Re: Kabalas

[Robert Cohen <rlcm17...>]

Does Gideon or anyone have contact information for Kabalas:  web site 
*and/or* name + phone number?

Thanks (to whomever) -- Robert Cohen


>I would definitely agree with Seth's analysis of the strengths and 
>challenges
>of the Kabalas.  To me they are an interesting and quite enjoyable form of
>fringe Jewish music.  One problem with their music is that the jokiness at
>times subsumes everything else.  In fact there is a lot more going on.
>
>Instrumentally they rely heavily on Jewish tunes and manage to bridge the
>divide between Yiddishist and Zionist Jewish culture.  You get Odessa 
>Bulgar
>and Der Rebbe's Sud next to Erev Ba and Shir la Shalom.
>
>As American Jewish music, the Kabalas mix Jewish sounds and song topics 
>with
>a range of American popular styles to create a unique hybrid.  For me it is
>equally interesting what they are doing with this hybrid.  They play for
>Jewish events, but they also take their music to totally non-Jewish venues
>like a blues bar in Lincoln, Nebraska where Jewish and non-Jewish listeners
>will hear Jewish sounds and stories (eg. The Golem) - possibly for the 
>first
>time.
>
>Clearly, the Kabalas are not core Jewish music.  But maybe this type ironic
>Pop Culture/Jewish Music fusion can be understood in the tradition of the
>intermingling of Jewish tradition with the host culture.  Both for the
>development of "Jewish music" broadly, and for the individual 
>accomplishment
>of Jewish performers, this mixing has been essential.

>Gideon
>
>

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