The Nigun Project: Silent Song

Old Friends: Lockwood and Schechter perform ?Silent Song,? from the Lubavitch Sefer HaNigunim. Image by Courtesy of Basya Schechter; Jeremiah Lockwood

I have known Basya Schechter since I was a teenager — longer than I have known any of my other Nigun Project collaborators, thus far. And “Pharaoh’s Daughter,” Basya’s remarkable world fusion singing-songwriting project, has become a phenomenon in the Jewish music world.

Somehow over the years of frequently crossing paths and sharing a band mate, percussionist Tomer Tzur, we’ve almost never played together. Perhaps because of our years of proximity, performing with Basya felt incredibly natural. Our arrangement of this nigun came together quite quickly in the studio, aided by the sympathetic presence of recording engineer Dan Huron.

I found this melody in the mid-century Lubavitch Sefer HaNigunim, a frequent source of inspiration for pieces in this project.

Listen to Jeremiah Lockwood perform with Basya Schechter:

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO