Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish music, including klezmer and other traditions.
Music
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The Schmooze The Secret Jewish History of Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman, one of the greatest musical innovators of the 20th century and the man who coined the term “free jazz,” died this morning in Manhattan of cardiac arrest. He was 85. A saxophonist, composer and bandleader, Coleman, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2007 for his album, “Sound Grammar,” began playing jazz…
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Music Violinist Completes Father’s Piece Cut Short by Nazis
In Raanana, Israel, Eugene Drucker’s brown eyes welled with tears as he finished a rendition of Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77, which his father began 80 years prior in Germany, only to be cut short by anti-Semitic Nazi policy. Accompanied by the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, the 63-year-old, says his father, Ernest Drucker,…
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Fast Forward Jewish, Arab Youths Promote Harmony in Israel Through Music
Arab and Jewish students in Israel are trying to bridge the gap between their two communities one note at a time through classical music programs that bring together some of the country’s best musicians. The Polyphony Foundation, which was created in 2011 by New York residents Deborah and Craig Cogut and artistic director Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar,…
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The Schmooze 4 Holy Land Bands Building Peace Through Music
A few weeks ago, we introduced you to . However, in our listening escapades, we also found a number of bands from the region with multicultural members that are using music to help aid in communication, share peace-building techniques, and entertain and inspire across geographic and political lines. Members of these groups, many of which…
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The Schmooze Doing Coachella the Jewish Way
(JTA) — The second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival starts today. That means nearly 100,000 people will descend upon the Colorado Desert in Indio, California for what has become the world’s highest-grossing music festival. For most normal humans, the festivities double as an extreme endurance test. Temperatures regularly creep toward 100…
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Culture Philip Glass Settles Some Old Scores
Channeling the good Jewish son he never quite was, Philip Glass gives the first line of his new memoir to his mother: “If you go to New York City to study music,” she warns her youngest on the occasion of his graduation from the University of Chicago in 1957, “you’ll end up like your uncle…
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Culture So, Why Are Bob Dylan’s Videos So Violent Anyway?
If you’ve been watching Bob Dylan videos lately (I know it’s a select group, but if you’re reading this article, you’re probably in it), you may have noticed that a number of them are violent. Seriously violent. Gunshots, stabbing, torture violent. You may have wondered, what’s up with that? The three most violent — “Beyond…
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The Schmooze Amy Winehouse Said Would ‘Go Mad’ With Fame
A new documentary on the life of late British singer Amy Winehouse shows the six-time Grammy-Award winner in her younger days discussing her misgivings about fame, a preview of the trailer showed on Thursday. Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning nearly four years ago at her London home at the age of 27 after struggling with…
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
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Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
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Opinion The secret cost of Israel’s wars ravaged my family. It’s only getting worse
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Yiddish מחשבֿות פֿון אַן אַהיים־געקומענעם (אַ מלחמה־טאָגגבוך)Reflections of a soldier after returning home (a wartime diary)
דער מחבר איז אַ סטודענט אינעם ירושלימער העברעיִשן אוניווערסיטעט, אינעם צווייטן יאָר ייִדיש־לימוד
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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News At Harvard, reports on antisemitism and anti-Palestinian bias reflect campus conflict over Israel
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