The Secret Jewish History of The National
The alternative rock band The National is backed by Jewish twin brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner
Culture
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In Memory Of Walter Becker, A Love Song For Steely Dan
By Dan Epstein Swimming lessons at the “Y” were the worst. For reasons I can no longer recall — but which probably had at least something to do with my stubborn resistance to taking any sort of extra-curricular instruction in anything that I wasn’t already deeply interested in — I got a late start on…
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When Shostakovich Wrote ‘From Jewish Folk Poetry’ And Pissed Off Stalin
The 20th-century Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich might be best known for his conflicted but patriotic symphonies, his daring operas, including two takes on Nikolai Leskov’s novella “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District,” or the extent to which, decades after his death on this day in 1975, no one can say authoritatively whether his music was…
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Meet The Boston Red Sox Organist Who Got His Start At Shabbat Services
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on Jewishbaseballmuseum.com Josh Kantor has performed everywhere from synagogues to orchestra pits, from seedy nightclubs to outdoor festival stages. But his favorite venue for playing music is Fenway Park, where he serves as the organist for the Boston Red Sox. A pianist since the age of five, Kantor (now…
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The Secret Jewish History Of Tears For Fears
Tears for Fears are touring the world again — playing Tel Aviv on July 5 — and are promising fans a new album. You already know “Shout” or “Mad World” or any one of those songs that made them one of the most fascinating bands of the ‘80s. You may also know that the songs…
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The Secret Jewish History Of Procol Harum
Fifty years ago this spring, a then unknown British rock group called Procol Harum released its very first single, “A Whiter Shade Of Pale.” The distinctive recording went to No. 1 in the United Kingdom and hit the top 10 in the United States, casting the mold somewhat for “progressive rock” on its way to…
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Would Leonard Cohen Find This Gigantic Mural Embarrassing?
Leonard Cohen’s getting a gigantic tribute in Montreal. But at least one prominent local thinks the late cultural icon would have cringed at his 28,000-square-foot, 20-story likeness plastered on a downtown building. Writing for the Montreal Gazette, writer Bill Brownstein called the massive mural an “ill-fitting tribute… that feels so wrong.” “The fact of the…
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Dear Mariah Carey, All I Want for Christmas Is a Non-Denominational Version of Your Song
“Last Christmas,” the 1980s hit by pop duo Wham! could just as easily have been called “Last Pesach.” John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” is a Vietnam War protest, not a Christian song. And, while “White Hanukkah” is not quite as catchy as Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” there is nothing overtly…
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WATCH: Israel Singer Aviv Geffen’s Hebrew Version of Dylan’s ‘Hard Rain’
Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan’s music has enduring power; this past weekend, Patti Smith moved the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony audience to tears while singing his classic “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” The song has also moved hearts and minds in Hebrew. In 2000, Israeli bard Aviv Geffen, seen as the protest musician of his generation,…
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One of the Greatest Rock and Roll Songs of All Time was Inspired by a Jewish Bookseller
One of the Band’s most enigmatic yet best-known songs is “The Weight.” It’s in the Top 50 of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”; in the Top 15 of Pitchfork’s “Best Songs of the Sixties”; and one of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll,” according to the Rock and Roll Hall…
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On Top of Mount Zen With Leonard Cohen
Writing the first biography of Leonard Cohen took me to a mountain top (Mt Baldy and his Zen hideout), as well as to the Greek island of Hydra, a New York sound stage and the Tower of Song — Leonard’s music room at his home. Spending time with him meant learning what generosity of spirit…
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