Along the lines of your "peeps in the hood" - I did a gig recently that had more than its share of optimists, and I thought I'd share their optimism with you. Here goes:You don't know every Adi Ran tune?!?!?!
- I met Optimist #1 before I even got into the hall. I had parked my car down the road from the hall. Half of my equipment (keyboards, sound system, etc.) was on the sidewalk; the other half was still in the car, with the hatch open.I believe I had an amp in my hand when the Optimist pulled up next to me and asked, "Are you pulling out now?" (This happens to me frequently, but only in Brooklyn. It must be something in the water.)
- Optimist #2 was the fellow who wrote on the prep, "We want it lebedig but not crazy." His optimism was rewarded, BTW. I think.
- Optimist #3 walked up to our sax player and informed him that he was to play in a "legitimate style (gotta love it), not this CRAZY FUNK STUFF that everyone plays nowadays." Our sax player that evening was a young Israeli whose style was both extremely funky and quite legitimate. But not exactly the Howie Leess/Pitz Lamm klez tenor style that this fellow was looking for. (At least I assume that's what he was looking for.)
- Optimist #4 walked up to us during the smorg. He was holding an iPod or some such thing. "There are three really nice niggunim on here," he said. "Could you guys learn the songs now so you can play them during the dancing?"
- Optimist #5 (he must have known #4) said that his favorite song in the world was a certain Adi Ran tune. "You guys know it, right?" Wrong.
It happened to be a very enjoyable gig. Despite all the optimism.
Hilla Hoitash at the Israeli Consulate's Dept. of Media and Public Affairs writes:
I just wanted to bring to your attention to our new Blog. This is the official Blog of the state of Israel, the first state Blog out there. It's edited by our team of young professionals here at the Israeli Consulate in NY. Let us know what you think?I took a quick look, and the blog will be featuring profiles of Israeli musicians you may not have heard of.
Here's the link www.isrealli.org
A Simple Jew asks:
Is it possible to release a song without the words "Yerushalayim" or something that ends with the suffix "einu" (ex. Elokeinu) in the lyrics?Sure! Na, Nach, Nachma, Nachman Me'Uman!
KFAR's Adam Davis writes:
hey there. got a couple cool events coming up in Chicago.... details at http://kfarcenter.com
