Re: New Jewish Music

[Eliezer Kaplan <zelwel...>]

1) At my local Tower there's a Klezmer section in the World Music area- it's
a subsection of Israel/ Judaica, which does not include an additional
Judaica section which is, for some reason, in the Classical room.

2) It's not a matter of disdain- it's a practical issue (as a listener) of
creating artificial boundaries. Unfortunately, these boundaries are a
necessity in the marketplace. But that still reduces the issue of 'what is
Klezmer' to a question of marketing.

3) If you can't categorize it, how do you market it?

4) There is no number 4.

5) In a perfect world, there's just music.
                                        Happy Y2K, y'all-
                                        EK


----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Lerner <meydele (at) ix(dot)netcom(dot)com>
To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Friday, December 31, 1999 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: New Jewish Music


> At 08:08 AM 12/31/99 -0600, Eliezar Kaplan wrote:
>   And aren't all labels (such as 'klezmer') in
> >general some artificial attempt at categorizing something for the
> >marketplace?
> >                             EK
>
>
> Well, that is not a minor concern,  especially if you are trying to make a
> (partial?) living from the sale of your recordings or to build and educate
> an audience.  Have you ever asked the average Tower Records salesperson
> where to find a "klezmer" or "New Jewish Music" recording?  Is it in World
> Music?  Under Europe?  Under Middle East?  In its own category?  Is that
> category called "Jewish" and and you find Brave Old World and Klezmer
> Conservatory Band mixed in with operatic recordings of Kol Nidrei and
kids'
> holiday recordings, or is it called "klezmer" and it encompasses
> anthologies of "Yiddish Favorites" from Israel as well as Brave Old World,
> Klezmania and similar anthologies, and so forth? No such problem with
Irish
> or Cajun music, 2 genres with a distinct marketing profile that include a
> lot of different styles and influences from other cultures.
>
> I certainly don't have an easy answer - this is a very nuanced area,
> witness our endless, fascinating discussions on What Is Jewish Music - but
> I do lose patience with an unrealistic disdain for marketplace issues...
>
> Shira Lerner
>
>
>

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