Re: Folk Liturgy/New American Nusach

[Jeff Klepper <klepper...>]

At 07:54 PM 3/3/98 -0800, you wrote:
>I am curious if
>Klepper et. al's usage [of New American Nusach] is connected with Levine's
"American >Way of Life Motif."  

The term "American Nusach" may have been casually tossed around prior to
1986, but it came to the fore at the 1986 CAJE Conference which presented a
concert entitled, "American Nusach" featuring the Farbrengen Fiddlers,
Beged Kefet,  Kol B'seder, (perhaps other groups as well, I'm forgetting),
the purpose being to show how a new Jewish/American style of music was
being synthesized before our very ears by  contemporary musical artists
working in the folk/pop idiom.  It was a wonderful night. The concert was
recorded and released by CAJE as a cassette tape.  I had nothing to do with
the coining of the term "American Nusach", and I only use it because nobody
has come up with a better, shorter, more memorable or more descriptive term
for what the music is or does.  It is certainly not "nusach" in the sense
of the commonly known Ashkenazic prayer modes, but the fact that much of
this music developed within the structure of the synagogue service does add
symbolic weight to the use of the term.  By the way, "nusach" in Hebrew
simply means"version" as in 'what nusach (ie, melody) are you using for
V'shamru?'  A better Hebrew word would be "signon" meaning "style," maybe
"Signon Amerikai.   Hmmm, might not catch on too quickly.  The point is
just that when you see the words "American Nusach", you know immediately
what is being described.  If there's a better term out there waiting to be
coined let's hear it.

>but it does disturb me when I hear
>too much (for my sensibilities) music in a service that but for the
>words, sounds like "Christian folk rock." 

You raise a great point here.  But I need to stress that the way I hear
"American Nusach" includes ALL the influences on American synagogue music,
from cantorial, Chassidic and Israeli to rock, pop and jazz.  What makes it
"American Nusach" is the way it all comes together.  The music that you
describe is merely one tiny facet of the whole (albeit a trendy one right
now.)  But it's just one flavor - the musical equivalent of only eating
vanilla ice cream at Ben and Jerry's.

Jeff Klepper