Re: hocus pocus? kol nidre

[Jonathan Gordon <jbgordon...>]

i have often seen secular musicians overdramatize the nature of liturgical
music. one wonderful jewish musician i know so tenses up when he takes on the
ol yalkhut shamaim that his usual wonderful way with kids utterly disappears
when he does havdalah and he loses his natural gifts of relaxed humor and
musicality. sam is absolutely right.  a new cantor should  first learn the
music, make sure the words are accurately enunciated. that is 95% of the whole
deal. one's inner life comes out in ones work, and dwelling on one's self
importance does not help the artistic process. just do the work. the rest comes
out of that. if one is willing to be a cantor, that is in  itself a brazen act
by definition. once made, if you are comfortable in it, you know by how you
feel. it is, to my experience. those who are not comfortable with it to discuss
the high-faluten implications of the office. some folks drive stick shift cars,
the ones who wont will talk about how difficult it is.  the frustrated artists
who became wholesalers in pharmaceutical supplies talk about how hard it is to
make your living as a musician. we dont. i have been a chazan for for 22 years,
and the joy of the office and the implications therof are inside me by now. but
i honor it and myself just by working at it, accuracy and discipline come
first, as in any art form. was it aristotle in the aesthetics, "to understand
the invisible, look closely at the visible."
jonathan gordon, chazzan and fingerpicker for lo these 22 years.

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