Re: new jewish music

[Ari Davidow <ari...>]

Leo

>Chava Albertstein's Yiddish music sounds like it was sung in Yiddish to
>me,
>with a great deal of actual authenticity as well as concern for it.

I have nothing to say against Alberstein's pronunciation and singing of 
Yiddish, which, as you say, is both native and excellent. But those listeners 
who missed her diction, were unable to identify much that was uniquely Jewish 
in the =music= to "The Well." That isn't to say that we're not talking about an 
extraordinary album, just one that may not be as rooted musically in Yiddish 
folk traditions as in more generic world folk traditions. The wonderful Ben 
Mink, who produced the album, is very much a "world folk" person (and I 
treasure his '70s work with the Canadian "String Band"), and not particularly 
aware of any Jewish musical traditions, per se. Alberstein, in her stage shows, 
makes a point of describing how melodies from many countries are appropriated 
and become "authentic Israeli folk songs" within a short period, and sings 
songs to illustrate.

Having said that, it seemed worth noting two albums that were absolutely 
rooted, =both= lyrically and musically in Yiddish music traditions (although 
Mikveh especially benefits from Lauren Brody's years of working with Bulgarian 
music, as well as the klezmer backgrounds of most of the band members), and 
which then extend the poetry they sing to subjects that are more current, or 
which weren't addressed before.

I hope that, in my attempt to identify something new, I am not heard as if to 
deprecate works of the calibre of "The Well" that came before. (You have only 
to read my review, and others who wrote about "the Well" on the Klezmershack to 
get a sense that the recording moved me.)

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