Re: Biography of Jewish musicians & composers

[BarMusProd <BarMusProd...>]

I sent this reply directly to the original sender. But since no one has yet 
mentioned the sources I suggested, I am copying it to the list.

Dear Alf,

In a message dated 4/21/03 7:31:27 AM, alfesta (at) onetel(dot)net(dot)uk 
writes:

>Hi There,
>
>
>
>Can anyone out there help me with Biographies of Jewish musicians and 
composers
>of popular and jazz music, in particular George M Cohan
>
Have you tried a simple Google search on the names that you are interested 
in? 

Unfortunately you'll have a hard time finding Cohan in a Jewish composers 
list--he wasn't Jewish (although his name certainly sounds Cohenesque). He 
was of Irish descent and was baptised. Musicals101.com is a great source of 
info on all things musical theatre related. Here is the Cohan bio URL: 
>http://www.musicals101.com/cohanbio1.htm<

To answer your question, one of the better one-volume sources of Jewish 
musicians (and I think also well-researched as well) is _Great Jews in Music_ 
by Darryl Lyman, and its companion volume, _Great Jews on Stage and Screen_ 
published by Jonathan David Publishers (who publish a lot of wonderful books 
about Judaism). If it is still in print, I'm sure you can get it on Amazon or 
one of the other big netbased booksellers. 

Good luck.

Best wishes,
Steve

Steve Barnett
Composer/Arranger/Producer
Barnett Music Productions
BarMusProd (at) aol(dot)com 

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