How one of the giants of jazz composed a hymn for Black-Jewish unity
Dave Brubeck's 1969 opus ‘Gates of Justice’ is on its way to UCLA
Dave Brubeck's 1969 opus ‘Gates of Justice’ is on its way to UCLA
The legendary jazz label was the brainchild of German Jewish refugees in America
Like the tides, romance or dentists’ waiting rooms, Kenny G has always seemed to exist. But have you ever wondered what he’s like? It is the saxophonist’s particular curse to take up the most mental real estate in his biggest detractors — critics and purists who dismiss his mass appeal brand of virtuosic musical Novocaine…
Today’s Google Doodle offers an interactive ode to swing dance — and a bisl Yiddish. Please let me explain. If you visit the search engine today, you’ll find an image of dancers in Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom, and, if you click, you’ll hear a jazzy instrumental version of the classic “Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn.” The tune,…
I have always been dubious of the idea of “American Culture.” America, being, since its inception, a land of immigrants constantly in demographic and ethnic flux. And this is a good thing, indeed, the idea of a country founded upon legal and philosophical principles, as opposed to ethnic or linguistic concerns, is the fundamental promise…
Jewish music meets the roaring 20’s in a new single that has just been released drawing key inspiration from jazz, klezmer and prayer. The song, Sheyibone, performed by singer and cantor, Aryeh Leib Hurwitz, expresses one of the most fundamental Jewish prayers, beseeching God to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash (Jewish Temple in Jerusalem), ushering in…
Heinz Jakob “Coco” Schumann, a Jewish-German jazz legend who survived the Holocaust by playing for Nazis, is dead at 93, the BBC reported. Schumann, born to Jewish parents, fell in love with jazz swing music while living in Berlin in the 1930s. His first girlfriend, who was French, gave him the nickname Coco because it…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. The Barry Sisters, Minnie “Merna” Bagelman (1923-1976) and Clara Bagelman (1920-2014), were the most popular Yiddish singers in American history. The sisters initially gained fame thanks to the popular radio show “Yiddish Melodies in Swing,” which began in 1937. The show bridged American and Yiddish culture by…