Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish music, including klezmer and other traditions.
Music
The Latest
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The Schmooze Q&A: Yiddish Singer Elmore James
When you Google Elmore James the first hits that pop up refer to a blues singer from the 1940s. That is not the same Elmore James who stars in the National Yiddish Theatre — Folksbiene production of “Soul to Soul.” But Yiddish-singing James, 57, thinks the Southern bluesman would see similarities between what the two…
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Music The Yemen Singer
Crossposted from Haaretz When singer Zion Golan entered the wedding hall in Yehud at 7:10 P.M., the atmosphere was sleepy. Hardly anyone was there, not even all the waiters; it would be another two hours before the rest of the guests arrived and the wedding ceremony began. Those who were present no doubt wondered what…
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The Schmooze Monday Music: Hardcore Mysticism
“Secrets of Secrets,” a new album by clarinetist Aaron Novik, has an air of doom about it. The album takes its name and inspiration from a five-book series written by the Jewish mystic Rabbi Eleazar Rokeach, who lived in Worms and in 1196 witnessed crusaders slaughter his wife and children. This isn’t the first time…
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The Schmooze A Nose Job Too Far for The Groggers?
Anyone who has been following The Groggers’ rise to Jewish pop-punk stardom knows that the band likes to push the envelope. But they may have pushed it too far with their latest video, “Jewcan Sam: A Nose Job Love Song.” Dr. Michael Salzhauer, a 40-year-old Miami plastic surgeon is under investigation by the American Society…
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The Schmooze Playing on the Edge
Crossposted from Haaretz A white minivan was spotted in the Western Galilee last week, heading through the Tefen Industrial Park to the Zikit Cultural Center. The mountainous landscape was awash with color, but this was no scenic tour for members of the Israeli Chamber Project. Armed with their music stands and instruments, they were on…
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The Schmooze Berlin Philharmonic Returns to Roots
In tandem with three New York concerts given by the Berlin Philharmonic in February, New York University’s Deutsches Haus has opened an exhibition of Holocaust survivor David Friedmann’s “Lost Musician Portraits” from the 1920s. These sketches of Berlin Philharmonic members were drawn from life, and captured each of the artists in the act of performing….
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The Schmooze Monday Music: Rap for Rabbis
A lot of my favorite music could be described as religious hip-hop. It probably has to do with my obsession with the Dirty South, even though all of that music is Christian. Take “True Hero Under God” by Z-Ro, which includes lines like “But I am just a man, trying to Satan free / Through…
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The Schmooze Oscar Winning Composer Inspired by Silent Film
Crossposted from Haaretz Three days before he won an Oscar for the soundtrack he composed for the movie “The Artist,” Ludovic Bource sat in his studio in Paris and adapted one of the film’s songs for the accordion — the first instrument he played as a child. Speaking before the Oscar ceremony last Sunday, the…
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