Re: What Is Jewish Music? (revisited!)

[GAronoff <GAronoff...>]

Robert -

Interesting point regarding the incorporation of Jewish music into non-Jewish 
or vice versa.  Clearly Shlomo et al were primarily Jewish musicians who 
borrowed from their non-Jewish musical environment.  But what do you make of 
musicians who mostly make music that is Jewish only in the ethnicity of the 
artist, but then make a single clearly Jewish recording.  Steven Bernstein's 
album "Diaspora Soul" is a gulf coast jazz setting of traditional Jewish 
tunes.  I doubt if Steven would consider himself a "Jewish Musician" (note 
the quotation marks) after just one disc.  But to my ear this is a valuable 
contribution to Jewish music that incorporates jazz into the Jewish musical 
tradition.

I think that Skip's point about intention is important in understanding 
"Diaspora Soul" since, even from the minimal information provided with Tzadik 
releases, Steven is trying to make his form of Jewish music.  While I don't 
think we can compare experimenters and dabblers to someone like Shlomo - who 
is a central figure in Jewish music - on the periphery they make an important 
contribution to Jewish music.  In another genre, while Kinky Friedman is no 
Naftule Brandwein, his intention to create a Jewish form of country music is, 
in my opinion, a valuable contribution to the ever expanding spectrum of 
Jewish music.

Gideon

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