RE: Music for Older Kids (and adults)

[Rich Glauber <rglauber...>]

Dear friends,

        I wanted to share with you an idea I've been working on for the
past several months, ever since our flurry of activity around the topic
"Where's the Ruach".

        My basic premise is this:  that as a people, we North American Jews
are unbalanced, with too much emphasis on matters intellectual, and not
enough attention to the body.   This is a glaring generalization to be
sure, but from my experience, there is a lot of truth to it.

        Most, if not all of the institutions in which I've worked have been
quite thorough in their approach to Jewish study, with little or no thought
to the possibility of physicality as part of the education process.  So
it's not at all surprising that when we music people try to get the kids
fired up, inspired with a sense of life, joy, and passion, we have a lot of
obstacles to overcome.

        In my view, the ideal educational environment would feature a
blending of intellectual and artistic pursuits to give a well rounded, well
grounded base of knowledge.  Unfortunately dance and movement are nearly
always left out of the mix, thereby perpetuating the sense of unbalance.
If you don't believe me, take a glance at last year's CAJE course
offerings.  Out of the hundreds and hundreds of courses there were, I
believe, three sessions involving movement of one kind or another.  Three
total at the entire CAJE conference.

        The lack of movement and dance in our schools has clear
implications for those of us in the music field.  We're talking about
"ruach" right?  Breathing, spirit, they're connected.  And what makes us
breathe deeply, and by extension, have a deeper "spirit" experience?  Why,
it's movement and physical expression.  To search for "ruach" without
focusing on breathing is ultimately going to be futile.

        The black churches clearly have it over us as far as "ruach" goes.
Gospel content aside for a moment, they know that a great way toward a
spiritual experience is via music, rhythm and movement.  I feel it when I'm
in that environment, even if the words aren't what I would sing.

        So back to my work in Toronto, I've written some new music aimed at
bringing energy into my music sessions.  If I were to characterize it
musically, I'd say that it is a Caribbean approach to Jewish music.  I've
simplified the chord progressions, simplified the lyrics, lots of
repetition in the choruses, and strict attention to the groove, whether it
be Latin, Calypso, Afro Cuban, or Reggae.

        This is the kind of music that moves me personally, that moves many
of my peers, and that has been moving my students as well.  I still do
standard Jewish reportoire, but I have been supplementing it with this new
approach.

        I plan on being at Hava Nashira this coming June (still waiting for
my official acceptance) and would love to share some of it with anyone who
is interested.  For now, I'd be real interested to know if anyone else is
working in this type of way, and if so, what you're up to.

        Thanks for listening,

Rich Glauber