RE: Bacharach (was: What Is Jewish Music?)

[Seth Rogovoy <rogovoy...>]

> robert wiener wrote:
>
> > I would be interested in a justification
> > of the CD "Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach" on Tzadik.
>
> > To me, it is a pure marketing device.

Wolf wrote:
>
> Does it accurately and honestly portray the contents of the CD in any way
> except as to the ethnicity of the artist ?  I don't think so.
>
> Bacharach is a writer (some would say one the great ones) of pop songs.
> I would think you could  comb his entire <oeuvre> and not find any
> Jewish content.  I don't think one would find the word "Jewish"
> associated with Bacharach during his entire career until the appearance
> of the aforementioned CD  !!!
>
Bob wrote:
> > However, the scenarios that provide the mental landscape for many of
> > his songs could be seen by some as specifically Jewish, depicting a
> > certain   middle-class trans-American Jewish experience ("Seinfeld",
> > "The Nanny").
>

Wolf wrote:

> "Each morning I wake up
> Before I put on my makeup
> I say a little PRAYER for you..."
>
> Does the above lyric contain references to Jewish cultural practise,
> ritual observance,  folklore or social history?   Are the musical grooves
> especially <haymish>?

seth Rogovoy responds:

Actually I'd hope that anyone talking about this CD has actually listened to
it. I have and I find the thesis behind it quite provocative -- Producer
John Zorn lays it out quite clearly in his liner notes -- and the execution
quite suggestive. And I think there is much musical/lyrical stuff to chew
on. In general terms, Bacharach's unique musical convolutions can be seen as
a cultural critique of pop styles, and one could make the case that this
critique is from the point of view of the outsider/Jew. This especially
resonates when at the end of disk one on the song "Trains and Boats and
Planes," Fred Frith repeatedly intones the line, "You are from another part
of the world." Indeed....

p.s. I apologize in advance if I misattributed Bob's comments to Wolf or
vice -versa.

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