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

[robert wiener <wiener...>]

On Seth's advice, I'll take a look and listen.  But on the face of it,
the Jewish Music connection seems tenuous at best.

If we use the, "I know it when I hear it test" would this music pass.
Or, if we would guess that this is Jewish music, how many other
musical works might we identify as being Jewish when, in fact, there
is absolutely no Jewish connection?  Is it possible that the Jewish
connection may become so tenuous, the tent so big, as to sound like a
Levy's rye bread commercial?  (Am I dating myself?)

Does it even pass the test that Robert posed (and, I believe, would
reject as being to weak)?  Would Bacharach say that he writes music as
a Jew?  Or, to continue that discussion, does it matter?  Is it more
important what others (e.g., John Zorn) say?

Is the litmus test of "American Jewish popular music" "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" (Seth)?  If so, how
does the work of other Jewish composers of the genre (e.g., Arlen,
Berlin, the Gershwin brothers, Sondheim, and on and on) fare?

Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Seth Rogovoy <rogovoy (at) berkshire(dot)net>
To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Date: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 12:43 PM
Subject: RE: Bacharach (was: What Is Jewish Music?)


>> 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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>