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My Best CDs for 2001
- From: George Robinson <GeorgeRobinson...>
- Subject: My Best CDs for 2001
- Date: Wed 12 Dec 2001 04.45 (GMT)
I wouldn't post this to the list if Rabbi Alter hadn't
mentioned it, but
I figure since the cat's out of the bag . . .
George (This cat's often in the bag) Robinson
The world is new each morning--
that is God's gift, and a man should
believe he is reborn each day.
-The Baal Shem Tov
By George Robinson
If you are wondering what to give for Hanukah -- if
gift-giving is your
[ITALIC]minhag[ROMAN], you could do considerably worse
than to give a
gift of Jewish music. With that in mind, I've compiled
herein a roundup
of the best recordings I encountered this year. Each of
these records
received five stars when I reviewed it earlier in the
year; each is well
worth your time and money.
Bang on a Can: "Renegade Heaven (Canteloupe Music).
Here's an
interesting conundrum. Bang on a Can, a wild bunch of
avant-gardists,
play music that has the textures and beat of rock and
roll, but the
composers they work with are clearly
conservatory-trained, and their
interest in shifting rhythm patterns and the dense
colors that can be
gotten by combining a rock rhythm section with cello and
clarinet don't
sound like a rock composer's idea of fun. But it's
compelling,
ferociously played and inventive stuff that demands
careful listening.
Downtown Music Productions: "Composers of the
Holocaust" (Leonarda).
The dozen composers represented on this excellent
recording are the
victims of history in a way that almost no other
composers can claim.
Each died in the Shoah and, with the notable exceptions
of Mordecai
Gebertig and Ervin Schulhoff, the vast majority of their
output was
destroyed. Recordings such as this one perform a service
that goes
beyond the realm of musical history. That said, most of
the music here
is of more than historical interest, and the
performances under Mimi
Stern-Wolfe's baton are excellent. Understandably, a
dark and brooding
record but well worth hearing.
Klezamir: "Der Bloyfoygl of Happiness" (Self-produced).
Their third
album is the best yet, a bouncy, tough set with a nicely
balanced mix of
Sholom Secunda shmaltz, Balkan bop and lively
instrumental jams. I'm
still a little skeptical of the flute as a klezmer (or
jazz) instrument
but Amy Rose can flat-out play, and new lead vocalist
Felicia Shpall
brings some smoldering to the recipe. Excellent.
Klezperanto: "Klezperanto!" (Naxos World). The purists
are going to
hate this one -- the tempi are way too fast for
traditional klezmer. But
this is spirited jazz-inflected klezmer. No vocals, just
a sextet that
can flat-out play. Imaginative repertoire, too. How
about "Rozhinkes mit
Mandln" and "Oyfn Pripitchok" as a Latin dance medley? A
Gypsy tune
reworked as surf music? "A Night in Tunisia" as a
freilach? Believe it
or not, it all works. The rest of the program is as
unpredictable and
varied as you can imagine. A swell change of pace,
terrific fun.
Lang, David: "The Passing Measures" (Canteloupe Music).
Lang's
composition "for bass clarinet, amplified orchestra and
women's voices,"
is organized along similar principles to those of the
classic works of
minimalism and the British composer Gavin Bryars --
long, sustained
tones, almost like drones in Indian music, against which
small,
incremental motivic changes occur. The women's voices
fade in and out
against the sighing chords and tinkling of percussion,
while jazz
reedman Marty Ehrlich weaves a series of slowly evolving
melodic moments
in a figure/ground relationship with the orchestra. When
Ehrlich's
somber dark tones suddenly emerge from the background,
the effect can be
devastatingly beautiful. A difficult album that requires
real
concentration but rewards it amply.
London, Frank: "Invocations" (Tzadik) Although a
quartet session, with
London on trumpet backed by harmonium, bass and glass
harmonica,
"Invocations" is really a showcase for London, playing
liturgical music
from the golden age of [ITALIC] hazanut [ROMAN]. Anyone
who has heard
him with either of his regular bands knows that when the
occasion
demands he can play fast and he can play pretty, but
this is a haunting
-- and haunted -- sounding record, working on the
listener in slow
increments, with London's horn sounding as much like a
shofar as a
trumpet. Factor in the gentle wheeziness of the
harmonium and the eerie
shrilling of the glass harmonica and the result is
powerful and strange,
unmistakably spiritual music unlike anything you've
heard before.
"The Music of the Mountain Jews" (Anthology of Music
Traditions in
Israel). Extraordinary field recordings from eastern
Caucasus, a region
that is painfully familiar from the headlines --
Chechnya, Daghestan,
Azerbaijan -- but whose Jewish traditions are
little-known in the U.S.
The majority of the Jews of this region have made
aliyah, no doubt to
their great relief, and it's possible that this
recording will be one of
the last examples of their musical legacy, drawing on
folk, liturgical
and dance tunes. From brusquely chanted versions of
"L'Kha Dodi" and
"Yigdal" to songs by Genady Sosunov that could pass for
klezmer
recordings from the ?20s (if it weren't for the
hauntingly unfamiliar
microtonal intervals), this is a highly unusual
collection, well worth
investigating. Available from Hatikvah Music
(www.hatikvahmusic.com or
1-323-655-7083).
Salzman, Peter and the Revolution Ensemble: "Kabbalah
Blues/Quantum
Funk" (Self-produced). This Chicago-based jazz group is
definitely one
to watch. This set, their first, is a wonderfully witty
and passionate
combination of a wide range of influences from Debussy
to Mingus, from
Gershwin to Webern, from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to
Eddie Palmieri.
The result is a brilliant jazz-classical fusion with a
seriously Jewish
soul. Salzman is a superb writer and fine pianist and
the rest of the
group are inventive and skillful. (Available from the
group's website,
www.revolutionensemble.com.)
Shirona: "Judaic Love Songs" (Lev David Productions).
It is very rare
indeed for me to play a new CD twice in succession.
This one I played
three times in a row when I sat down to review it.
Needless to say, that
is high praise indeed. Simple, straightforward
liturgical and biblical
settings by this exceptionally gifted Jewish-American
singer. Shirona
has a lovely, rich voice and her writing is tasteful and
intelligent.
This is a keeper, one the best albums of Jewish
religious music I've
heard all year. (Available from Shirona's website,
www.shirona.com)
Starer, Robert: "String Quartets 1-3" (CRI). The
Viennese-born Starer
left his native country after the Anschluss for
Palestine, then came to
New York to study at Juilliard in 1947, when the first
of these three
works was written. Starer is a prolific and elegant
composer, but he
didn't return to the string quartet for 48 years,
writing his second one
in 1995 after hearing the Miami String Quartet perform
his first one
inspired him to write Nos. 2 and 3 for them. This lovely
recording by
the Miami gives us a neat encapsulation of an important
American
composer's career. Starer's writing is redolent of
Viennese grace and
harmonic richness, Jewish plaintiveness (although not in
obvious ways)
and American rhythms. A splendid record.
Waletzky, Josh: "Crossing the Shadows: New Yiddish
Songs"
(self-produced). This CD began life as a song cycle
which I saw Waletzky
perform a couple of years ago with the same backing --
Deborah Strauss
on violin and Jeff Warschauer on mandolin and guitar --
to great effect.
I was struck at the time by the masterful way in which
Waletzky adopted
Yiddish song to a post-Holocaust Jewish world,
recapitulating all of the
musical themes of the great Yiddish folksongs while
bringing them
lyrically into a new, if considerably darker world.
Having the leisure
to hear and rehear these songs on record, I am more
impressed than ever
by both the writing and the performances, which are
heartfelt and
adroit. A deeply moving album.
"The Yemenite Jews" (Anthology of Traditional Musics).
This recording,
made originally for UNESCO, is a selection of Yemenite
diwan; the diwan
is a collection of poems meant to be sung or chanted.
Perched between
the sacred and the profane, the Yemenite diwan are
composed in medieval
meters and rhyme schemes. The musical settings, to judge
from this
collection, are spirited, impassioned and filled with
the complex
melismatic phrases that one associates with Arabic
music. This anthology
is full of thrilling performances, ranging from wedding
and Sabbath
songs to settings of Judah Ha-Levi. The recordings are a
cappella or
feature a simple percussion accompaniment (some as
stripped-down as
handclaps) that sets off the vocals beautifully. A gem.
Za'atar: "Mizrah -- Music of the Jews of Arab and
Muslim Lands"
(Hatikvah Music*).
Za'atar is a Berkeley-based band that specializes in
performing the
music announced in the title of this, its first, CD.
These guys are
great fun, playing Turkish, Syrian, Egyptian and
Andalusian tunes in a
style that is at once authentic and funky. Everybody in
the septet sings
and the result is driving, throbbing, exciting music. A
must. Available
from Hatikvah Music (www.hatikvahmusic.com or
1-323-655-7083).
Zrihan, Emil: "Le Piout Marocain" (Koliphone Azoulay).
The piyutim,
liturgical poems, were originally written to enhance the
prayers of the
siddur. Set to music, they gradually took on another
life beyond the
walls of devotion. The Moroccan tradition is a
particularly rich one
musically, as these two recordings generously attest.
Zrihan is a tenor
with a powerful instrument and astonishing breath
control, well-suited
to the complex ornamentations and melisma of the
genre.He has a
breathtakingly, heartbreakingly pure voice and a sure
sense of
musicianship. In addition, the musicians backing him are
excellent
players. Available from Hatikvah Music
(www.hatikvahmusic.com or
1-323-655-7083).
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I wouldn't post this to the list if Rabbi Alter hadn't
mentioned it, but
I figure since the cat's out of the bag . . .
<p>George (This cat's often <u>in</u> the bag) Robinson
<p>The world is new each morning--
<br>that is God's gift, and a man should
<br>believe he is reborn each day.
<br>
-The Baal Shem Tov
<br>
<p>By George Robinson
<br> If you are wondering what to give for Hanukah
-- if gift-giving
is your [ITALIC]minhag[ROMAN], you could do considerably
worse than to
give a gift of Jewish music. With that in mind, I've
compiled herein a
roundup of the best recordings I encountered this year.
Each of these records
received five stars when I reviewed it earlier in the
year; each is well
worth your time and money.
<br> Bang on a Can: "Renegade Heaven (Canteloupe
Music). Here's an
interesting conundrum. Bang on a Can, a wild bunch of
avant-gardists, play
music that has the textures and beat of rock and roll,
but the composers
they work with are clearly conservatory-trained, and
their interest in
shifting rhythm patterns and the dense colors that can
be gotten by combining
a rock rhythm section with cello and clarinet don't
sound like a rock composer's
idea of fun. But it's compelling, ferociously played and
inventive stuff
that demands careful listening.
<br> Downtown Music Productions: "Composers of the
Holocaust" (Leonarda).
The dozen composers represented on this excellent
recording are the
victims of history in a way that almost no other
composers can claim. Each
died in the Shoah and, with the notable exceptions of
Mordecai Gebertig
and Ervin Schulhoff, the vast majority of their output
was destroyed. Recordings
such as this one perform a service that goes beyond the
realm of musical
history. That said, most of the music here is of more
than historical interest,
and the performances under Mimi Stern-Wolfe's baton are
excellent. Understandably,
a dark and brooding record but well worth hearing.
<br> Klezamir: "Der Bloyfoygl of Happiness"
(Self-produced). Their
third album is the best yet, a bouncy, tough set with a
nicely balanced
mix of Sholom Secunda shmaltz, Balkan bop and lively
instrumental jams.
I'm still a little skeptical of the flute as a klezmer
(or jazz) instrument
but Amy Rose can flat-out play, and new lead vocalist
Felicia Shpall brings
some smoldering to the recipe. Excellent.
<br> Klezperanto: "Klezperanto!" (Naxos World). The
purists are going
to hate this one -- the tempi are way too fast for
traditional klezmer.
But this is spirited jazz-inflected klezmer. No vocals,
just a sextet that
can flat-out play. Imaginative repertoire, too. How
about "Rozhinkes mit
Mandln" and "Oyfn Pripitchok" as a Latin dance medley? A
Gypsy tune reworked
as surf music? "A Night in Tunisia" as a freilach?
Believe it or not, it
all works. The rest of the program is as unpredictable
and varied as you
can imagine. A swell change of pace, terrific fun.
<br> Lang, David: "The Passing Measures"
(Canteloupe Music). Lang's
composition "for bass clarinet, amplified orchestra and
women's voices,"
is organized along similar principles to those of the
classic works of
minimalism and the British composer Gavin Bryars --
long, sustained tones,
almost like drones in Indian music, against which small,
incremental motivic
changes occur. The women's voices fade in and out
against the sighing chords
and tinkling of percussion, while jazz reedman Marty
Ehrlich weaves a series
of slowly evolving melodic moments in a figure/ground
relationship with
the orchestra. When Ehrlich's somber dark tones suddenly
emerge from the
background, the effect can be devastatingly beautiful. A
difficult album
that requires real concentration but rewards it amply.
<br> London, Frank: "Invocations" (Tzadik) Although
a quartet session,
with London on trumpet backed by harmonium, bass and
glass harmonica, "Invocations"
is really a showcase for London, playing liturgical
music from the golden
age of [ITALIC] hazanut [ROMAN]. Anyone who has heard
him with either of
his regular bands knows that when the occasion demands
he can play fast
and he can play pretty, but this is a haunting -- and
haunted -- sounding
record, working on the listener in slow increments, with
London's horn
sounding as much like a shofar as a trumpet. Factor in
the gentle wheeziness
of the harmonium and the eerie shrilling of the glass
harmonica and the
result is powerful and strange, unmistakably spiritual
music unlike anything
you've heard before.
<br> "The Music of the Mountain Jews" (Anthology of
Music Traditions
in Israel). Extraordinary field recordings from eastern
Caucasus, a region
that is painfully familiar from the headlines --
Chechnya, Daghestan, Azerbaijan
-- but whose Jewish traditions are little-known in the
U.S. The majority
of the Jews of this region have made aliyah, no doubt to
their great relief,
and it's possible that this recording will be one of the
last examples
of their musical legacy, drawing on folk, liturgical and
dance tunes. From
brusquely chanted versions of "L'Kha Dodi" and
"Yigdal" to songs
by Genady Sosunov that could pass for klezmer recordings
from the ?20s
(if it weren't for the hauntingly unfamiliar microtonal
intervals), this
is a highly unusual collection, well worth
investigating. Available from
Hatikvah Music (www.hatikvahmusic.com or
1-323-655-7083).
<br> Salzman, Peter and the Revolution Ensemble:
"Kabbalah Blues/Quantum
Funk" (Self-produced). This Chicago-based jazz group is
definitely one
to watch. This set, their first, is a wonderfully witty
and passionate
combination of a wide range of influences from Debussy
to Mingus, from
Gershwin to Webern, from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to
Eddie Palmieri.
The result is a brilliant jazz-classical fusion with a
seriously Jewish
soul. Salzman is a superb writer and fine pianist and
the rest of the group
are inventive and skillful. (Available from the group's
website, www.revolutionensemble.com.)
<br> Shirona: "Judaic Love Songs" (Lev David
Productions). It
is very rare indeed for me to play a new CD twice
in succession.
This one I played three times in a row when I sat down
to review it. Needless
to say, that is high praise indeed. Simple,
straightforward liturgical
and biblical settings by this exceptionally gifted
Jewish-American singer.
Shirona has a lovely, rich voice and her writing is
tasteful and intelligent.
This is a keeper, one the best albums of Jewish
religious music I've heard
all year. (Available from Shirona's website,
www.shirona.com)
<br> Starer, Robert: "String Quartets 1-3" (CRI).
The Viennese-born
Starer left his native country after the Anschluss for
Palestine, then
came to New York to study at Juilliard in 1947, when the
first of these
three works was written. Starer is a prolific and
elegant composer, but
he didn't return to the string quartet for 48 years,
writing his second
one in 1995 after hearing the Miami String Quartet
perform his first one
inspired him to write Nos. 2 and 3 for them. This lovely
recording by the
Miami gives us a neat encapsulation of an important
American composer's
career. Starer's writing is redolent of Viennese grace
and harmonic richness,
Jewish plaintiveness (although not in obvious ways) and
American rhythms.
A splendid record.
<br> Waletzky, Josh: "Crossing the Shadows: New
Yiddish Songs" (self-produced).
This CD began life as a song cycle which I saw Waletzky
perform a couple
of years ago with the same backing -- Deborah Strauss on
violin and Jeff
Warschauer on mandolin and guitar -- to great effect. I
was struck at the
time by the masterful way in which Waletzky adopted
Yiddish song to a post-Holocaust
Jewish world, recapitulating all of the musical themes
of the great Yiddish
folksongs while bringing them lyrically into a new, if
considerably darker
world. Having the leisure to hear and rehear these songs
on record, I am
more impressed than ever by both the writing and the
performances, which
are heartfelt and adroit. A deeply moving album.
<br> "The Yemenite Jews" (Anthology of Traditional
Musics). This recording,
made originally for UNESCO, is a selection of Yemenite
diwan; the diwan
is a collection of poems meant to be sung or chanted.
Perched between the
sacred and the profane, the Yemenite diwan are composed
in medieval meters
and rhyme schemes. The musical settings, to judge from
this collection,
are spirited, impassioned and filled with the complex
melismatic phrases
that one associates with Arabic music. This anthology is
full of thrilling
performances, ranging from wedding and Sabbath songs to
settings of Judah
Ha-Levi. The recordings are a cappella or feature a
simple percussion accompaniment
(some as stripped-down as handclaps) that sets off the
vocals beautifully.
A gem.
<br> Za'atar: "Mizrah -- Music of the Jews of Arab
and Muslim Lands"
(Hatikvah Music*).
<br> Za'atar is a Berkeley-based band that
specializes in performing
the music announced in the title of this, its first, CD.
These guys are
great fun, playing Turkish, Syrian, Egyptian and
Andalusian tunes in a
style that is at once authentic and funky. Everybody in
the septet sings
and the result is driving, throbbing, exciting music. A
must. Available
from Hatikvah Music (www.hatikvahmusic.com or
1-323-655-7083).
<br> Zrihan, Emil: "Le Piout Marocain" (Koliphone
Azoulay). The piyutim,
liturgical poems, were originally written to enhance the
prayers of the
siddur. Set to music, they gradually took on another
life beyond the walls
of devotion. The Moroccan tradition is a particularly
rich one musically,
as these two recordings generously attest. Zrihan is a
tenor with a powerful
instrument and astonishing breath control, well-suited
to the complex ornamentations
and melisma of the genre.He has a breathtakingly,
heartbreakingly pure
voice and a sure sense of musicianship. In addition, the
musicians backing
him are excellent players. Available from Hatikvah Music
(www.hatikvahmusic.com
or 1-323-655-7083).
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- My Best CDs for 2001,
George Robinson