[HANASHIR:8179] Ami

[Fifth Avenue <jbielan...>]

Hi Meris,

Just saw your question..

While I'm certainly no expert on him, I do know that, for about thirty
years, Ami Aloni was the Music Director for a large conservative
congregation in the San Fernando Valley (suburb of L.A.) called Valley
Beth Shalom. He was also a prolific, renowned Jewish composer in this
area. He passed away in 1999 and although I really didn't know him, I
was privileged to attend his memorial service.

Coincidentally, there was a Shabbat service this past Friday (when
else?) at  Valley Beth Shalom, to which I was invited by one of the
temple's extremely gifted pianists and composers - Chris Hardin.  The
service was a Jazz Shabbat Service composed entirely by Ami.  The
instrumentation was piano, upright bass, drum kit and vibes (jeez, they
sounded great!)
and a large temple choir with some excellent jazz singers to help out.

They mentioned that Ami also composed a Latin-flavored Shabbat service
and many others, as well. In addition to leaving behind an awesome
volume of original Jewish musical composition, some of which had been
commissioned by extremely impressive sources. They also said that Ami
had a significant number of distinguished film credits, as well.

Jack Bielan