Re: Yiddish music

[Jennifer R. Goodman <jenifer...>]

Hey, Katie!

     First of all, good luck with your project! It's an
outstanding idea, and I hope you'll report on how it comes out.

     I'm sure more experienced musicians will have 
suggestions for you -- which I will be glad to see myself. As
someone who is just beginning to collect recordings, I 
can tell you that two discs I like with collections of vocal music
exclusively in Yiddish are The Yiddish Dream: A Heritage of Jewish
Song (Vanguard 1987) (VCD 715/16) (neither newly recorded nor
sung by younger artists) and Janice Rubin's Feels Like Family
(1995: Heymish Music, P.O. Box 30298, Houston, TX 77249) -- this
was recently advertised in the Forward.  But if you want a mixture
of vocal and instrumental pieces there are a lot of other
possibilities. I'm a fan of the Austin Klezmorim -- you can
find out what they're doing by way of their Web site. And my
current favorite Yiddish song came to me from Tzimmes' first
CD, Sweet and Hot -- they're also highly visible on the Web, 
as well as on this list!  Are you focusing on Ashkenazic Europe,
or are you interested in Ashkenazic culture as it has developed
in North America and in Israel, too? This affects the music.

   If a collection album of Yiddish music by younger artists
does exist, I want to know about it. In fact, I think if it
doesn't exist, it is a brainwave, and should be created. 

   Best wishes,

   Jennifer Goodman

Department of English
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-4227
jenifer (at) tam2000(dot)tamu(dot)edu