Re: mitzvot music (was Scarborough Fair tune)

[Jeremy A Schiffer <schiffer...>]

On Tue, 16 Jul 2002, Alex J. Lubet wrote:

> Something else has been on my mind that I thought I'd put to the list, since
> matters relevant to jobbing musicians are a frequent concern.  I'm usually on
> the jobbing side myself, but not this time.  My son's bar mitzvah was last
> shabes and there was a bit of a mix-up with the music I engaged.  (I received 
> an
> apology and things are more or less patched up.)  This is not the first time
> I've seen tussles of this kind (I'll spare you the details, they don't 
> matter),
> but the problem seems to be a major cognitive dissonance between those 
> musicians
> for whom simchas are the bottom of the food chain of what they do (concerts 
> are
> usually at the top) and those who engage them, for whom b'nai mitzvot, 
> weddings,
> etc. are singular (one would hope), sacred moments where, G_d willing, all is
> perfect.  Needless to say, this is not a strictly Jewish issue, nor even an
> exclusively musical one (at least, it can apply to serious photographers, 
> maybe
> others), but I wonder what could be done to get everyone on the same page.  
> Your
> thoughts?

This is an interesting question because I currently play in a klezmer band
that just formed in the last year. We had requests for weddings and bar
mitzvahs, but to this point, have turned them down because we don't know
enough songs yet, and because it could have put us in a situation where
things got out of hand quickly.

I have been stressing to my bandmates the importance of making sure that
every detail for something like this is planned ahead of time. What songs,
if any, are to be played at what times. Some people have very specific
thoughts for their special days (processional to one thing, recessional to
something else, a specific tune for the vows, etc.) while others are happy
with "something that sounds Jewish." The band (and photographers (I have
also photographed weddings on a professional basis)) must absolutely get
together with the people organizing the event and plan it down to the
minute, if need be ("we want two horas, followed by something faster,
then hava nagila, and finish with sunrise, sunset. Then you have to
take requests for two hours"). If they have specific needs, you must be
able to address them, or decline the job. It sucks to turn down an
opportunity for money, but if you can't do the job that the organizers
want, you have to refuse; anything else is unacceptable and
unprofessional.

As long as you communicate and know the expectations on both sides, you
should be fine.

-jeremy schiffer

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