This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish music, including klezmer and other traditions.
Music
The Latest
-
The Schmooze Welcome To The A Capella Revolution
Listen to Pentatonix, and you’ll be sure that you hear instruments. In fact, it is an a cappella quintet of young singers — four men and one woman — who perform without any accompaniment, and manage to make a remarkable range of sounds in musical styles ranging from pop to electronica to R&B and dubstep….
-
The Schmooze Pete Seeger and Me
To state the obvious, Pete was an iconic figure in the folk music movement in the United States. As were many, many of my colleagues, I was profoundly influenced by Pete’s music just as I started to really enjoy music. I first found him through the recording of The Weavers reunion concert at Carnegie Hall….
-
The Schmooze Why Jonathan Richman Is the True Bard of Massachusetts
There’s Johnny Rotten laughing that he doesn’t remember the words while the rhythm kicks and drives. The bass is muddled but insistent, louder with every measure, angry that no one’s joined in. Johnny yells to stop so that someone can feed him his lines. The volume drops, but the band never does. Suddenly this song,…
-
The Schmooze How to Sing Like a Real Folk Singer
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here Can you say with certainty that someone sings in an authentic Yiddish style? Fortunately, we have materials to help us figure it out — the records and CDs of folksingers, the recorded compilations from Ruth Rubin, Sofia Magid, Ben Stonehill and others; the recordings in the…
-
Culture For Jana Herzen, Jazzy Creativity Is in Jewish Bloodline
Jana Herzen, whose jazz record label Motéma Music celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2013, confides that the Forward played an important role in her family history. Her great-grandmother walked out on her family when Herzen’s grandmother, the eldest of six, was 11. One day she just disappeared from their home in the Bronx and was…
-
The Schmooze Why a Finnish Band Called Themselves ‘Talmud Beach’
British pop-culture monthly Uncut excited music fans this month with its review of what may be the world’s first Finnish-Jewish blues trio. Trouble was, the magazine got it wrong. Talmud Beach may have a Jewish name, but none of its players are members of the tribe. The band’s moniker, though, bears a Semitic connection. Bearded,…
-
The Schmooze Israeli Apocalypse Rock Breaks Big Stateside
The fuzzy guitars, pulsating bass,and incomprehensible lyrics intrigued me. So I looked up the song that was streaming on KEXP, the Seattle indie-rock station I broadcast at home. The band’s name seemed Finnish or Icelandic, until I realized the words were actually phonetic Hebrew. Vaadat Chirigim, it turns out, is that rarest of musical animals…
-
The Schmooze Why David Broza Covers BDS Supporter Roger Waters
In early 2013 singer-songwriter David Broza spent a little over a week in an East Jerusalem recording studio working on his new album. The Israeli superstar says it has been a life-long dream to have Israeli and Palestinian musicians work together on a project. The resulting album is “East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem” (S-Curve Records), recorded in…
Explore
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion It’s time for the pro-Palestinian movement to make a radical change
-
Fast Forward NY State Young Republicans chapter disbanded amid racist, antisemitic chat scandal
-
Fast Forward Palestinian man who allegedly participated in Oct. 7 attack on Israel arrested in Louisiana
-
Fast Forward Far-right UK activist Tommy Robinson visits Israel on invite of Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
