Bless the Fire

[Susan Lerner <meydele...>]

As Eliezer Kaplan reported last week, copies of Brave Old
World's recording "Bless the Fire" are now available from
CD Baby.  I have finally gotten my hands on a copy and
have had the intense pleasure of listening to it repeatedly.

This is an amazing, heart-filling album. Anyone who is
interested in New Jewish or Yiddish Music or Jewish
Roots Music should have a copy of this recording.
Brave Old World takes us on an extraordinary and deeply
moving exploration of the Jewish European Diaspora,
sounding its emotional and musical depths, giving
intricate and layered voice to its intense longing and
the profound grace and resonance of the concept of home
which sustained our ancestors for so many centuries.

This is a masterful album, exquisite and powerful in its
musicianship, profoundly emotional (it moved me to tears
in several places on first listening), that bears repeated
playing.  I continue to find new delights and musical
intricacies on each repeat listening.  A recording
of such power demands your full attention (my
husband was listening so intently the first time he
heard it, he didn't hear the phone when it rang) and
rewards that attention amply. You won't be bopping
to it in the car as you barrel down the freeway - this
recording fills a different niche. This album brings
us to a new place in our musical understanding
of our Jewish/Ashkenaz heritage.

I strongly recommend it for anyone who wants to
actively engage with our musical and historical
past in defining and shaping our Jewish present
and future, as well as anyone seriously interested
in Jewish music and its roots.

So, am I passionate about this recording?
Do ya think?  Brave Old World is the group
that I find most consistently speaks to where
I am in my exploration of my Jewish identity,
musically, intellectually and emotionally.  I can't
help but be partisan.

This is an album that confounds labels. Roots
music?  Klezmer? Classical/jazz/experimental? Buy it
and decide for yourself.

Shira Lerner
Yiddishkayt Los Angeles




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