Ignite: Five minutes, 20 slides. What would you say?

This is my friend Garrett's fault. I'm sitting back at my computer, two Teruah posts done, and am fiddling with Facebook. And Garrett posts "just submitted a proposal for a talk at #ignitea2". I could have ignored it. I could have pretended I didn't see it, but no. I had to bite. "What's #ignitea2" Oh..it's Ignite Ann Arbor. Five minutes, 20 slides. What would you say? Five minutes, and no more, to talk about something I'm passionate about. And the deadline for proposing is tonight.

So, yeah. I bit. I submitted a proposal.

The Silver Age of American Jewish Music is Happening Now! And Why We're Missing It.

Jewish music is exploding. Bands and labels and venues are multiplying. Rock. Hip Hop. Reggae. Punk. Klezmer. Sephardic. Choral. Chamber Music. Jazz. Chassidic-Pop. Breslov Techno. Niggunim. Pop-liturgical. Bible-gum. Beat Box. Boy Choirs. House. Yiddish Gothic. Indie. Weird hybrids. Avant-Garde experiments. Earnest devotion. But we're not immigrants clustered in tenements, in range of a local Yiddish radio station anymore. A revolution is happening but we're scattered across a big nation with no common media to connect us....except the net. Will it be enough?

I'll find out next week if I've been accepted. If so, I'll have two weeks to prep my slides and one additional week to practice. The Ignite event is on Nov 2. Yikes. Not much time to get a first rate dog & pony show together. I'll let you know how it goes. If I get to present, I'll post a video. Promise.

Jewish Music Festival (Berkeley, California) promotional materials, 1987-2009

The folks from Berkeley's Jewish Music Festival have recently uploaded a treasure trove of their historical documents to the web. I'm going to through these for weeks. If you want a crash course on the Klezmer Revival and on the emergence of Ladino music, this is it.

"The Jewish Music Festival started in Berkeley, California, in 1986 as a one-day event produced and hosted by the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay (formerly the Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center). Its programs have included performances, lectures and workshops devoted to instrumental music, song and dance inspired by the musical traditions of the global Jewish Diaspora. Initially called "The Festival of Musical Traditions," the initiative became the "Annual Jewish Music Festival" in 1989, and in 2009 reached its twenty-fourth edition. Over time, the Jewish Music Festival has developed a host of programs at venues in the greater San Francisco Bay Area as well as outside the United States. The Jewish Music Festival has been a steady vehicle for the development of the Jewish musical "revival" movements in North America, and specifically for Klezmer music, Yiddish and Ladino song; it has also provided a space for the presentation of the music of the Jews from the Islamic World and from Israel to north American audiences.

The collection includes digital copies of the promotional materials of the Jewish Music Festival collected and organized by its director, Ellie Shapiro. The materials document the history and development of the Jewish Music Festival from its second edition (1987) until 2009, and comprise program brochures, performance schedules, concert notes, flyers, mailers, postcards, anthological audio CDs, fundraising and survey documents and correspondence. These materials document the development of a community-sponsored public space in which a variety of musical genres inspired by the Jewish experience have been promoted."

A Bis'l Zun - Yiddish Theatre Concert with Cantor Michael Smolash

I mentioned recently that Yiddish Gothic cabaret musician Daniel Kahn will be playing locally in a couple of weeks. His concert is being organized by Cantor Michael Smolash of Temple Israel, in West Bloomfield, MI. Smolash loves Yiddish and is one of many (Hi Lori) currently working hard on maintaining and reviving the language.

In addition to organizing concerts for other Yiddish musicians, Smolash recently gave a concert of his own. Supported by Cantorial Soloists Aviva Chernick and Neil Michaels, his show, A Bis'l Zun, is classic American Yiddish Theater - the Catskills come to the North Coast. I missed the show, but I've been listening to this video sampler all week. Good fun.

A Bis'l Zun - Yiddish Theatre Concert with Cantor Michael Smolash

If you enjoyed the video, you can nab a full DVD from Temple Israel. The $$ goes to a good cause, Temple Israel religious school scholarships for needy families.

Shabbat Resouled: A Britpop Liturgy

Shabbat Shalom everyone,

As I mentioned recently, I've started hanging out at the local Reform synagogue and so I've got the Reform liturgy on the brain. Doubly so today, because not only is it Shabbat and Erev Sukkot, but Linda Hirschhorn a noted Reform cantor and leader of the group Vocolot will be stopping by. I'm looking forward to meeting her and will be blogging about it on Monday, I'm sure.

So I was delighted when I got followed on Twitter by Shabbat Resouled, an English Reform pop/songleader project. According to their MySpace page press info...

The musical project known as SHABBAT RESOULED has evolved out of the highly successful eponymous Kabbalat Shabbat service held on the third Friday of each month at the FINCHLEY PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE in North London, which has been attended by over a thousand people since its inception in April 2007. With new music composed by DEAN STAKER (9½ Incas, Asylum Nation) and performed by a live band of talented musicians SHABBAT RESOULED is an attempt to provide an alternative to the standard modern Jewish liturgical songs which hereto have been dominated by compositions by American songwriters aimed at American audiences. Whilst acknowledging the contribution of the pioneers of Jewish contemporary music such as JEFF KLEPPER and DAN FREEDLANDER (KOL B’SEDER), DEBBIE FRIEDMAN, SAFAM and CRAIG TAUBMAN, SHABBAT RESOULED takes its inspiration from mainstream British artists such as THE BEATLES, CAT STEVENS, PINK FLOYD, THE MOODY BLUES and JETHRO TULL, giving the project a ‘British’ feel and establishing the ‘Anglo-Jewish sound’! With a full-length album scheduled for completion in 2009 and a burning ambition to take the project beyond British shores, Dean is currently working on new songs, demo versions of which are featured on this page. The band is also available to perform for services at synagogues throughout the UK – please contact us for details.

How cool. And their music is great. Excellent musicianship and songwriting chops. I always have a hard time listening to Reform pop liturgical/songleader music and imagining myself singing it in shul, so I can't comment on that. Someday I'll be better at that, I'm sure. I starting to get a lot more practice at it. So decide for yourself and let me know what you think.

As far as I'm aware, the Shabbat Resouled demo tracks aren't available for purchase and/or download anywhere. I'll let you know if I find out otherwise. For more info on Shabbat Resouled, see their website, MySpace page, ReverbNation page, or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

Toronoto's Jaffa Road & The Huppah Project

I got an email this morning from Toronto musician, Aaron Lightstone about his two groups, Jaffa Road and the Huppah Project. Both take a world music approach to Jewish music, mixing new and traditional melodies with "Classical Arabic and Indian music, modern jazz, rock, pop, and dub."

Jaffa Road, the full band, includes Lightstone on oud, and vocalist Avaiva Chernick , bass player Chris Gartner, percussionist Jeff Wilson and sax player, Sundar Viswanathan. Like many Jewish groups that have appeared in the last few years, they lean toward a Sephardic / Mizrachi sound. Unlike the DeLeon, the Sephardic indie-rock band I saw earlier this week, Jaffa Road has a warm open sound, gentle and passionate. I particularly enjoy the tracks where they introduce rougher, staticy, electronics squawks and buzzes. It's not quite on the level of DJ Olive's work with Uri Caine, but well done and convincing. (In fact, with cantor Aaron Bensoussan joining them as a guest vocalist, their recent album Sunplace, is very reminiscent of a lighter, warmer, version of Uri Caine's ZOHAR album.)

Here's Jaffa Road in concert.

As much as I enjoyed Jaffa Road (and will have to pick up their album), I'm even more taken with The Huppah Project. Centering around the interplay of Lightstone's oud and Aviva Chernick's vocals, The Huppah Project is a collection of music inspired by Lightstone's wedding and explores Jewish wedding music from a vantage that is intensely personal and at the same time open and inclusive. I love seeing artists take the traditions seriously, but at the same time using them as a jumping off point for their own exploration.

The Huppah Project

Check out Jaffa Road and the Huppah Project, and their albums Sunplace and Under the Canopy.

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.

J.Viewz - Israeli freestyle chill

Just ran across J.Viewz, the brainchild of Brooklyn based, Israeli born, electronic musician Jonathan Dagan. Good stuff. Love Noa Lembersky's vocals and how they blend with Nina Simone's. The J.Viewz gang has a few upcoming shows in NYC (and one in WA) check 'em out if you're in the area.

According to the bio on the J.Viewz MySpace page, ...

"The J.Viewz project was established by Jonathan Dagan mid 2002. Whilst working with the band Violet Vision (see below) on their 2nd album, Jonathan used his spare time to record a solo project. Taking many diverse musicians into the studio, The J.Viewz project started to metamorphosize into 'freestyle chill' blending elements of soft breakbeat, trip-hop, 2 step, jazz and more, all in a mellow groove."

Teruah Teshuva - An Appology

Ok, folks. It's time for public teshuva (you don't get to see the private teshuva emails). One of the great things about writing this blog is getting to know a lot of the great musicians who are active in Jewish music. Sometimes I get a great CD in the mail. And while I've reviewed a lot of them, I haven't gotten to all of them.Which leads my my apology. I have a pile of CD's on my desk that have been sent to me for review. Some are brand new. Some are collecting dust. The challenge for me is that I take reviewing seriously and find it a bit intimidating. But that is my problem, not yours. If I accept your CD, I'm obligated to listen and review it.

So, to every musician who has sent me a CD for review and has been disappointed that I haven't made good on my promise. I'm sorry. I will try to get your review done soon and in the future will try to be more timely with the review.

Here's a list of the albums I've received that I haven't gotten reviewed yet. Every one is an interesting listen and well worth checking out.

	Pitom. "PunkAssJewJazz" by the fantastic jazz guitarist Yoshie Fructer, on the Tzadik Radical Jewish Culture label. JazzReview.com review
	All Hell, by Can Can a great punk band led by Patrick Aleph, who also does the Punk Torah video blog. Forward review.
	Yiddish meets Gaelic on Saints & Tzadiks, by Lorin Sklamberg of the Klezmatics and Irish vocalist Susan McKewon. BlogCritics.org review
	Sam Glaser's Rockin' Chanukah Revue Upbeat Chanukah pop from one of the hardest working guys in contemporary Jewish music. Jewcy review
	Hebrew School, by New York indie-pop musician and Six Points Fellowship grant winner, David Griffin. Featured on my second podcast. Review.
	FleytMuzik in Kontsert! is Adrianne Greenbaum, world class Klezmer flutist, and her ensemble performing live. Absolutely wonderful. Rainlore's World of Music review
	Brian Bender and the Little Shop of Horas eclectic klezmer / world-beat album "Eny Velt" . Klezmershack review
	Melech B'n Arieh's piano and electronica album "Lech Lecha" Interview on Jewish National Radio
	Polish combo Klezmafour's heavy klezmer/jazz/rock debut should get snapped up by Radical Jewish Culture fans everywhere. Klezmershack review. Hit their website contact and album info. (The website is hard to navigate, I've got their contact info too.)
	American/Israeli pop singer Nomi Teplow's new album "Like a Rushing Spring". Big pop sound to deeply felt Jewish lyrics. Reviews
	St. Louis Jewish rock project, Zeda's Beat Box's first full album "Seven".
	Wonderful Mexican klezmer jazz combo Sherele's Oy Mame Shein Pickles Chiles and Jrein Interview (in Spanish).

I'll do my best to review each and every one of these albums over the coming weeks. Just making this list has reminded me how wonderful many of these disks are. This should be great fun.

Oh, and if you've sent me an album and it's not on this list...double apologies. Email me and give a smack on the head.

Yair Rosenblum's Unetaneh Tokef

There is no doubt that the Unetaneh Tokef is one of the pivotal moments of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, resonating with a deep awe for God. It's about as cataclysmic a piyyut as there is.

You open the book of remembrance

Which proclaims itself,

And the seal of each person is there.

The great shofar is sounded,

A still small voice is heard.

And that's only the warm up. By the time we get to the end, we're knee deep in

Who shall live and who shall die,

Who shall reach the end of his days and who shall not,

Who shall perish by water and who by fire,

Who by sword and who by wild beast,

Whew.

Like many Jews I very much look forward to the Unetaneh Tokef. For me, being confronted by something so much larger than myself help me re-examine myself. Am I living up to my own expectations? To Gods? To other Jew's, the core of the Unetaneh Tokef is its profound reminder of humility, that so much in this world is not in our control.

Either way, and probably a dozen more ways, the Unetaneh Tokef has inspired generations of musicians to pick up it's challenge. Last year I wrote about Leonard Cohen's "Who By Fire", which picks up the latter theme.

This year I want to showcase Yair Rosenblum's version. Like Cohen's, it's undeniably a pop song but it manages to carry the weight of prayer. According to one source, the origin of Rosenblum's version goes like this...

"In the 1973 Yom Kippur war, kibbutz Beit Hashita lost eleven of its sons. For the 60th anniversary of the Kibbutz, Yair Rosenblum composed a tune for "U'Netaneh Tokef. The tune is very powerful and stirring and makes the connection between the ultimate sacrifice of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz, the author of the prayer, and the 2,656 Israeli soldiers who fell in the Yom Kippur War. "

Here's Gevatron, the Israeli Kibbutz Singers, performing Yair Rosenblum's "Unetaneh Tokef"

Update: I just got a comment pointing out that "yair rosenbloom's unetane tokef is available as sung by avraham fried mp3 - at http://www.shlager.net/?articleID=1913" Love it. Thanks mjyeres!

Hat tip to YouTube user JoshuaJacobson for uploading the video. If I'm correct, this Dr. Joshua Jacobson, artistic director of the amazing Zamir Chorale of Boston. Also, hat tip to Cantorial Soloist Barbara Linn Powell of Congregation Beth Jacob in Redwood City, CA, who recently reminded me of the Rosenblum's version. Linn's also a fine jazz singer. Just sayin'.

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?