Chochmah Binah V'Daat

Life-of-Rubin has a great post on the evolution of JM and I want to explore a little another fascet of the evolution Chaim mentioned.

If you take a look in JM you will see that it's not a accurate reflection of the actual Orthodox world. Let me explain. In the Orthodox world, there's modern orthodox, yeshivish, chasidish, sephardim and many other "sects". In the old days, there wasn't much diversity in JM and, as Chaim pointed out, you couldn't find Jewish Rock or groupies like Chevra and Lev tahor. As the industry evolved, we got a broader array of sub-genres within JM and today we have new sub-genres like reggae, rap, Acapella and so on.

But some sects are way more represented than others and now I'll get to my point. It's fascinating to me that so many voices in JM are Chabad - we have of course Avraham Fried, Shlomo Simcha, Piamenta, Yossi Rose, Yossi Goldstein, Yaakov Young, 8th Day, formerly Matisyahu, Benny Friedman and more. Isn't it interesting that so many top singers belong to a specific sect, namely, Chabad? So, although we have much diversity in JM today, Chabad definitely owns the stage.

(On a side note, the Sephardim also have a strong presence in this typically Ashkenazi industry - take Shwekey and Dovid Gabay).

Not long ago, the typical JM singer was MBD, Shlome Dachs, Mendy Wald and the like - Ashkenazi, Yeshivish and American - but along with the evolution of JM, there was a shift away from this standard profile and perhaps the new standard profile is... Chabad!

So why is Chabad so strong in JM? I have some theories. One of them is that Chabad is strongly focused in Kiruv and consequently people from all sorts of background join Chabad day after day. Chabad is one of the most active Chassidic sects, with Shluchim all over the world, major events like the Chabad Telethon and even a news channel. I was watching an interview with JewDa the other day and he said that before he became religious he had a thing for hip-hop and when he made Teshuva he didn't give up his passion, he decided to become a Jewish Hip Hop singer. Most Chabadniks I know have something in common - they are not afraid to be themselves, to go away from the standard.

I'm not saying all Chabad singers are Baal Teshuva, but my point is that there's a unique broadminded environment in Chabad that propels talents in the JM scene.

In that environment, a guy who has a good voice and musical skill is not afraid to focus in it and excel, even if he was into Reggae, Hip-hop or just the mainstream JM.

Any other theories?

UPDATE: I now read Chaim's second post, about Benny Friedman. He says Benny is the next generation of JM because he uses the Internet "to make a presence for himself". I think that's related to what I wrote, perhaps. If Benny was Satmar or Viznitz, he would probably get a ban for promoting himself in the web. But in the Chabad world, the internet has been used as tool to reach other Jews and Benny does the same, which indeed puts him apart from all other singers.

New! Shlomo Artzi singing in Yiddish

The story goes that Shlomo Artzi, Israel's most popular "chiloni" singer, was recording one of his songs in a Bnei Brak studio when he heard this Belze song being recorded next door. So he stormed in and asked to sing in it, because it reminded him of his grandfather, with his beard and Peyot.

The result is here in this new video and it's amazing, I'll try to get this album. Shlomo Artzi is so talented, he's really great at the slow tempo harmonies and he was able to "fit in" the song seamlessly. Don't miss this vid!

Shlomo Simcha's Yachad

I just came back from my winter vacation in Argentina, and aside from checking out the famed Kosher McDonald's and the steak-houses, there was a big buzz around the Maccabi Games, some sort of Jewish Olympics that is apparently held every year in a different country.

And to entertain all the tourists the Chabad from Argentina organized a big dinner featuring Shlomo Simcha and a choir. I've heard S. Simcha many times live and his voice was very well coached - great skill and a very pleasant timber. And his best song to date has been his rendition of Shlomo Carlebach's Yachad, which can be seen in this video (article about it on Shlager) at 2:09 and on (the beggining is passable..). The choir is very geshmack and I wish I could be singing there - I love this setting where a large choir surrounding the singer.

HASC 20 - Review

Here are my thoughts on Hasc's 20 album. It's much more difficult to review a concert than to write about a regular album - HASC is a live concert and, as such, there are always mistakes and tuning issues here and there, so I can't be very critical. But I do have some things to say.

This concert starts with a Dveykus-style instrumental overture. I think Dveykus always has an overture so people can play it in dinners and other occasions when you need something in the background, but if I would be in a concert I would be bored to hear this intro. But that's just me, I'm sure some of you liked it.

Shalsheles Junior was without any doubt the sensation in HASC 20. Unlike MBC or YBC, Shalsheles Junior is a group of just four kids, like the original Shalsheles. That's much more appealing for a concert, because you can see who's singing and who's doing harmony - I like that. In the HASC 18 there was YBC and although they did well, I was much more impressed with the musical talent of these four kids - they sing, they do great harmonies and they even play instruments. It's extremely hard to sing Modeh Ani live - the harmonies are complex and there are three parts to this song - but they nailed it. I still remember saying to a friend I wasn't planning to buy SJ, because I was tired of kids choirs. But I can't get tired of SJ. They do better harmonies than many leading JM singers out there - listen to 4:16 and you will surely agree. Hisoreri is a good song but it's not very energetic, so it gets stale towards the end.

Vezakeini was easily the hit of the year to me. Boruch Levine usually composes remarkable slow songs to Yehuda! (i.e. Haleluka) and Dveykus (i.e. Yehi Shalom), but this time he did everything by himself. He no-doubt deserved to be in this concert.

After that we have the "wild-card" - Dedi, which made me happy and sad at the same time. I love Dedi's energy and stage performance, but to hear him in this HASC makes me remember the good old times when he was THE man in JM. In this concert I see a Dedi that was left behind in time and that is fading away - that makes me sad. Without any hits in the past many years, Dedi had no choice but to sing oldies and Carlebach's Neshomole Niggun. I really hope he comes out with something new soon, he's has got the talent (perhaps partnering with Yossi Green again at last?).

Gabay and specially "Lipa's Diet Song" further took away the concerts' energetic start.

But then came Ohad, the sensation. I don't know why he sang Shalom - one of his weakest songs - but he proved to be a master of the languages in the International Medley, singing even Arabic.

The best part of this night was surely the Fried/ Helfgot duet. That was probably A. Fried's biggest dream - we all know he has a thing for Chazzanut. And Helfgot is not a typical Chazzan, he's more "pop". This combination was perfect, and there are some unforgettable moments of the two, like Helfgot’s “messianic” V’hu Rachum and Fried truly magnificent falsetto in 5:48 (you can’t miss this one). It was comic to hear Fried melodically ask, “Who will sponsor (the seudas hamashiach)? I think it will be J & I” and after that Helfgot sings, “And I also sing like thaaat”. Ha!

I think Sameach arranged a great line-up for this concert, probably the best of the past five years or so. In my opinion, this album is better than HASC 18 and United We Stand, two other HASC albums I own.

Well done!

The Inside Man - Post from Sruly's Blog

Sruly, from Sameach, has a very interesting post on the inner workings of the JM industry. It's worth reading it - I specially liked this:

"If you want the album to sound truly magnificent you have to spend real money. I know technology has come a long way and it’s easy to do it in your friend’s basement. But to make a good album you need all the right ingredients. Sometimes you have to shop at a few different stores to get everything you need to prepare a proper gourmet meal."

Thanks JBlogmeister

Yemenite Music and Pronunciation

I saw this video (UPDATE: it was taken down from youtube for some reason, but the guy has another great one here) and I was very impressed. Numerous times I've heard about the distinctive "havara" of the Yemenite Jews but this is the first time I hear and understand what's being sung.

We have all heard that the Yemenite pronunciation is probably the most correct and precise from all Jewish sects. Evidently, the Ashkenazim have a very strong European flavor to their (our) liturgy and it's quite amusing to hear such a different reading.

One thing we got it right, it seems, - the "Kometz" pronunced as "shOlom", opposed to the Sephardi/Mizrachi version "shAlom".

I was once in Amsterdam and there's also a very unique havara there, quite similar to the German Jew's (Yekis) pronunciation. What stroke me in particular was the way the Baal Koreh pronounced Shevi'i (i.e."the seventh day") - he said SheviNi.

In the US (and UK), the Jews have also been heavily influenced by the English accent. So if the European havara was quite far from the original, so much more the English one. And so on.

When we "import" other music styles into Jewish Music, for instance, I think we are contributing with this phenomena and pushing our music further and further away from what it was. Possibly, that's a process we can't stop and it might just be part of life. But I surely hope my children will be listening and enjoying the same Nusach I sing every day.

But what's most important to keep in mind, and that's the reason I'm posting this, is to remember that there's no single truth when it comes to Havara. All of the different pronunciations are valid and should be carefully preserved.

You can listen to another Yemenite mizmor here.

PS: I once heard that one Ashkenazi Rishon hired a private tutor to learn the Sephardi havara after hearing that their Havara was more authentic. Anyone else heard this? Anyone knows the name of this Rabbi?

Concert

Someone emailed me this concert ad:

"What’s a Jew to do on Xmas Eve?

If they’re into great Jewish bands, they come to midtown.

B.B. King’s Blues Club
243 West 42nd Street
New York, NY
(212) 917-4144

December 24th, 2007
Doors open at 5:00 p.m.
7:00 – Yuda Piamenta and Rock of David
8:00 – Six13
9:00 – Zeke Decker and the Homewreckers
10:00 – Heedoosh
11:00 – Blue Fringe

That’s five incredible acts, one legendary venue.

Check out the newest in a long line of Piamentas to carry on the family tradition of fantastic, spirited Jewish music. Curious to see if Six13 can pull off the amazing sounds of their album live, without a single musical instrument, as they claim? They can. Zeke Decker, an outgrowth of Schechter High School in New Jersey, is shrouded in mystery. Unique and original, Heedoosh is moving to Israel and this will be their FINAL U.S. PERFORMANCE. Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Fringe have become an institution in Jewish rock in just a short time, and never disappoints.

Tickets are $25 at the door, and you can reserve yours online for $20 (that’s a 20% discount):
http://www.jewishtickets.com/Pages/EventDetails1.aspx?EventId=305

See you Monday night!"