This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish music, including klezmer and other traditions.
Music
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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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The Schmooze Bernstein’s ‘MASS’ Gets Rare Performance at Queens College
Getty Images In 1971, the first time Maurice Peress conducted Leonard Bernstein’s “MASS,” the monumental piece echoed the life and death of John F. Kennedy, the social upheaval of the 1960s, and the morass of Vietnam. Spectators today might see “MASS” in a very different light — as a tragic commentary on U.S. involvement in…
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The Schmooze Jay Black’s 7 Favorite Songs
Jay Black has been singing professionally for 51 of his almost 76 years. That “almost” comes out November 2. He’ll be celebrating that birthday with a pair of concerts, one at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, N.J., and the other at NYCB Theatre at Westbury on Long Island. We chatted with him about…
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