Re: Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me...

[Lori Cahan-Simon <l_cahan...>]

Richard, thanks for the lovely musings and the major plugs!  I love that 
you express your comfort level with these previously unfamiliar gems. 
They do indeed feel like home.  I feel fortunate to work with wonderful 
musicians who understand the music and breathe such life into it.

Khaveyrim, peysakh is swiftly coming up upon us and I'd like to invite 
you all to give a listen to the clips from my peysakh CD at the URL at 
the bottom of this page.  Order now so you have yours in time to learn 
them for your family's seyder this year.  They also make lovely hostess 
gifts!  Let me know if you'd like a copy or two.

Sincerely, I hope that you do add some of these beautiful songs to your 
seder.  My mission is to educate the listener as to the treasures in our 
heritage in a way that you can incorporate them into your own 
celebrations and continue the traditions.  Our family has enjoyed 
singing them.  I look forward to someday recording a second peysakh 
volume, as I have so many songs that I didn't have room for on the first 
one.

mit frayndshaft un muzik,
Lorele

R.A.S. wrote:

>Dear fellow Listers,
>
>Time, I thought, to lighten things up a little around here, time we all
>relaxed a little from all the intense debates that have been raging on of
>late.. :)  And what better way to relax than with some great music?! So, as
>I finally got my mitts on Lori Cahan-Simon's "Songs My Bubbe Should Have
>Taught Me, Volume One: Passover", this affords the perfect opportunity to
>insert some diversion into this list. :-) BTW, this review (along with a
>few others) should be up at Rainlore's World of Music
>(http://www.rainlore.demon.co.uk/WorldOfMusic.html) as well at some point
>after shabat - the site's finally starting to take shape a bit.
>
>For those not familiar with the Yiddish language, let me start by
>explaining that "bubbe" in the above title means grandmother. At the time
>of writing this review, pesakh (Passover) is not far off, and whether
>religious or secular, this album would make for a wonderful
>seasonal treat; and even if you're not Jewish at all, it'll still make for
>a wonderful treat, the songs are simply marvelous and Lori Cahan-Simon's
>great gift, like all great music and art is a gift to all mankind.
>
>"Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me" is a collection of Yiddish secular
>songs connected with Passover. The lyrics and music of these songs are by
>some of the finest poets and composers that Yiddish culture has given rise
>to. For this reviewer, these songs are a new discovery, and to paraphrase
>Lori Cahan-Simon's introduction in the liner notes, meeting with them has
>been like finding a long-lost friend.
>
>Lori Cahan-Simon's vocals are outstanding, as are Michael Alpert's, another
>veteran of the klezmer and Yiddish song "revival" who also features on this
>album. The supporting ensemble is superb and of impeccable pedigree, and
>Steven Greenman's arrangements are supremely crafted. Both production and
>presentation are simply wonderful, and there is a great atmosphere of
>heymishkayt (homeliness, homeyness). The listener is, as it were, somehow
>transported into somebody's parlour where the family and relations are
>gathered singing and playing, and he or she is made to feel at home. It is
>a comfortable as well as somehow comforting experience. The songs' stories
>are told with great eloquence and poignancy. Tales of great sorrow and
>sadness, of oppresssion and savagery, as well as of contentment and
>ultimately liberation and the triumph of the human spirit, unfold like some
>great epic. Here the listener without knowledge of the Yiddish language is
>greatly helped by the excellent liner notes by Lori Cahan-Simon, Dr. Itzik
>Gottesman and Steven Greenman, which include full translations into English
>of the lyrics of each song, a valuable aid to following the stories in
>greater detail. That said, even as a non-Yiddish speaker with only the most
>rudimentary knowledge of the language mainly through my interest in klezmer
>and Yiddish song, I found it unusually easy to follow the lyrics and
>understand most, almost instinctively, without reference to the booklet.
>Further testimony, as if it were needed, of Lori Cahan-Simon's great
>expressive gifts and her superb diction.
>
>This album must be considered beyond essential in any collection of Yiddish
>song. The wonderful heritage presented in it simply must not be lost,
>either. To let such a thing happen would be unforgivable. Unfortunately,
>Lori Cahan-Simon is not, at present, supported by any record label, and had
>to raise finance to fund this album by herself. "Songs My Bubbe Should Have
>Taught Me" is an ongoing project, and so I would, if I may, like to urge
>you to support this worthy effort in any way you can. By buying the CD, or
>direct contribution if you can, or maybe you own/run or are part of, or
>even just know of, a business or some kind of organisation that might be
>able to help and support this cause. 
>
>Above all, enjoy these great songs if you get a chance.
>
>
>Richard
>
>(Renaissance Man)
>
>
>
>  
>

-- 
You can now hear Lori's new CD, Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me; Vol.1: 
Passover, at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lcahan Only $15 & postage. Email me for 
more info.
 





-- 
You can now hear Lori's new CD, Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me; Vol.1: 
Passover, at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lcahan Only $15 & postage. Email me for 
more info.
 



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