Re: What Is Jewish Music?

[Kame'a Media <media...>]

Alex J. Lubet wrote:

> Good question about why we cut so many records as well as diamonds.

The phonograph was invented by a Jew named Berliner, who didn't have the money 
or
connections to bring his invention to market.  So ol' Thom. Edison got the glory
and, along with the revenues from his other inventions, became fabulously 
wealthy.

Re: diamonds --  precious gems occupy a special place in Jewish mystical
(kabalistic) thought.  Many esoteric  mysteries and powers -- too detailed to go
into here -- are attributed to them.   (How many folks had an elderly auntie or
grandma that used to put their diamond rings in a glass of water overnight, and
then drink the water in the morning?)

The Rambam and his brother dealt in precious gems for livelihood.  One of them 
(I
forget which) drowned in the Indian Ocean while on a business journey.  Their 
great
value coupled with their compactness /mobility/ease of concealment/storage, etc.
made them an ideal commercial commodity.
No shipping, no warehousing, no spoilage, etc.

> Some of the
> reasons could be the same or similar.  Like so many businesses Jews made it in
> in the early 20th century, show business was one from which we weren't de 
> facto
> excluded or restricted and it was risky/speculative (especially the early 
> movie
> industry) and Jews have tended to be willing to take chances investing where
> more settled and accepted peoples were less likely to venture.

Well put.
Most people are aware that the early motion picture pioneers and later movie 
moguls
were Jews (Jesse Lasky, Louis B.Mayer, Sam Goldwyn, Harry Cohn, etc.)
Same holds true for the radio industry (General Sarnoff) and television
(William Paley).  These men, of course,  employed their co-religionists at a 
time
when other industries were rife with anti-Semitism and a Jew had to conceal his
identity to be considerd for employment.

Over time, these men's success bred opportunity for others, and so  creative and
practical Jews looked to Broadway, Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood for <parnose> 
and to
make their mark.

In Germany, Austria and Poland, the early film and recording industries ( and 
their
related crafts) had a very strong Jewish presence.
  The great Yiddish poet, Itzik Manger worked for a time in the some of these 
film
studios.

Must be something in the <kugel>.

Wolf  Krakowski
www.kamea.com

>
>
> I also think that the wordplay that informs so many great American pop songs 
> by
> writers like Berlin, Hart, and Ira Gershwin is a very old fascination for 
> Jews,
> including the use of anagrams in sacred texts (none of which I can recall 
> right
> now, darn it!).

> I did a lot more speculation of this nature in my lecture
> series.  My Polish students were very interested, but they were certainly not
> able to make informed contributions about this literature.  They can now,
> however, sing Puttin' on the Ritz and Dayenu (among other items) and have a
> pretty good idea what they mean.
>
> > Alex,
> >
> > I hope that Bacharach is not the last of the list.  How about Randy
> > Newman?  Anyone for Alan Menken?
> >
> > I imagine that convincing historical arguments can be advanced for
> > Jews in the diamond cutting business (e.g., that this profession does
> > not require land ownership once unavailable to Jews in Europe and took
> > advantage of trusting business relationships Jews developed with  Jews
> > in different countries).  What would you advance as a reason why Jews
> > seem to have been statistically overrepresented in this field?  And if
> > you think that the representation is declining, why do you think that
> > is?
> >
> > Bob
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Alex J. Lubet <lubet001 (at) maroon(dot)tc(dot)umn(dot)edu>
> > To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> > Date: Sunday, June 27, 1999 12:38 PM
> > Subject: Re: What Is Jewish Music?
> >
> >
> > >Responding to the message of <37759B97(dot)51217A87 (at) kamea(dot)com>
> > >from jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org:
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Klezcorner (at) aol(dot)com wrote:
> > >>
> > >> > In a message dated 6/23/99 6:05:19 AM, media (at) kamea(dot)com writes:
> > >> >
> > >> > <<
> > >> > > I would be interested in a justification
> > >> > > of the CD "Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach" on Tzadik.
> > >> > > >>
> > >> >
> > >> > THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS CD!
> > >>
> > >> Right on, Simon.  Thank you for your candor.
> > >>
> > >> For decades in America,  Jewish entertainers went to great pains to
> > hide
> > >> their Jewish origins, changing names and noses in their quest for
> > the
> > >> "bitch goddess" Success.
> > >>
> > >> With the ascendency of the Jewish upper middle class, it's now cool
> > to be
> > >> Jewish.  But not "too Jewish".  That would tend to make  audiences
> > >> uncomfortable because it would demand an awareness and cultural
> > literacy
> > >> beyond the "bagels and lox" <yidishkayt>  being marketed by the
> > >> multinational corporations that control the culture industry;
> > those that
> > >> foist and strongly promote the "big sellers".
> > >>
> > >> The grandchildren of those who abandoned their culture flock  to
> > "Jewish
> > >> Music" programs, hungry to fill the  bottomless void of having
> > grown up
> > >> in the plastic, shake 'n bake,  cultural and spiritual slums of
> > monied,
> > >> privileged suburban America.
> > >>
> > >> What Sartre so elegantly called "nostalgie de la boue" (literally:
> > >> nostalgia for mud).
> > >>
> > >>  For  the  Bacharach CD to actually be presented in the marketplace
> > as
> > >> "Jewish Music" is an  insult to the intelligent.
> > >>
> > >> Since the recently-departed Mel Torme, a Jew, wrote "The Christmas
> > Song"
> > >> ("Chestnuts roasting on the open fire...")
> > >> this fact would make that song "Jewish Music", too, since the
> > writer was
> > >> Jewish and an "outsider".  Please.
> > >>
> > >> Does the expression "reductio ad absurdum" come to mind?
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Wolf Krakowski
> > >> www.kamea.com
> > >>
> > >>
> > **********************************************************************
> > ********
> > >> *****
> > >>
> > >> "Only the violence and duration
> > >> of your hardened dream can resist
> > >> the hideous mechanical civilization
> > >> that is your enemy."
> > >>
> > >>             Salvador Dali
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> .  I recently gave a series of lectures (at a Polish university)
> > entitled
> > >'Jewish Contributions to American Musical Culture.'  The criteria for
> > who I
> > >included were that the artists--composers, lyricists, or performers
> > who create
> > >their own material--had to be Jewish and they had to have had
> > significant
> > >influence on at least some some part of American culture.  Beyond
> > that, I would
> > >always discuss whether I thought there was anything Jewish about
> > their work and,
> > >if so, what.  (Dave Tarras and Wolf Krakowski were represented by
> > more examples
> > >than anyone else).
> > >
> > >Time constraints prevented me from giving the lectures I'd prepared
> > on jazz and
> > >rock/pop.  Regarding the latter, I did include among others, in my
> > undelivered
> > >text such songwriters as Lieber and Stoller and Bacharach.  No, I
> > don't think
> > >there's much if anything Jewish in their work, no matter how hard one
> > searches.
> > >Perhaps part of my rationale has the minority pride in those among us
> > who have
> > >done, something noted in an earlier posting.
> > >
> > >My sense is that more of us on this list would proudly claim Lieber
> > and Stoller
> > >than Bacharach as members of the tribe.  I despised Bacharach when I
> > was
> > >younger, because those songs struck me as the essence of everything
> > supeficial
> > >and insincere:  he was the opposite of Dylan.  Now that I'm a lot
> > older and I
> > >earn most of my living teaching college-level music theory, I'm able
> > to
> > >appreciate his craft as a composer. Keep in mind that Bacharach isn't
> > a lyricist
> > >and that the lyrics were most of what bothered me and, I suspect,
> > most of us,
> > >although I can appreciate the craft of his collaborators without
> > buying into the
> > >subject matter.  (I never liked the production values or singing
> > styles of the
> > >artists who recorded him in the 60's-70's either.)  He is a Jew and
> > there is
> > >something to appreciate about his craft, although it's not something
> > Jewish.
> > >
> > >On the other hand, Bacharach is part of (maybe the last of) a class
> > of
> > >(non-performing) professional songwriters and producers in which Jews
> > are
> > >extremely well represented.  It includes many contributors to
> > Broadway, Tin Pan
> > >Alley, the Brill Building, and Hollywood.  I find that interesting.
> > The best
> > >work in these genres is literate, articulate, and urbane, qualities I
> > associate
> > >(not exclusively) with Jews.
> > >
> > >Perhaps though, this kind of songwriting, is more like diamond
> > cutting, a
> > >business in which many Jews have succeeded and a lineage has thus
> > been created,
> > >without the industry having any inherently Jewish characteristics.
> > >
> > >Thoughts?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >Perhaps, though
> > >
> > >Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
> > >Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
> > >Adjunct Professor of American Studies
> > >University of Minnesota
> > >2106 4th St. S
> > >Minneapolis, MN 55455
> > >612 624-7840 612 626-2200 (fax)
> > >
> > >----------------------
> > jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+
> > >