Re: Wolf's Yiddish

[Trudi Goodman <goobietheg...>]

Personally, I don't believe that one dialect takes precendence over the 
other...and saying this I hope that I'm not re-opening a floodgate of 
discussions about what constitutes "Yiddish."
If you love Yiddish you're good enough for me>
Of course, I'm a Heinz 57 Yid anyways!!!
Happy Chanukah Everybody!!!
Trudi the G

>From: Matt Jaffey <mjaffey2 (at) mum(dot)edu>
>Reply-To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
>To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>Subject: Re: Wolf's Yiddish
>Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 11:43:45 -0600 (CST)
>
>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
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

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