Re: Wolf's Yiddish

[Matt Jaffey <mjaffey2...>]

First, I'll admit that I'm one of those people whose parents spoke Yiddish
to keep me from knowing what was going on. So in a way, I'm speaking as an
outsider on this - which may give me some perspective.

I'm struck by the diversity of musical forms that are included under the
umbrella "Yiddish Music". Wolf's music is an example, including styles like
reggae etc. that are not traditionally associated with Yiddish culture.

Last summer at the Klezkanada concert, we were treated to traditional
American klez, modern broadway tunes, Russian revolutionary songs, a
concerto for mandolin and orchestra, 19th c. klez reconstructed, and
Hassidic nigunim. The latter, by the way, got booed off stage, much to my
shock, presumably by people who had come to hear the traditional American
klez style.

Personally, I'm only attracted to some of these styles. Why were they lumped
together? Because they all have something to do with Yiddish culture, even
though obviously, everyone there didn't like everything. (Oh, and I'm
forgetting that there were also some charming Judeo-Spanish songs from
Judith, but then, those weren't Yiddish at all.)

I think the category is a bit odd. Who would ever speak of a category like
"Songs in English and instrumental music written by people who speak
English"? Maybe it's because there are so few people who are actually
involved in Yiddish culture, and because we have such a short period of
history in which the musical part of the culture was recorded, that this
happens.

And of course, the existence of this list is a reflection of this way of
grouping things. Which works out pretty well, since there's no actual music
happening on it, so people can disagree while continuing to listen to what
they like elsewhere.

Matt

At 10:23 AM 12/9/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Thanks to Jordan and Jeffrey for their cogent and
>even-handed comments on the promiscuous fusioneering topic.
>
>With some Jew, you can never be =frum= enough.
>With others , you can never have enough=gelt=.
>
>And with others still, --should you sing or play Yiddish music--
>your Yiddish is never good enough (even if it is native -- because it is
not the
>listener's dialect or the one they think they remember <bubbe> speaking)
and the
>+ta'am+ ("feel", "taste") of the playing =feylt epis=(there is something
>lacking).
>
>Many Ashkenazi Jewish people, in my perception, due to both generational
>neuroses and collective trauma have a weird proprietary relationship to the
>Yiddish language and ( for purposes of this discussion) it's expression in
>music/song.
>
>I have concluded that this feeling of almost "owning"  the language is bound up
>with cherished childhood memories and of course, with the six million.
>When these people come to  a Yiddish musical event (should they deign to
attend)
>they are, of course, hyper-critical.  Add individual personality traits of
>bitterness and vengefulness, and you have an idea of the attitude some folks
>bring to a simple concert.  And, should they consider themselves scholars  to
>boot, there will never be any pleasing them.
>
>When they are served up Yiddish, they want it their way.
>Spiced just so, as in the meatloaf that was used as an analogy earlier.
>{The recipe may be the same, but there's stuff in the meat -- you don't want to
>know -- that wasn't there in =bubbe's=  day).  So it's gonna taste/sound
>different anyways, no matter what.  Changes in  the instruments ,
amplification,
>improvisation  and venues all come into play.}
>
>I sometimes wonder, except for the old timers who may have seen
>Witler in Lodz or Schwartz in NY -- who in today's audiences ever even saw a
>"real" Yiddish artist in their own element,  so that he/she could at least have
>some sensible and reality-based criteria by which to judge?
>
>
>
>
>Wolf Krakowski
>
>Kame'a Media
>http://www.kamea.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+