm pretty tired of knee-slapper "Jew on Christmas" posts, so let's just skip that. I'm looking forward to Shabbat and that's more than enough. For this week's get into the Shabbat groove post, I'd like to share a video and an announcement... the Third Annual South Florida Cantorial Concert is coming up on Jan 15. If you're in the area, hit their website for details, including a full list of performers. If you're into the Reform cantorial style (Nusach Ashkenaz with acoustic guitars!) it looks like a great event. I love hearing cantors of any movement cutting loose, and 20 cantors in large 700 person hall sounds magical.

Normally I don't showcase a lot of individual events. I thought posting this one would be fun partly because they thoughtfully sent me a link to last year's concert to share (see below) and partly because they're planning on webcasting the show. That's something that I'm strongly supportive of. There are a lot of Jews who don't live close enough events like this or, in this tough economy, can't afford the ticket price. (That said, this particular event is VERY reasonably priced at $18. That's half what I paid for a similar concert in Detroit recently, and I was only buying a cheap seat!) Webcasting is a wonderful way to share the good stuff with the whole community.

I don't see the webcasting info on their site yet, but will email them and ask about it. If you're excited about that option...email them and let them know. It's important that they have a reasonable estimate of who's going to watch so that they can make sure their gear is up to the load.

Video Highlights of the 2010 Concert

A Contemporary Kabbalistic Kabbalat Shabbat: Shir Yaakov & The ADVA Network Reunion

Hi folks, Shabbat shalom.

I've mentioned before that I'm a fan of Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit and his many musical adventures. He's a deep and soulful guy. For this week's 'get in the Shabbat groove' music, I want to share a lovely Shabbat service that he uploaded to Soundcloud. This is a wonderful example of where a Jewish community can go with Shabbat service that includes instrumentation but isn't a folk-pop guitar focused songleader or piano accompanied communal sing (not that I have an issue with that style). It's something else entirely and not something that can be easily replicated on your average Shabbat. But it really took my breath away and dropped me right into a Shabbat zone in the middle of a work-a-day Tuesday. Wish I was there.

Here's the short description Shir Yaakov's provided on SoundCloud. After the player, is a longer explanation of the event and how the service was conceptualized and planned.

"Friday, November 12, 2010 about 100 alumni of the ADAMAH Jewish Environmental Fellowship and the Teva Learning Center joined their hearts and voices together in prayer at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center"

ADVA Reunion Kabbalat Shabbat 2010 by shiryaakov

Shir Yaakov - "Two years ago the ADVA Network was combined to bring together alumni from two programs of Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center: the ADAMAH Jewish Environmental Fellowship and the Teva Education Center. (Adva means ripple in Hebrew.) I lead Kabbalat Shabbat for our Reunion last year but didn't post the whole service. I posted almost all of this year's service, except one song which became very loud and overloaded the recording.

For the first time this year there were three Friday Night davvenen options: orthodox, traditional egalitarian w/o instruments, and the service I led. This gave me more freedom to move away from the traditional matbeah and develop a kabbalah-inspired form. It was parshat vayetzei, where Jacob has the dream of the sulam/ladder, so I built the service around the sefirot in the Tree of Life array....

The first song we sang — Hareni Mikabel Alai/Dear Friends — corresponded to Chesed/lovingkindness. The matches liturgically with it's theme of love, and also with the essence of the Kabbalat Shabbat service, first developed by the Tsfat kabbalists; the Ariza"l (R' Isaac Luria) taught his students that taking on the mitzvah to love thy neighbor as yourself was a pre-requisite to prayer. Also, the traditional Friday Night service begins with Lechu Neranenah (Psalm 95); the letters of "lechu" — לכו — are an acronym for v'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha, so I see this as a allusive correspondance. This simple, one part chant also, musically, corresponds to the simplicity of mitzad chesed in the Tree of Life.

I chose a two part, "digging" melody — Lulei Siroscha by R' Shlomo Carblebach — for gevurah/strength-limitations. I wanted to use two-part melodies for mitzad gevurah, seeing as the left-side has the aspect of duality and judgement, sifting. This is apparently one of the only Carlebach niggunim that are still sung in the yeshivish world because he composed it before leaving Lakewood.

As I mentioned above our three-part melody is not in the recording because it became too full and loud for the recorded. I used another Carlebach niggun — Ki Va Moed, which is often sung to Psalm 96 on Friday nights. It's in a major key, and it's three parts allude to the balance, integration and harmony of tiferet/compassion-beauty.

For Netzach/endurance-victory, we return to the simple, one-part chant Yachid Ge'eh. I composed this on 18 Elul, the birthday of the Ba'al Shem Tov. The liturgical source is Ana B'choach (Tefilat R' Nechuniah ben Hakana) and we repeat the work zochrei/rememberers. Memory is linked with netzach and this piyyut has the supplicatory tone of Moshe, who often is voiced in the text as an interceder, and is linked with this sefirah.

Hod/glory-submission comes from a root meaning thankfulness, so I chose Modeh/Modah Ani as the text and this two-part melody to correspond with the side of duality. I also chose this (and other melodies) knowing they'd be familiar to the group I was praying with.

Yesod/foundation was linked with another composition of mine (written 2 Elul 5769); another three-part melody, as yesod is the synthesis of Netzach and Hod. Shabbat is often linked with malchut, however, I placed the two parts of Lecha Dodi there.

I had planned a longer meditation for ma'ariv, but as you can here, this part of our service went much longer than I'd expected.

The musicians involved were:
Cassia Arbabi, violin
Jonathan Dubinsky, percussion
Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit, guitar, vocals
Ilan Glazer, percussion
Joanna Kent Katz, harmonica
Rebecca Lemus, clarinet
Elisheva Margolis, flute
Yoshi Silverstein, octave mandolin
Tali Weinberg, vocals
Casey Baruch Yurow, mandolin

Rabbi Joe Black at Detroit's JCC Stephen Gottlieb Music Fest

Yesterday I kvetched a bit about JCC Stephen Gottlieb Music Fest headliner Hal Linden. Should be a great show, but not my thing. That's ok. The fest has a number of other shows that I'm a lot more excited about. Number one on the list is Rabbi Joe Black, who'll be playing on Sunday March 14 at 2pm at the JCC in West Bloomfield, MI.

Here's the official blurb...

"One of the most popular and in-demand contemporary Jewish musicians in America, returns to Detroit for this family concert! With children, he is energetic, surprising and dynamic. With adults, his superb musicianship, powerful songwriting and sense of spiritual awareness creates an opportunity for the head and the heart to come together. A Rabbi Joe Black performance is not to be missed! The Matzah Factory event immediately follows the concert (3-5 p.m.)"

And here's a fun video of RJB playing with the Maxwell Street Klezmer band a year or three ago.

Eight Nights Of Joy - Rabbi Joe Black and Maxwell Street Klezmer Band

This is about as happy clappy, kid-friendly a contemporary songleader style show as I could ask for. Which is great, considering the pair of little wigglers I plan on taking to the show. And I, myself, have never been to a real Jewish songleader style show either. It should be great fun and educational. The whole 'songleader' approach to Jewish music is something I'm rather new to. It comes, largely, out of the Reform Jewish camp movement (see Cantor Wally's "The Music of Reform Youth" for first cut on the evolution of songleader style) and the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960's. Lots of strummy melodies and singalongs. Should be lots of fun.

By the way...I think I'm ushering at the show. If you come, make sure you say howdy.

Hey Regina, Barth's your biggest fan

So I get a fair amount of email & comments on the blog, but sometimes I get caught of guard. Recently I got in a exchange in comments section of a blog post I wrote about Regina Spektor (Regina Spektor sings Eli, Eli). The rather testy commenter, Barth, interpreted my post as not being properly appreciative of Spektor's expressions of Jewish religion and identity. Which was perplexing, because I thought the point of my post was to be appreciative. Oh well. Guess I wasn't clear enough.

So...I hereby announce

1. Ms. Spektor is an admirable example of Jewish religion and identity in contemporary pop music
2. If I somehow implied anything other than that in my post or made any factual errors, shame on me.

Ok Barth, are we square now?

Trimming out the bits where he beats up on me, Barth had a few thoughts on Spektor that are worth sharing. (The other bits you can read for yourself if you care too.)

"Regina---an American citizen today because of antisemitism in her native Russia (then part of the USSR)---presents a very Jewish point of view in quite a bit of her music. She is not proselytizing, of course, but her experiences, attending Hebrew day schools, hiking through Israel as well as her family's departure and settling in with the Jewish communities in the Bronx--define much of her work.

Laughing With is the most direct expression of this. When I first heard it, the song stunned me into writing this: http://edsbarth.blogspot.com/2009/06/regina-spektor.html

and, I have written about her both as a Jew and and songwriter/performer several times.

Her "Ink Stains", an assault against holocaust deniers rendered a Radio City audience into virtual silence a few months ago as discussed here: http://edsbarth.blogspot.com/2009/10/regina-at-radio-city.html

and the You Tube of her singing it to an audience in Amsterdam after she attended to the Anne Frank memorial is, I think, quite moving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mArmSi2JaM

If songs like these or that talk about "falling into faith" or "why we fight" when facing mortal illness are not part of the NFTY catalogue or something sung while dancing the hora, it is because they were written in the past ten years, and not because they are not "Jewish music" at least from where I sit.

To close this off, here's the Spektor song Laughing With that Barth mentioned.

Hey North Coast .... More Upcoming Jewish Music Events

No Jewish music in Michigan? Ha! Here are four shows coming up. Go see them all. You know you want to.

- Yasmin Levy, Saturday, November 14th, at the University of Michigan's Hill Auditorium.

London’s Guardian proclaims, “Here surely is the next world music superstar.” Yasmin Levy was born in Jerusalem in 1975 and was introduced to Ladino singing and culture from a very young age. Her father, who passed away when she was only a year old, was the leading figure in the world of research into and preservation of the Judeo-Spanish culture, dating back to 15th-century Spain. Today, Ladino remains one of the most moving and romantic traditions of all time. In her deep, spiritual, and moving style of singing, Levy preserves and revives the beautiful songs from the Ladino/Judeo-Spanish heritage, mixing it with Andalucian Flamenco. This US debut tour follows her highly acclaimed appearances at the international World Music Expo (WOMEX) and World of Music, Arts, and Dance (WOMAD)festivals. “[Yasmin Levy’s CD] Mano Suave blends her mixture of flamenco, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Sephardic Jewish Ladino traditions to somewhere near perfection. If you’re looking to plunge into a deep pool of exquisite yearning and heartbreak, then just dust off your trunks and dive right in.” fRootsmag.com

- The Afro-Semitic Experience, Monday, November 16, 8:00pm at the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music in Kalamzoo.

The Afro-Semitic Experience is a cross-cultural band that delivers a positive and meaningful musical message in jazz about Black-Jewish relations. The group is dedicated to preserving, promoting and expanding the rich cultural and musical heritage of the Jewish and African diaspora. Through their concerts, recordings and workshops, they are actively creating an artistic response to anti-Semitism and Racism of all forms. Premiere of a new work commissioned by Chamber Music America.

Matisyahu - December 7, at St. Andrews

Few artists make an impact as complete as the one Matisyahu made with his Top 40 hit “King Without a Crown”: Here was a true original, the song announced-a Hasidic Jewish musician from New York City singing reggae songs about his religious devotion. Fans responded to this one-of-a-kind voice, too, driving Youth, Matisyahu’s Grammy-nominated 2006 studio disc, to the top spot on Billboard’s reggae albums chart. That album, as well as Matisahu’s previous recording Live at Stubb’s, went Gold.


David Krakaur playing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the world premier of Wlad Marhulets "Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet" December 10th through 13th.

"The concerto, in three movements, alternates two main influences that are deeply rooted in David Krakauer's discography: funk, and electronics (electronic effects are simulated by acoustic means). While the initial theme of the first movement introduces a wild musical idea, accompanied by an ostinato in the orchestra and funky rhythms, the second one brings a quite traditional-sounding Klezmer tune. "

I'm sure this list is incomplete and I'll update it as I hear more. If you know of Jewish music show of any kind happening in Michigan, please let me know. Klezmer? Cantorial? Classical chamber? Choral? Hello, you know you're out there?

Daniel Kahn & Painted Bird w/Psoy at Temple Israel

Whew. It's 12:30am I've got to get up for work in the morning, but I'm too wound up from seeing Daniel Kahn and Painted Bird to go to sleep yet. In case you've missed my previous mentions of Khan, he's a Yiddish folkie, with a strong mix of Brecht-influenced cabaret and klezmer mixed in. He's a solid songwriter with an outstanding band. And when not singing from the Yiddish socialist/anarchist revolutionary songbook, he spins tales of whiskey and parasites (both the human and the animal types). What's not to love.

Tonight was my first chance to see him live, though I may get a chance to see him again on Tuesday at the Ark in Ann Arbor. The show was at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, MI, a huge Reform synagogue. How huge? Kahn was cranking, the crowd was cheering, and we still managed not to bother the wedding on the other side of the synagogue. That huge.

It's easy to sing Kahn's praises. He's the front man and lead songwriter, right? But I want to make sure I give credit to the rest of the band too. They gave the music a depth and verve that was joy to listen too. They swung easily from moody theatrics to military march to New Orleans jazz, all while holding the dark klezmer feel intact. About half-way through the set my wife went into trombone bliss, and looked up with a far-away look in her eyes "I love that instrument." Yeah. I'm with you, sweetie.

Here's a video of Daniel Kahn and Painted Bird (a slightly different line-up) playing the title track of his new album.

Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird - Parasites


For the last couple of songs, Kahn and Painted Bird were joined on stage by "multilingual poet-singer" Psoy Korolenko, who recorded with Kahn and Oy Division on the recent album "The Unternationale." I'd never heard of, or heard, Psoy before but I was blown away. He has a formidable voice and presence. Best of all, he's currently an Artist in Residence at the UofM, so I'll be able to meet up with him and see him perform a few more times this fall.

Sympathy For Whom? After Mick Jagger, by Daniel Kahn, Psoy & Yana Ovrutskaya


After the show I was able to grab a few minutes of Kahn's time to chat about Jewish music. My question, which I'm starting to ask the Jewish musician's I meet, is whether or not they feel like they are part of a Jewish music scene. From my vantage point on the side lines, there seems to be a scene developing where different strains of Jewish music are starting to intertwine. I was fascinated, but wasn't surprised, by the complexity of Kahn's answer. First of all, Kahn was a bit put off by the question. It was clear that he'd been involved in way too many abstract and personal discussions about Jewish identity and authenticity to really want to get into it with me tonight. (Also, to be fare, the guy had just finished a tiring set and was chatting with me while packing his gear). He's a guy who doesn't feel particularly religiously Jewish, but was drawn to a klezmer and Yiddish folks for the funky music and politics they represent. At the same time, his experiences living in Berlin prompted him to start writing songs that examined and presented his Jewish identity if, for no other reason, to stop having to explain it to everyone individually. So no...he doesn't feel part of a Jewish music scene. He happily plays with other Jewish bands or musicians at festivals or when it seems like a good idea. Some of his band members are Jewish and others aren't. He also happily plays klezmer shows, folks shows and cabaret shows and what ever else seems like a good idea. He sits at the intersection of a number of scenes, but not a general Jewish scene.

All of this, by the way, is a fine answer to the question.

Sephardic indie-rockers Deleon hit the North Coast

Whew. I got the babysitter back home and now I'm flopped down to write about the great Deleon show I just saw. I've got their album quietly cranked. C'mon. It's midnight, you know what I mean.

I'm marveling at how natural and inevitable it felt to see a young band picking up the 500 year old Sephardic musical tradition, without irony or kitsch, and letting it shimmer and shake. The Sephardic music tradition is deeply passionate, religious and romantic, a passion that never gets old. And it's passion that's as well suited to Deleon's brand of indie-rock; frantic and bustling, spinning with layered bass and drum-beats and writhing under the evocative (yeah, I mean sexy) voices of Dan Saks and Amy Crawford. It's also well suited the stripped down acoustic of a jangly banjo and tambourine.



And both versions of Deleon, electric and acoustic, were on stage tonight. You see, Deleon is normally a 5 piece. Opening for a large band like Os Mutantes on small stages like Detroit's Magic Stick, means that they were forced to strip down to the essentials and are traveling as a three piece: Saks on voice, electric guitar and banjo, Crawford on voice, tambourine, xylophone and melodica, and Kevin Snider on bass. That's the acoustic combo. For some of the songs, though, Snider kicked off a pre-recorded version of drummer Justin Riddle's complicated and off kilter drum tracks. Then the band, and the audience, jumped on board for a wild ride.

DeLeon - La Serena

Deleon is not the first contemporary band to take on Sephardic music. Bands including Galeet Dardashti's Divan, Basya Schechter's Pharaoh's Daughter and the Sarah Aroeste band, and Oren Bloedow and Jennifer Charles have all explored this space already. But Deleon's high-energy, high-passion, highly-intertwined pop mixed with their sly acoustic work are helping them carve out their own space. If you haven't seen 'em yet, get going.

You can check out their MySpace page for a tour schedule.

Upcoming Michigan Jewish Music Events - Fall 2009

The fall is a great time for Jewish music on the North Coast. With colleges back in session, there cultural engine of Michigan chugs to life again. Here's a list of upcoming Jewish music events that I'm aware of. If you know of others, please let me know.

- DeLeon (opening for Os Mutantes) Tuesday September 29, at 8pm, at the Magic Stick, Detroit.

DeLeon plays 15th Century Spanish indie rock infused with the deeply mysterious and entrancing cadences of the ancient Sephardic tradition. Their music, birthed in Spain before the Inquisition and raised in pre-WWII Italy, has finally reached maturity in modern-day Brooklyn. The band, named for 12th Century Kabalistic philosopher Moses DeLeon and front man Daniel Saks’ great-grandfather Giorgio DeLeon, reconciles Saks’ cultural journey with modern influences. By re-imagining these ancient melodies as contemporary pieces, DeLeon has given the world at large a unique chance to experience the rich musical history of Sephardic Judaism.


- Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird, Sunday, October 18, 2009, 8:00pm, Temple Israel, West Bloomfield Township, MI

The Painted Bird’s "Yiddish Punk Cabaret" concocts a mixture of Klezmer, radical Yiddish song, political cabaret and punk folk, kept together by Kahn's amazing abilities as a songwriter, translator and performer; telling stories of outrageous incidents, poetically dark, tragically humorous and politically incorrect. Daniel Kahn challenges the borders between radical & traditional, lyrical & political, east & west, folk & punk, mama loshn & loshn hora.




- The Afro-Semitic Experience, Monday, November 16, 8:00pm at the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music in Kalamzoo.

The Afro-Semitic Experience is a cross-cultural band that delivers a positive and meaningful musical message in jazz about Black-Jewish relations. The group is dedicated to preserving, promoting and expanding the rich cultural and musical heritage of the Jewish and African diaspora. Through their concerts, recordings and workshops, they are actively creating an artistic response to anti-Semitism and Racism of all forms. Premiere of a new work commissioned by Chamber Music America.

Matisyahu - December 7, at St. Andrews

Few artists make an impact as complete as the one Matisyahu made with his Top 40 hit “King Without a Crown”: Here was a true original, the song announced-a Hasidic Jewish musician from New York City singing reggae songs about his religious devotion. Fans responded to this one-of-a-kind voice, too, driving Youth, Matisyahu’s Grammy-nominated 2006 studio disc, to the top spot on Billboard’s reggae albums chart. That album, as well as Matisahu’s previous recording Live at Stubb’s, went Gold.

I'm sure this list is incomplete and I'll update it as I hear more. If you know of Jewish music show of any kind happening in Michigan, please let me know. Klezmer? Cantorial? Classical chamber? Choral? Hello, you know you're out there?

The Event Video

Some of you may remember all the hub-bub last year about the canceling of the Orthodox community's"The Big Event" concert at Madison Square Garden. Well, the follow up concert "The Event" went off smoothly in March. I didn't get to go (I never make it NYC shows. sigh) even though it featured Lipa Schmeltzer who would have been worth a road trip to go see. In addition to Lipa, the concert included MBD, Dedi, Abie Rotenberg, Pirchei Chior by Eli Gerstner and Yossi Newman, Srully Wulliger, Acheinu-Shapiro Brothers and Rabbi Boruch Chait, and Shloimy Gertner. Anyway, as expected, the concert was videotaped and rapidly packaged up on a DVD for sale by Mostly Music.

Check it out.

The Event - The Trailer


A special Video Clip from The Event Concert 2009

Vashti's Revenge - Galeet Dardashti presents music from The Naming

Twitter's been bubbling. The blogosphere's been buzzing. Strange costumes and mask's are popping up in unlikely places. I've been invited to a dozen parties I'm too far away to attend. I declare it officially Purim.

If you're in the New York City area and want to kick off the Purim season in style, I recommend you check out Galeet Dardashti's show on Thursday, March 5 at Santos Party House in NYC. Dardashti, who specializes in Misrachi and Sephardic music, released the stellar Divahn album a few years back. This week she'll be debuting Vashti's Revenge and other music from her new album, The Naming. (Note: This is not the CD release party. The disc isn't out yet). Here's the official description of the album...

"The Queen of Sheba's shaven legs. A witch's bitter prophecy. The female superheroes who saved Moses. These stories make up The Naming, singer and composer Galeet Dardashti's exploration of the little-known lives of the Bible's phantom women."

I'd simply describe it as a passionate whirlwind. Enough said. Go to the show. For more information about, check out Dardashti's website or FaceBook page. Tickets to the show, you're going right?, can be had through TicketWeb.

Vashti's Revenge

Being Jewish at elementary school "holiday" concerts

I live in a small farm town in Michigan with a population about 1100. Jewish population: Me, my wife, and my two little scholars. But to the best of it's ability, the town has been good to us and accepting of us. The day care my littlest one goes to is bumping and jumping to the sound of Shiralala's Chanukkah album to the point where parents have commented positively on their kids singing some of the songs at home. The elementary school fumbled a bit last year around the holiday (Chanukkah is NOT part of "Christmas around the world"), but recovered this year. The music teacher made a point of including a Chanukkah song in the 1st grade portion of the concert. My elder scholar was proud as punch to have her Christian friends singing it with her and was well aware they were doing it for her.

So why am I still so frustrated with the whole thing?

Was it the guy in the Santa suit in the foyer getting his picture taken with some of my scholar's classmates? Was it the fact that that the other two songs in 1st grade set were Rudolf the Red Nosed Raindeer and All I want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth and it was hinted that the school was somehow being noble for our benefit by singing 'secular' Christmas songs instead of religious ones? Is that I'm still bitter about being sent to the principals office in 4th grade for not singing even "secular" Christmas carols in a school assembly? I don't know. Mostly it's that this country is confused about how to deal with religion that no matter what anyone does their wrong.

I can think about it from two perspectives, neither of which give me much help. First, I can think of from a community perspective because, after all, the school is focal point of the community. Its part of how the community's children are raised and part of the community's pride and identity (9 out of 10 newspaper articles that reference my town refer to a school sports event). And the this community has a dominant religion, with some variation (Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, and I think, Lutheran). Who am I to tell them to pretend they don't have one? But because of me they're forced to. They present Santa and Rudolf instead of Jesus and Mary because Santa and Rudolf are safe, secularized, cartoon icons. Honestly, I'd rather see Nativity scene on stage because that's what Christians actually believe and value. Now that this community has Jews too, it's nice that our traditions get included in the community events. Except that what's put on stage has as little to do with my real traditions and beliefs as Santa does to a Christian. The Chanukkah song the kids sang mentioned Hanukkah and a candle, but otherwise could have been about anything. It's not that being at an event that is so stridently Christian makes me uncomfortable or feel alienated. It doesn't. It's just that the whole thing feels like such a sham.

Another perspective, one encouraged by the National Assocation for Music Education (MENC) and the Anti-Defamation League, is to ask schools to justify everything they do in terms of their educational mission. A major portion of Western music is Christian religious music. Western music can't be properly taught without dealing with religious music and teaching music includes performance. This clearly justifies the inclusion of Christian religious music in performance in schools. But only, according to the Supreme Court as paraphrased by the MENC, if it can withstand these questions...

"1. What is the purpose of the activity? Is the purpose secular in nature, that is, studying music of a particular composer's style or historical period?

2. What is the primary effect of the activity? Is it the celebration of religion? Does the activity either enhance or inhibit religion? Does it invite confusion of thought or family objections?

3. Does the activity involve excessive entanglement with a religion or religious group, or between the schools and religious organizations? Financial support can, in certain cases, be considered an entanglement."

I like this test because it implies that a holiday concert could put a Nativity scene up on stage along with the redication of the temple by the victorious Maccabees and have it meet the criteria. Even at a first grade level, having a bunch of first grader's sing a Chanukkah song at least teaches them that there are Jews out there. But the concert as presented, I feel, violates, 1, 2, and possibly 3. It's not that my scholar was asked to sing a Christian song. I, and she, have no problem with that. The problem is that there was no awareness of any educational mission by anyone. What was the educational reasong for having Santa in the foyer posing for pictures? Making everything educational would make a museum of our lives.

So I'll continue to struggle, as will lots of other Jews and Christians, with the question about how to deal with religion in school and in school concerts in particular. But it's alright. I love my town and my religion and the one is accepting of the other. That's enough for now.

Matisyahu in Concert

I love it when I get to report to the field. Last night my wife and I ditched the wigglers with their favorite babysitter and hit the town. Specifically, we hit Detroit, which pretty much looked like it was hit hard long before we got there. Detroit has a lot to offer, but a lot of neglect and ruin as well. We don't get to Detroit all that often, so we were a bit nervous of the drive in. Every time we go there is some massive construction project that gets us totally turned around. So, of course, there was a massive construction project and we got totally turned around. But we made it safe and sound.

And we're so glad we did. What a great show. We missed the first opening act and part of the second, but we didn't mind much. We'd checked them out on the internet a couple of days ago and weren't that impressed. The Fillmore is a great hall. It's a magnificent old theater that was reconstructed into a magnificent concert hall. I have no idea where my seats were supposed to be because we never went near them. The whole orchestra pit had been redone as a dance floor and dance we did, smooshed up against all the other concert goers and bouncing happily.

The other concert goers were a mixed lot. As expected, there were lots of college age kids (I'm old enough now to call them kids. sigh), as well a number of folks my age and a decent contingent older. I saw a couple of ladies in their early 50's on their way out, both beaming happily. I also saw a dad there with two boys in their early teens. I wanted to high five him, but restrained myself. I saw a small scattering of guys with kippahs, but just a small scattering.

Matisyahu was fabulous. There's a phrase in the lead off track of his new EP that captures it perfectly for me. Dream awake. Matis was and we were. He sang to the crowd but not from the position of your typical showman. He was lost somewhere inside himself and his lyrics and was inviting us into the dream. And we all went willingly and happily. I don't think I ever expected to see a packed hall of (probably) mostly non-Jews singing about Moses and Jerusalem. And to look at their faces, most of them understood what they were singing and meant it.

The set list was a mix of each of his albums, including the new EP. The band was in great form; understated, tight, and potent. The drummer was riveting, not a motion wasted and showing a deep understanding for the rhythmic power of empty spaces as well as beats. The keyboard player alternated between chirpy reggae organs, grindy hip-hop electronica, spacey ambient drones and stately piano tones. The guitar and bass did there thing, providing a strong, elastic, background for Matisyahu's rapid changes of tempo and tone, and leaping to the front when he dropped back to wail and moan.

I'm still dizzy from it.

Here are a couple of pictures that my intrepid wife caught on her cell phone camera. Wish you all were there.




You don't have to take my word for it, though. Here's an approved bootleg of his show last week (Oct 18, 2008) at The Rave in Milwaukee, WI. For more concert recordings, check out his collection on the Internet Archive, or, better yet, catch him on his current tour.

Soulico: Tel Aviv Hip Hop

The best part of writing a blog (hint hint) is getting comments or emails from fellow Jewish music fans. I got one the other day from another North Coaster (i.e. from Michigan) interested in pointers to Jewish Hip Hop. I was able to rattle off some of the main players, including Socalled, Balkan Beat Box, and Y-Love, but I know I was missing a bunch so I went on the hunt. (I love going on the hunt.) And I found Soulico:

Soulico is from Tel Aviv. I'm not a enough of a hip-hop fan to play the 'sounds like' game, but this is how they describe themselves:

"Soulico is a 4 member DJ Crew from Tel Aviv, the first DJ's in the Middle East to master the trifecta of production, turntablism, and party-rocking skills. Soulico has garnered incredible respect and critical acclaim both for their original songs and their unique mash-ups that blend Israeli folk and Jewish melodies with American hip-hop tracks.

My Hebrew isn't nearly good enough to keep up with the vocals, but I like how they kick back and forth between pop, hip-hop, and various folk music licks. I dig it. You can hear a few of their tracks on the Soulico myspace page and hear a full live show and one of their mix-tapes on the JDub Records website. If you're lucky enough to be in Boston or New York at the end of the month you can catch them in concert. Check the JDub site for details.

OHEL 5757 concert online

The entire Ohel 5757 concert (all 2.5 hours of it) has been posted online. The concert headliners are Avraham Fried and Mordecai Ben David (aka MDB). This is frum shiny-shoe music at its best.



By the way, I hadn't realized that full concerts could be posted to Google Video. I'll have to dig around and see if there are any other goodies hidden in the GV archive.

(hat-tip to Life-of-Rubin and the Jewish Music Review)