This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish music, including klezmer and other traditions.
Music
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The Schmooze Yiddish Pop Star Claire Barry Dies at 94
Claire Barry, with her sister, Merna, on the cover of their 1961 album ‘Side by Side.’ Claire Barry, who crossed over from the world of Yiddish entertainment to global pop stardom as half of The Barry Sisters, died Monday in Aventura, Florida. She was 94. At the height of their popularity in the 1950s and…
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The Schmooze Google Doodle Pays Tribute to Ofra Haza
The Israeli Google homepage pays tribute to Ofra Haza Israelis visiting the Google homepage today got a fun surprise, in the form of a Google Doodle dedicated to the one and only Ofra Haza. Haza, a famous Israeli singer of Yemenite Jewish heritage, died in 2000 of AIDS-related pneumonia. She was 42. Today would have…
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Music A Song for the Victims
Within hours of today’s terrorist attack on the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood, Israeli singer Amir Benayoun had already written, produced and released a new song about the killing of four Jewish worshipers by Palestinians. The popular musician, who sings in Hebrew and Arabic, has a history of responding to political…
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The Schmooze Why David Broza Still Has Hope for Peace
Courtesy David Broza David Broza is likely Israel’s most famous singer-songwriter. With a throaty Leonard Cohen sound and earthy Bruce Springsteen lyrics, Broza has recorded platinum albums and toured the world to great acclaim. He is also among the nation’s most recognized peace advocates, a fact that fueled his most recent activities — an album,…
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Forward 50 2014 Henry Sapoznik
Perhaps the most famous event in modern klezmer happened when Henry Sapoznik, 61, went to North Carolina as a young man to study banjo with oldtime player Tommy Jarrell. Jarrell, realizing that Sapoznik was Jewish, asked the younger musician, “Don’t your people got none of your own music?” That question helped launch the klezmer revival,…
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The Schmooze Top 4 Christian Works By Jewish Composers
Everyone knows that the most popular American Christmas songs were written by Jews. But like Leonard Bernstein’s “MASS,” (see my piece on the recent Queens performance here) there’s a long tradition of Jewish musicians involved in Christian-inspired music — and even a few non-Jewish composers who’ve written for the Hebrews. Here are four of the…
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The Schmooze Iggy Azalea’s Bar Mitzvah Wardrobe Malfunction
Memo to Iggy Azalea (and any other impromptu bar mitzvah performer): wear underwear. You never know when your pants are going to suddenly split mid-song, giving 13-year-old boys a glimpse of manhood that goes a little beyond their Torah portion. The “Fancy” rapper, 24, was performing her (aptly named) song “Booty” at an unidentified kid’s…
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Music At 97, Holocaust Survivor Plays Lincoln Center
97-year-old Emily Kessler shows off her mandolin technique / Courtesy When Emily Kessler escaped the Nazis, she stopped enjoying the music she used to sing with her parents in pre-war Ukraine. But after 40 years, Kessler finally returned to the songs she loved so much. Since then, she hasn’t stopped. Now, this 97-year-old Holocaust survivor…
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