It's Time For Some More Peeps in Da Hood!

A while back, we ran a series of charachter sketches of "Peeps in Da Hood" that we run into on the simcha circuit. The concept struck a chord, and readers contributed many others. The links to those posts and the peeps described therein are appended to the end of this post.

After some recent gigs, it's become clear that it's time to bring the series back, so here are a few more to get things started.

1) The Business Card Kids. The business card kids hang out in front of the band with the sole goal of snatching as many business cards as possible while they think the bandleader isn't looking. Not to be confused with the kids who ask for cards, or the "watchers", a group of chassidic kids who spend the entire gig glued to the floor directly in front of the band.

2) Just call him "Srully Reverb". "Srully Reverb" is the chassidic singer independently hired by the client to sing at their affair. He shows up with a cheapie Ibanez or Zoom reverb pedal which he much prefers over the band's effects rack. After all, the band's effects rack won't add enough noise and signal distortion to his sound. He uses tons of delay/verb and if he has any specific EQ preferences, they will be towards making his tone more annoying.

"Srully" usually does a bad Lipa or Michoel Shnitzler impersonation all night long. He'll sing all of the latest stuff, and the fact that the crowd doesn't seem to know any of it won't faze him in the slightest. A consumate pro with a good sense of propriety and politics, "Srully Reverb" won't let a simple thing like the bride's request for him to stop get in the way of his singing "Usid" or "Rabosei Mir Vellen Bentchen".

3) The Harmony Singer. He comes along with "Srully Reverb". It's often a package deal, only he works for free. As a team these guys are even better than when "Srully" is performing on his own. Their idea of a great time is to repeat a similiar vocal shtick over and over until it's coming out everyone's ears. If they like the way they've just embellished the B section of Lma'aloh, then there's absolutly no reason not to stay on the B part, repeating it the exact same way 30 or 40 times in a row.

The emailbag is now open...

Here are the previous posts and some of the peeps they introduced:

Blog in Dm: Peeps from Da Hood - The NY Simcha Scene

1) The Carlebach Purist
2) The rude Yeshiva Bachur
3) The drunk Yeshiva Bachur
4) The spaced-out bandleader
5) The pompous Rosh Yeshiva
6) The dance Nazi

Blog in Dm: Reader email re: Peeps in Da Hood

The Rosh Yeshiva's Chamberlain.

Blog in Dm: More Reader Email - Peeps In Da Hood

1) The Accountant
2) The Program Director
3) The Dave Berg Character
4) Mostly Music's Favorite Customer
5) Hora Lovers vs. Hora Haters

Blog in Dm: Yet More On Peeps In Da Hood

Blog in Dm: Still More Peeps In Da Hood

1) Volume Boy
2) Guitar Face

Blog in Dm: More Peeps!

The Air Traffic Controller:

Blog in Dm: The Peeps Keep Coming

1) The Mapquest Specialist
2) The Lulav Shaker

Blog in Dm: Email from a "Peep"

The "jump/signal the final note at the end of a set" guy.

Blog in Dm: The Peeps Keep On Coming

The Hand Shaker
The Yomim Director
The Keitzad Guy
The Inquiring Kids

Blog in Dm: The Peeps Are Out In Force!

"Yoidi and Ben Bag Bag boys"
The "professional singer who insists that the chosson 'wants me to sing'"
The "gimme free stuff kids"
The grumpy grandfather of the bride

If I Forget This Interview...

MO Chassid and A Simple Jew send a link to an Avraham Rosenblum interview on Israel National Radio. (Scroll down for link.)

they Asked For What???

Rabbi Josh Yuter is blogging Weird Wedding Songs.

Niche Marketing - Hora-free Jewish Music

From this past week's Hamodia...



Coming soon, their album "Mostly Freilachs!"

Wedding Observer

Ger Tsedek posts his "Observations on Jewish engagements and weddings." Here's a taste:

I am amazed how, in the middle of the dozen-or-so staple Jewish wedding-party songs I usually hear at the beginning of the dancing, after the ḥattan and kallah come have back out, there is one particular song that every band plays that is way out of place. Can you guess which one? Makes you crave a vegemite sandwich, it does.

Haredi Triumphalism in Perth - Updated

Recently, a 19 year-old Yeshiva student, was tragically killed in a freak accident in Perth, Australia, where he was participating in the SEED program.

.... was drowned after being swept to sea in Perth, where he was on a visit teaching Torah. He was standing on rocks on the shore, well above the waves, when an unusually large wave from the heavy seas (estimated at 10 meters high) knocked him into the waters. The seas remained rough with many waves of up to six meters, which hampered rescue efforts.

The SEED program is well-known, but for those who aren't familiar with it, here's a description from the above linked article.

The SEED program in which ..... was participating is a very demanding effort. The bochurim who participate spend months preparing Torah material to give over to the various members of the community with whom they learn during the period they spend there. The material is from a wide range of sources and includes Chumash, Mishnah, Gemora, as well as halochoh, hashkofoh and general Jewish knowledge. On the program they are busy from early in the morning -- learning with people before they go to work -- until late at night. In the middle of the day, during the business lunch hour, many go to offices to give classes and to learn individually with interested people. They also spend time during the day working with children. Shabbos and weekends are also utilized to allow families to participate in kiruv-related activities.

His death is a huge loss for the entire Jewish community. By all accounts, he was a talented young man with a bright future ahead of him. May the family be comfortod "b'soch sha'ar aveili tziyon v'yerusholayim".

This week the Yated Ne'eman and Hamodia newspapers both published an article, which was also published in the Five Town Jewish Times. The article was written by Richard Altabe, the principal of Yeshiva Darchei Torah in Far Rockaway. (Interestingly, Yaated doesn't credit the author.)

The article eloquently expresses the loss we've suffered. It's a beautifully written piece, that truly pays tribute to a special soul.

However, one part of the article seemed not to fit with the tone of the rest of the essay. It's a part in which Mr. Altabe is clearly relying on others descriptions of a community, and the image of the community he represents doesn't match with the reality.

Here's the offending paragraph:

“Since the arrival of Jews in Perth in 1892, never had there been a program that had such impact on this city, which was isolated from the Torah world both physically and spiritually. To call this a kiddush Hashem would be a major understatement. Since our arrival in Perth last year, the impact has been overwhelming. Perth has grown from a midbar of Torah, to a city that’s opening its first proper yeshiva next month. Over the course of two weeks, over 40 shiurim and classes were given by the four bachurim and two yungerleit.

Is it just me, or is this extremely condescending to the Perth community? The SEED program does great work, but there is absolutely no reason for a SEED representative to denigrate a community, even in the past tense.

Reading the Altabe article, one would get the impression that there was no serious Judaism --and certainly no succesful Jewish education or kiruv-- in Perth prior to the SEED program's first visit last summer. SEED arrived to "show the way" and after only two summers of SEED the community has grown to the point of opening a "proper yeshiva". This is simply untrue and ignores the Perth community's dedication to Jewish education and the many outreach efforts others (whose kippot apparently aren't the right color) have put in over many years. I do not claim to know the extent of all of these efforts, but I am familiar with a few.

The Carmel school in Perth has a diverse student body, but strives to give over a positive Jewish education and message. I'd compare it favorably with many Jewish Day schools across the US.

In addition to the community's support of Carmel, Yeshiva University ran a program to Australia called Counterpoint Australia. The team spent much of the summer in Melbourne running Jewish awareness programming for a school there, but for many years, they also spent ten days or so in Perth, running a five day long retreat for the High School, as well as teaching in the school and within the community. The team always included a musician, and I and many other well-known Jewish musicians, participated in the program over the years. The preparation for the program could be described identically to the description of the SEED program.

The bochurim [men and women] who participate spend months preparing Torah material to give over to the various members of the community with whom they learn during the period they spend there. The material is from a wide range of sources and includes Chumash, Mishnah, Gemora, as well as halochoh, hashkofoh and general Jewish knowledge.

Many of the Counterpoint Team participants over the years have gone on to become "names" in Jewish education and kiruv.

The Perth community, and especially the Carmel School, gave enormous support to this program, and invested a lot of money in it. Flying a team of 10 from Melbourne to Perth, renting a campsite for a week, organizing and arranging the logistics, etc. required a huge commitment, and the community was very supportive.

In addition to the Counterpoint program, which ran for years, there have been Israeli shlichim who have donated years of their lives to come run Jewish studies programs in the Carmel school on shlichut. These frum Mizhrachim have had a huge impact on their students' Jewish education and their commitment and dedication, made at tremendous personal sacrifice, ought not be ignored. It's not easy to leave your country, friends, and relatives to go teach for five years in a foreign country. You also wouldn't know it from the article, but Perth students have attended post-graduate yeshivot like Gush in Israel and RIETS in America. Much of the credit should go to their families and teachers.

I believe that Orot Mitziyon, a religous Zionist program from Israel, ran programming in Perth and the community was supportive of their efforts as well.

One of the leaders of the Counterpoint team over the years, Rabbi M. Rothchild, went back to Perth for a few years to teach Torah. He also started a summer kollel that brought young men and women from the YU community out to Perth to teach and inspire.

In short, over the years, there have been many Jewish education and outreach efforts in Perth and the Perth community has demonstrated a commitment to supporting the teaching of Torah, both financially and through personal participation, that long predates SEED's involvement with the community. There is always room for more Torah, and different approaches and hashkafos may reach different people. SEED does great work, but a little bit of perspective and humility seems to be in order.

UPDATED 8/24/06

Richard Altabe writes:

Please do not rush to judgement on the comments of Duvi Safier. He was the student organizer of the Perth group from the 5 towns and he remained at the site of the tragedy for three days while authorities searched for ....'s body. I believe that Duvi wanted to emphasize the remarkable work that his friend and the group had done this year in Perth and in no way did he intend to denigrate this wonderful community. He intended to demonstrate the greatness of his friend, not to denigrate the people of Perth or the other groups that may have served the community in the past.

Duvi has been through the emotional trauma of witnessing the death of his friend, having to inform the boy's parents and working for over a week behind the scenes to make sure that his friend was given proper kavod hameis. Let's not rush to cast aspersions on anyone. We must strive to see the good in everyone.

If I erred in not properly considering the feelings of the Perth community by not editing Duvi's statement, then I apologize sincerely. Perhaps I should have been more sensitive of the potential hurt that others may feel.

It was not my intent to attack Duvi personally and I apologize if my post gives that impression. The purpose of my post is not to cast aspersions against any individual, but rather to respond to an atitude often reflected in the charedi newspapers in which the article appeared by addressing a specific case where I have personal knowledge of past history. Had this not fit in with a pattern I've seen time and again, I'd have never addressed it. I can only imagine how difficult this has been for Duvi and I wish him much hatzlocha in the future.

Updated 9/1/06

Out of sensitivity to those who may be "Googling" the niftar's name, I have edited this post to remove his name. This contretemps does not involve him.

Cease Fire Link Dump...

As they were bookmarked...


Tired of too much talk on the podcasts you dowload? Check out the Red Hot Tribute to John Cage: Silent Podcast

Ben Jacobson reviews Heedoosh.

The Chassan posts that the Homowack is closing. It was sold and has reopened as the Spring Mountain Resort.

This eBay auction ended with no takers. Someone is trying to get rid of his comped CD's.

Here are some videos of the Biala Rebbe singing Sabbath hymns.

The Rootless Cosmopolitan links to a Nextbook review. Ouch!

This Google search is too good to let pass. We're the number one hit to the query.

Here's background on the Katyusha song.

Avid has purchased Sibelius.

Here's Yo, Yenta! on American Idol's "underground" category.

Kesher Talk posts Basya Shechter's arrangement of "Eicha."

Here's DovBear:

What does it say about Orthodoxy, in 2005, that we no longer treasure nor produce men who write like angels? Just listen to the opening verse of the first poem, in its original Hebrew: Libi b'mizrach v'anochi b'sof ma'arav. Do you hear the word-music? Yet, in our day Shiny Shoe Music passes for brilliance.

Ben Jacobson writes about Neshama Carlebach performances in the Jerusalem Post:

Carlebach then finishes off the tour with no one on stage but her own band, a microphone in hand and a bun in the oven at Rehovot's Mofet Hall.

Classy.

Eliyahu from Simply Tsfat was in Lebanon during the war and we've got the pic to prove it.

You know you've made it when people use your blog name to help promote their album. (It's posted here too.) Only problem is, we didn't write that review. Twas one of the other J-music blogs.

The Jewish Week writes about OySongs.com.

Psycho Toddler asks his mom "Should I stay or should I go? " (Shouldn'ta written that. Now I have to get that dang song out of my head!)

Here's a first-hand report on the world's most expensive Bat Mitzvah written by one of the videographers.

Here's Naomi Chana on nigunim.

ASJ posts on Jewish Heavy Metal and "Good" Jewish Music.

Shira writes "Musical license,"* or the case of the misplaced comma--A different way of listening to words.

Cleaning Out Da Mailbag...

Allen writes:

wow ! Ron's got an interesting working method there. the results are not exactly of the highest artistic merit though. not garbage , but not awesome by a long shot. its nice that the texts he yield something that sounds like music but its possible to get music by organizing the NYTimes. Are we to think that the source insures artistic merit . to my ears its somewhat random, though modally consistent. I guess it would track with the texts though, but I doubt it will supplant nusach or trope. talk about music by the pound. so now Ron can use a sidur and fill the world with music copywritten by Ron. a nice parnasa angle if he can sell it. sort of alleviates the need for musical inspiration.

Dave Cirilli writes:

Just announced this week, three of New York's leading Jewish non-profit groups -- The National Foundation for Jewish Culture, JDub Records and Avoda Arts -- began accepting applications for a new artist development program called The Six Points Fellowship (http://www.sixpointsfellowship.org/ ). Initiated by funding of $1,000,000 from the UJA-Federation of New York’s Commission on Jewish Identity & Renewal – the largest grant UJA has ever awarded to an arts organization – the fellowship will provide twelve New York-based artists (in music, performing arts and visual arts) up to $45,000 per-year for living expenses and project-related support for a period of two years.

The application process runs through August 31, 2006. Please let me know if you would like more information.

Sruly at Sameach Music forwards a link to download the Voices for Israel anthem, "Chazak Amenu".

J. forwards a link to a Ha'aetz article.

Eliyahu Fink writes:

500 hits in a few hrs

what do you say?

can u blog

ef

On 7/19/06, The Finks wrote:
> hey there
>
> nice blog
>
> post this video up and give some commentary
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb6AyovKwMk
>
> thanks
>

Elliot forwards a link to an article 'bout Acharit Hayamim.

Anon writes:

you on vacation? My week doesnt go right without a dose of Blog in Dm,

Psachya writes:

Re "Neighborhood Bully" - I was studying in Israel when Dylan's "Infidels" album was released. I remember being amused that Radio Jordan kept playing that song. I think that the Jordanian DJ thought Dylan was actually calling Israel a neighborhood bully, as opposed to a "neighborhood bully". BTW, unquestionably the best song ever written about the Mideast situation.

Ron Benevisti writes:

Since I am a musician who makes his living composing, arranging, recording and playing music I am allowed to do so at this time although I don't play live even for non-Jews during the three weeks.

Also... Rabbi Moshe Feinstein permitted listening to classical music as background music. Along the lines of this leniency, one may listen to sad music, and religious or Hasidic type music. In addition, soothing music is permitted.

So to me, if I were driving a Merkava or flying a Cobra or Apache or an F-16 pounding Hezbollah, I would like to be listening to this...

http://soundassets.com/Exodus1.mp3

I quickly put it together this Motzei Shabbos and will polish it up some more....

Chazak V'Amatz

Jewish Music writes:

hi,

check out this site http://pinchos.googlepages.com

it has imitations of many singers some of them are very good.

J. writes:

Et lischok is a very powerful and important tool, wield it wisely. You have a responsibility to your readers, (myself included).
There is enough bad going on in the world right now, stop allowing yourself to be affected by it in a negative way.
I don't know how many readers you have and it may seem trivial to you, but quite a few of us enjoy your writing.
So snap out of it, please.

Thanks for the kind words.

Yael writes:

Dear Blogger,

I'm writing to you from Katifund in the hope that you will help us get our message out there. Regardless of how you felt about disengagement from Gaza last year, we would like to get message out there that we still care about the refugees from Gush Katif. Please help us get the message of "last year divided, this year united." Please post about the million click campaign on your blog or link to us.
http://katifund.sinaimovies.com/index.php
We appreciate your help.
Yael,
Katifund.

Abe Deutsch writes:

Gingis Khan Moskau. Their Moskau song also seems to have been plagiarized and used in a jewish song.

Alexander Feldman writes from Brazil:

I am a brazilian jewish, born by 1955 in Niteroi city (close to Rio de Janeiro city). When I was a teen-ager, my grandmother travelled to the USA, to see her long time no-seen brother. When she returned, brought a full bag of yiddish music LP vinyls. One of them was from Tikva Records: "Marty Levytt - Party Memories". I have it until today.

The remarkable fact is that there is NO street address, no PO Box, nothing that allow anyone to contact the label's office (there should be one, of course!). At that time, I payed no attention to this. But now, trying to find more Tikva recordings, I noticed the problem.

Did you find any new information about? If so, please let me know.

If anyone has any info, let me know and I'll pass it on.

American Chayal reviewed

Ben Jacobson reviews "American Chayal" for the Jerusalem Post.

A Song For The Media

Junk Yard Blog sings of Lebanon war media coverage.

Some links

The Bet Shemesh community is raising funds. Their project introduces a Hesder Soldier from our neighborhood, Elie Deutsch. It presents him to you as a son, a soldier, and a musician. We are selling a downloadable album of his music combined with audio clips (recorded from the phone) of him and his comrades from the Northern front. All proceeds of the sale go to various charitable efforts, to help soldiers, people in shelters in the North, and people displaced from the North. Visit the American Chayal Home Page to participate.

Rabbi Avi Weiss spent last week in Israel. He kept a diary of his trip.

As we left the hospital and started to climb the Carmel to Jesse’s home, I felt overwhelmed by all the pain I had seen. Jesse turned to me and said it looks like you need a psychiatrist. He pulled out a CD of my dear friend, Elli Kranzler, a professional psychiatrist and brilliant soul singer at our Bayit in Riverdale. Elli and his daughter, Ravital were singing the haunting words of the Psalm, Gam Ki Elech-“Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for You are with me.” On the right side of the car, I could see the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Above our heads, the heavens sprinkled with fluffed white clouds, and on our left, the Carmel housing projects neatly tucked into the mountains, beautifully built by the people of Israel. It all seemed so peaceful, and yet we were walking in the valley of darkness. For the first time during this visit, tears came to my eyes.

Bagel Blogger has posted an anti-Nasrallah music video.

Yihyeh Tov

In today's Jerusalem Post, Barry Davis writes about "Braving the North with David Broza".

There's A War On...

... and I'm not feeling like posting the usual at the moment. Back soon. Hopefully. Et litschok v'et livkot; et milchama v'et shalom.

Robert Zimmerman Lyric

Today's Dylan lyric: "Neighborhood Bully".

From the mailbag...

Ron Benvenisti writes:

I carry a sound pressure meter (fits in my pocket) to Simchas. When I see people getting uncomfortable about the db level, especially the elderly and children (who start to cover their ears) I show the management the reading in real-time when it's above the safe threshold and have the photographer shoot it with a date-timestamp. This is very effective, especially when you give him your lawyer's business card.

Check out my Torah Music (that's what it is) at: www.soundassets.com

You will not be disappointed - Mamish -

Thanks for the air-time,

Ron

V-blogging

Psycho Toddler has been on a V-blogging binge, posting video clips of his band opening for Foreigner.

While we're talking video, here's a Scottish take on Piamenta's Turkish Kiss knock-off, Kol Hamesameach.These guys clearly have way to much free time.

Welcome Back, Ben!

Ben Jaconson is writing again at the Jerusalem Post. Here's a Shlomo Katz profile.

From the mailbag...

Jordan writes:

Menagenet writes about song parodies. The fact that a song is a parody is what makes it permissible to use on recordings such as Schlock Rock. What is not acceptable is the lifting of rock tunes or movie scores and placing them wholesale into arrangements or melodies of Jewish recording with no parodic intent. At least that is how it was explained to me. Lenny Solomon actually made extensive inquiries into what his legal obligations were and this is what was told to him AFAIK.

The Pischu Li that's been going around on the web I believe is from one of those Theodore Bikel/Hankus Netsky concerts on PBS featuring the Klezmer ensemble from NEC and a local gospel choir in Boston.

I think that part of the issue is determining what constitutes a parody. Taking a melody and setting pesukim or lyrics to it doesn't implicitly make it one. I believe the law is unsettled to some extent with regard to whether the parody lyrics need to be spoofing the original version.

Dov Levine writes:

The clip is from a Theodore Bikel Passover special that aired on PBS some years ago. The audio CD is here:

http://www.yiddishstore.com/theodbiketal.html

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000005YVU/701-7220197-1817103

My favorite segment was the Matzoh Ball demonstration by Chasia Segal, clip among these:

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?z=y&EAN=11661315921&ITM=3

A Simple Jew forwards a link: Anshel's Wife: I can't get no satisfaction

From the mailbag...

Rafi G. forwards a link to the Simchat Yechiel - Kol Berama Choir - CD preview page as well as some mp3's. His wife composed two of the songs.

Menagenet writes:

I came across your blog while Googling for "lo talin pe'ulat sachir itcha ad boker". I was surprised that my transliterated spelling actually matched someone else's.

You cited where it was from, and I wanted to tell a friend..a musician who had not been paid promptly by one of the club date offices. I have a background of both Orthodox Judaism and the club date world.

I came across your posts about song parodies, and about how outside the traditional style(s) much of today's recorded Jewish music is.

I couldn't agree more with most of what you said. Jewish music as played at contemporary simchot does not come across from the folk music traditions (Eastern European and Middle Eastern) out of which it arose. It's true that all styles evolve over hundreds of years....But many of my friends acknowledge that if they had to play I IV V all night long, every night, with no fun substitutions and reharmonizations/variations, they'd go NUTS..They reharmonize out of boredom..to try and make the music more interesting to THEM.

There is some "shtick" that is for the audience.....breaks, a capella bits, and so forth. That's very nice. I must admit, guiltily, that I love what the really good ones do when they transcend stylistic boundaries with "cool" chord changes and other such rearrangements...But it's still not the traditional style...

Frankly, I don't think most guests at a wedding would notice all that much if the keyboard player substituted the occasional Dmin7 with a Bmin7(b5), and resolve downward to A7 to Dmin7....Carlebach was a folk composer. Like his music or not, he didn't hire fancy arrangers to reharmonize his stuff to make it sound like Kenny G outtakes with busy string counterlines which get in the way of the vocal, and horn hits out of 1980s pop records.

Bob Dylan didn't need fancy tensions in his chords to write what is often cited as the greatest rock and roll song of all time˜"Like A Rolling Stone".

One other point: Almost no one in the Orthodox world seems to get that recording and /or selling (which includes live performance) song parodies without obtaining permission (when necessary) paying appropriate mechanical royalties, and performance royalties to the original composers/publishers, is stealing in the name of God. If there's any mitzvah involved in bringing rock and roll with a Jewish message to kids, isn't it a mitzvah ha'ba'ah b'aveirah? I brought this up to a few of the parodists in the Jewish world. One told me that the owners of the original songs would have to catch him first, and they never would because his albums are too small time. Real good stuff, huh? :) ..I'm sure God's very impressed. Another had the nerve to tell me (in more vulgar language) that stealing from someone who's not Jewish isn't the same as stealing from a Jew. How disgusting.

It's really funny to watch these Orthodox Jews (and others too, of course) invoke God to promote their political or personal agendas, but who go on to steal in His name, in violation of Torah Law AND Copyright Law. Cute, huh? They send their kids to yeshiva, and give "charity" with money they should be paying to music publishers and composers. Enough ranting.

Welcome aboard, sister!

Richard R. writes:

Have you any information on the source of the gospel Pischu Li -- the date and location of its performance and the soloists and choir? It is dated 5/30 and comes from Shmuel.

Anyone know the source?

From the mailbag...

E writes:

Speaking of simcha hall anomalies, does anyone remember "La Mer" overlooking the cemetary on Ocean Parkway?

Yet another anon writes:

I'm still in the thick of the June season, and will address the hall anomalies in a future letter. Just one quick story to share. I was setting up in the White Shul a few years ago, when a guest approached Meir the maitre-d' and said, "Why the heck is your guy setting up shnapps & cake in the bathroom?" I never saw Meir run so fast. "NOT THE MEN'S- ROOM!" he shouted. "THE MEN'S ROOM! THE CHOSSON TISCH!"

MySpace/YourSpace

I've gotten several emails from J-musicians with links to their Myspace pages. So far, I haven't posted any of them. Here's why.

I'm conflicted about linking to MySpace. in general, I try to avoid links that are inappropriate for segments of my regular readership. As I see it, Myspace has some real issues in that reagrd. I do know that they've made an effort to clean up, since being bought, but there's still a ways to go.

For example, one young frum musician has links on his page to/from er, adult entertainment models. I'm reasonably sure that this resulted from his naivette about how Myspace works and his willingness to "add" friends to up his own visibility. In many other cases, I've seen posts/comments that either have pics or link to the kinds of images I make a conscious effort to avoid.

On the other hand, there are some interesting Jewish musicians out there whose only web presence is on Myspace, and who don't have anything offensive or inappropriate on their pages...

I suppose I should figure out a clear linking policy, but my current approach seems to be working fine, for the most part. I'll give this topic some more thought and perhaps write more later.

From the Mailbag... still more

S. writes:

What about elevatorless La Perville's A"H? For Guests also!

How come in every hotel, the management gives you problems for keeping your equipment cases in between the side of the stage and wall?(in that 4 inch space)

The bathroom guy at Excelsior Grand is a little bored these days. Saw him reading a book on a chair next to the sink a couple of weeks ago.

OK, now here is a really hard question. What the heck do you need a guy sitting in the john giving out napkins for? Is that classy? I think can manage myself.

from the mailbag... more wedding hall anomalies

J writes:

And from the chasidishe point of view,

Must I eat only Potato “Ki-Gel” and Cabbage and Noodles every night?

Ever had an overenthusiastic crowd of people dancing in a formation of moving walls, backwards no less, slam into the poor unfortunate musicians that are sitting in front of the bandstand?

Did you know that for ten bucks the Rent-A-Guard that chain smokes outside of Ateres Chaya all night will sell you the rights to the parking spot right in front of the hall?

Do you really think that a bunch of guys singing in a scale that has yet to be identified  really care that the Chosson and Kalla actually requested special music for the Chupa?, or that their parents dished out a lot of money for Misha & Co. to play it for them?

Of course I had equipment disappear from the band stand,, I actually had a “GUITAR” disappear, turns out, one of the waiters was doing me a favor, he  “put it away” for safekeeping.

I love the song Ya-Ma-Mai, and I don’t care which version or chord progression, or rhythm you use,,, but hey,  enough is enough,,, let’s try something new? (Bag-Bag?)

I can not make a band that is playing acoustically at the K.P.  any lower then they already are, unless there is a mute for a flute that I havn’t seen yet.

Is it me? Or do singers at Weddings, shiny shoes, or boots for that matter, suffer from “Selective Hearing Disorder”? they can never seem to hear themselves no matter how loud the monitor is.

E writes:

Speaking of hall anamolies from a non musician's perspective... How about all those main hall entrance doors at Ateres Avrohom that are really the back wall of the bandstand?

How about that chosson/kalla "entrance" at the Rose Castle that is never timed right between the band and that silly elevator door?

Speaking of foreign bathroom attendants singing Jewish songs, have you met the napkin dude in the mens room at Marina that sings Od Yishama though he is sick of the song?

You can spend 5 hours at Terrace on the Park and never know that some of your closest friends were there due to the fact that the hall is long and narrow and you were on opposite sides.

The long hike to the chuppah when taking place outdoors at Crest Hollow.

The noisy traffic/subway chuppah outdoor on the roof next to the train tracks on New Utrecht at Ateres whatevertheheck its called (actually i think im thinking of the wig store place).

The very poorly constructed makeshift dancefloor in hotels, paticularly the Brooklyn Marriot.

The halls that have very strictly law abiding "no smoking" signs and ushers who enforce said rule, yet there are still tall ashtrays at every entrance and cigarette vending machines in the lobby.

He also writes:

speaking of the Surf Club - those chuppahs are stinkiest - smells like the surf!

Other stinky smelling chuppahs include the outdoor ones at Marina (not to mention helicopters flying by drowning out the music).

Mini Link Dump (Michael Brecker Update edition)

Here's a New York Sun review of Herbie Hancok's Carnegie Hall show. Michael Brecker was a surprise guest.

Introducing "One-Finger Snap," from the 1964 album "Empyrean Isles," Mr. Hancock told the crowd that the tune "really needs a horn player," which proved the cue for the major surprise of the evening. The tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker, who has been out of commission while fighting the effects of myelodysplastic syndrome for the last three years, strode onstage triumphantly, as if he had never been away, as the sold-out house leapt to its feet in approval.

Now a quartet, the four men came together in a way I have rarely seen in an all-star jazz concert, and they tore through Mr. Hancock's oft-recorded composition. When Mr. Brecker reached his high note, almost a multi-phonic climax, it felt like the kind of moment many in the hall would someday tell their grandchildren about.

Chaim has been emailing Dschingis Khan.

From the mailbag...

David Linn sends a link to a musical post he put up on Beyond Teshuva this morning, "Live on the Radio: The Seeds of Teshuva of a Nascent Rock Star".

Another clubdater comments on "Wedding Hall Anomalies":

Two things about Marina come to mind.
There was an old bathroom attendant at the Marina who used to sit next to the sinks and eat a main course while talking to guys sitting on toilets doing whatever it is they do, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He always had the Yankee game on his radio, and he must have been a retired well connected mobster, because he used to get the game in the middle of January.

I have had similar experiences with Tommy, the manager at Marina about keeping the Bandstand clean. The truth is, that hall may be very popular, but it's management has been overtly anti Semitic at times, and its a shame most people don't know it.

A frequent wedding goer writes:

How about how in every hall, no matter where or when or how many avaialable electrical outlets there are or aren't, the music is just too darn loud always? Sorry - it has been a busy June season, and every bandstand was unique and different, except for the same unreasonable, abnormal, deadly deafaning volume of the music.

Obviously, he hasn't been attending the right affairs.

From the mailbag... Wedding Hall Anomalies

A clubdater writes:

Wondered if we could start a string talking about wedding hall anomalies….weird stuff that no one can explain…but that we all deal with as club dating musicians….

For example:

Eden Palace- cloth bibs hanging in the urinals, stalls that are so small u cant fit in them, and a wall that (of course) has to go right through where the band has to set up

The mysterious urinal in the middle of nowhere in the corner of the bathroom in the Concorde plaza….and everything else about the Concorde Plaza

Orion Palace- No electricity ANYWHERE near where the band has to set up (yet a MASSIVE top of the line - full back line and sound- set up on the stage at the end of the room for the Russian night club).

The famous Sephardic Temple ice (which apparently makes the urinals not smell according to a high level informant at the hall).

The beverage blender that plays an F# at the Sands….and that they always seem to use it at the most inopportune time…

The residual Bb overtone at El Caribe.

Grand Prospect Hall….need I say more….

Why we can’t park in the Marina parking lot….yeah, yeah….we know someone once broke a panel in the door…..I was actually and- I say this firsthand- physically threatened there…. “You see how nice the floor looks now? It better look that way when you leave….” Told to me while my hand was squished by a rather large gentleman….

Terrace on the park- have u ever tried to leave after a gig, only to be stuck behind mountains of garbage, bar carts, caterer boxes and the Puerto Rican waitress singing Veyaidu?

Surf Club- ever played a chuppa with the entire swim club standing around and watching in their bathing suits?

The outlet in the floor of the Rose Castle stage….that invariably gets knocked out at some point….

I am sure there are plenty more….but that is all that comes to mind at this moment…..

And in closing….

Ateres Avrohom- every club daters DREAM….best food, the band does not move, and you can walk into the kitchen and ask the chef (during service for a 800 person wedding) for a main and he willl usually say “SURE” and give you one…(I once got a tray of steaks for the whole 10 pc band-….where else could you even think of doing something like that?). The staff always tells you what they want ahead of time, there is CONSTANT communication… …BEST HALL IN THE BUSINESS HANDS DOWN form a clubdaters point of view. (I knew I was in trouble when at a recent gig, I was able to look at the shmorg table and immediately pick out which of the 100 items on the table was new to the menu – it was the carrot muffins btw….)

Oh, Man! I could go on for hours.

Here are a few...

Ever played a chupa on Ocean Parkway... during rush hour?

Ever played a shul with NO exposed available outlets?

How about a hotel with no outlets on the band's side of the room?

What about a venue where the caterer insists on a one hour dance set for an older couple's wedding, because the food is nowhere near ready?

How about those dives in Brooklyn or Belle Harbour who give the band more attitude than the ritziest upper-crust private clubs in Manhattan?

Have you had staff at a venue steal equipment from the stage while you were playing the chupa?

Why was there a female bathroom attendant in the men's room at one popular Five Towns venue on Memorial Day?

I'll stop here for now so others can chime in.

From the mailbag...

Nextbook's Alissa Neil writes:

We thought you would be interested in the following audio feature on Galeet Dardashti, the lead singer of the Austin-based band Divahn, the only all-female ensemble performing Mizrakhi-influenced music (Jewish music from the Middle East and North Africa) in the US, just posted to Nextbook:

"Galeet Dardashti, granddaughter of acclaimed singer Yona Dardashti, talks with Sara Ivry about the Arab-Jewish music craze currently taking-off in Israel and shares samples of her own songs along with some of her Grandfather’s."

Here's the link.

Ozer writes:

Can you recommend any CDs or downloads for Yiddishe niggunim played on harmonica (any key)?

zei g'bencht & kol tuv.

I'm not aware of any specifically yiddishe music projects featuring harmonica, but I'd reccomend checking out Shtreiml, a klezmer band featuring great harmonica playing. Also, harmonica wiz Howard Levy has recorded some jewish music too. Finally, the Diaspora yeshiva Band features harmonica on some of their recordings as well.

Michael Chusid forwards a letter he apparently sent to the jewish Press.

Drear Jewish Press,

I am no longer a supporter of the Yisheva Boys Choir. This change of heart has absolutely nothing to do with the boys themselves. Those fine young men sing with their hearts and souls and with the sincerity of a child. Their support staff on the other hand is a whole another issue. I forwarded an e-mail to them regarding a particular track on one of their cds. I have been searching for the lyrics for weeks now. I tend to lose thngs more easily then I would like to. I have lost the lyrics to that particular track and asked if the staff at YBC would be kind enough to e-mail me a copy of it. Simple enough request one would think. Not in their way of thinking it seems. I received a response e-mail glowing with how happy they were that I
enjoy their music and all. It came replete with a gazillion links to sites at which even more products might be purchased by them. On the subject of the lyrics, An individual by the name of Avi indicated to me that he had sent me an attachment of the lyrics in question. I have that e-mail and it contains 0 attachments. My point is simply this. I am old school. I believe that if you treat those that purchase your products/services it will sustain continued support from those supporters. If you however only attempt to gouge people by giving them more and more links to products without adding a little common business sense then that support sours. And the support by me has soured to the point that it would make a lemon blush. Is the cheapness of refusing to email the lyrics to KOL HASHEM by the Yisheva Boys Choir that dear to their hearts, that of the support staff, that they would chance allienating former supporters ? It seems so. The boys are great. G-d forbid they should pick up any of the business practices of their support staff, especially Mr. Avi. It,s really a shame that we treat one another in such a vein. We have so many that hate us. Do we need to treat one another with such rank cheapness ?

Seems more than a tad over the top. I'd bet the attachment was accidentally omitted and that a follow up email would have quickly resolved the issue.

Update: Sruly from Sameach music (YBC's distributor) sends in the lyric Mr. Chusid requested.

6/25/06 Link Dump

Heichal HaNegina reports the passing of the Modzitzer Rebbe ZT"L.

The Forward has an article on the Klez revival in Russia, "Klezmer in the East Looks to the West for Guidance".

Psycho Toddler posts about playing during avelus.

Emes Ve-Emunah has a pair of posts on Wedding Takanos and Lavish Bar Mitzvahs.

Trumpeter Ken Watters has written a JAZZ MUSICIANS' PROTOCOL.

Shira Salome went to Girls' Night On again.

CIRCUS TENT discovers "The Hasidic Nigun As Sung By The Hasidim". I mentioned that release here. It's an excellent resource. Actually, if any of our readers has this and wants to help, our disc 2 got damaged and will only play the first 8 tracks.

Dag posts: "Great save by Uncle Moishy's Mitzvah man..."

NY Times Remembers German

The NY Times has published an obituary for German Goldenshteyn Z"L.

Are Jewish Bands Price Gouging? (part 3)

Steven I. Weiss comments on "Are Jewish Bands Price Gouging?" and canonizes "Band in Dm." Thanks much!

Voting Right(s)

Sameach Music is asking fans to vote for their favorite song on a recent release. As an incentive, all who vote will be entered into a raffle for a free CD.

Unfortunately, the poll is skewed by the inexplicable omission of Eitan Katz's release, "L'maancha" whose title track definitely deserves consideration for the honor, IMO.

Update:

Sruly Meyer writes:

You are right, Eitan's Lmaancha was a personal favorite of mine as soon as I heard it. Eitan's CD came out a while back and didn't really fit into the category of recently released. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to vote for it. Please tell people they can vote for Lmaancha or any other Sameach CD that came out in the last 6 months as well.

6/13/06 Link Dump

Here's Emes Ve-Emunah on Carlebach

Uncle Moishy, look out! Here comes "Uncle Muhammad and the Mujahaden Men!"

Sameach Music has posted a Shlomo Katz sampler.

From Aish, here's "Shavuot and the Grateful Dead."

Coming soon: Ushpizin -- the musical.

Have A History Lesson

Daniel Septimus, editor-in-chief of MyJewishLearning.com writes:

Just wanted to let you know about a great article about the history of Hava Nagila written by historian/musicologist Jim Loeffler that's featured on MyJewishLearning's homepage this week. It's got fun audio clips too: MyJewishLearning.com - Culture: Hava Nagila's Long Strange Trip

Personally, we prefer the "Yidcore" punk version to "Me First and the Gimee Gimees'" version, but "Me First..." has the better band name.

Are Jewish Bands Price Gouging? cont...

A different "Anon" responds to Are Jewish Bands Price Gouging?:

I am appalled at the suggestion that there is price gouging in the JM business. By and large, Jewish wedding musicians make money in spite of their musical employment, not because of it. While those who own the bands make decent money, not one, including Shelley Lang, owner of the busiest band in the business, makes as much money in profit as the caterer of the simcha where the bands perform. I am one of the busiest musicians in the field, and my income from the music business breaks $50,000 only because I also book a number of bands. Without my wife's income and my part time teaching gig, I would not be able to support my family. Even a six figure income would hardly be an indication of price gouging, considering the expense of living in the NYC area.

Girls' Night On Tonight at Makor

Tonight is the Girl's Night On event at Makor!

7:30pm - another open mike night for women, by women: act, sing,dance, play, read, joke, filibuster or come watch.
At Makor, 35 W67St. Celebrate the release of their first CD and see what happens when Jewish women rock Makor! Admission: $10. Info: call 212-865-0085 or see Girls' Night On!

This event is also a CD release party for their album "Live at Makor" which captures some of the performances at the last Girls' Night On event. Each track features a different performer.

Here's the track list:

Chalom (Capture The Dream) - Sarah Cohen
Spread Your Love - Naomi Less
Refaenu - Rebecca Fishman
Aidel at Heart - Leslie Ginsparg
Figure It Out - Suffy
Whirling - Jane Babits
Niggun Neshama/Yerushalayim - Dahlia Topolosky & Jenny Sasoon
Suddenly Single - Rachel Kohl
Jewish Mother Blues - Chava
Darbuka Drumbeats - Adena Furstenberg & Rachel Lea Weinberger

Go, buy one (or many) and show your support for for creative Jewish music.

In a similar vein, I'd like to note Nishmat Hatzafon, a Jewish women's performing arts company, is performing for women only on Thursday evening. Here are the details:

THURSDAY, JUNE 15
8pm - Nishmat Hatzafon, a Jewish women's performing arts company, performing for women only "Bat Kol: The Search for the Inner Voice," interweaving dance, poetry, song, and music. At JCC of Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. Cost: $15. More info: 917-679-1890

Nishmat Hatzafon's last performance, this past Thursday night in Washington Heights, was a collaboration with Neshama Carlebach.

There is a growing "scene" of creative frum women performing for women in the city. What's unique about this, to my mind, is that these are not commercial attempts, but artistic ones, as opposed to much of the music for women (not that there's that much) being sold. It's neat to see that there's so much talent out there and that its being used rather than stifled. It's worth supporting.

So, go, buy CD's and help support creative Jewish women's musical efforts.

Are Jewish Bands Price Gouging?

Anon writes:

I know that you are in the business, so it might be a hard thing to do, but its time someone really opened up transparency into the price gouging of the big bands. It just doesn't seem reasonable that fun decent entertainment at a wedding needs to cost the price of an Oldsmobile! It makes no sense!

Why are some people in the entertainment business the wealthiest in their communities (and some far from it)?

It's not hard to address at all. There is no price gouging in the Jewish music market, period. You can price gouge on milk, gas, oil, and other staples that people need and can't get elsewhere. That's why monopolies and price gouging go together. There is no longer a monopoly in the Jewish simcha band scene here in NY. There's no oligopoly either.

In the local JM wedding field, there are many options and if the band you'd like to hire is quoting too high a price, there is always another band available at a lower rate. Obviously, within reason. You can always go elsewhere.

I'd like to turn the question around. How much do you think a band should cost?

Whoops, Wrong Venue!

So we walk into last night's gig, and there's a Russian band set up on the stage. They're insisting that they have a contract for the gig and are supposed to be playing from 5 to 10 PM. Interesting, because it's after 5 PM, no guests are there and we're booked for a 6 PM start. After a few minutes of them insisting that they have this gig, their office calls. Apparently, the office sent them to the wrong venue, an error that was only discovered when the irate clients called after 5 PM to find out where the band was. Whoops!

German Goldenshteyn, a"h

We sadly note the passing of German Goldenshteyn, a"h. The Klezmer Shack has posted an obit by Michael Alpert.The funeral is today at 11 AM in Brooklyn. Details at the above link.

From the mailbag... Tzedaka edition

J. writes:

In regards to the Oorah fundraising methods, I should say that I have received the CD in the mail, but never actually heard it. OK so they are spending a lot of money on a CD, and in the process promoting some singers, who cares! Oorah already spends tons of money on marketing and advertising, they are on billboards on the highway, they are on the radio, it seems that when it comes to marketing they have no budget constraints. Now you have to admit that there is a reason that they use these singers, it is probably because of their name recognition So it really goes two ways, the singer may or may not get paid to sing, then Oorah markets the CD, and in the process attaches their brand to the singers public appeal, as well as advertising the singer. Everybody is happy. You're right they got a sweetheart of a deal, but Oorah got what it wanted as well.

Everyone is happy. Except, the donors whose money is spent in this manner. As a charity, I think Oorah has to be cautious with how it spends tzedaka dollars, and also with public perception of how it is spending that money. It's always hard to quantify "brand awareness" promotions since there is no direct link between the campaign and income. That being said, I'm wary of those in general when conducted by charities, and especially when they cost as much as Oorah's appears to have done.

Tzedakah organizations are not private business ventures and have no right risking large sums of money on speculative branding promotions. And make no mistake, this is another in a long string of Oorah's branding promotions with, I suspect, diminishing returns.

When J. writes "it seems that when it comes to marketing they have no budget constraints," he nails the point of the issue. This is exactly what makes this promotion look inappropriate. It is one thing to send out CD's as a promo item akin to other givaways like a calendar, fridge magnet of candle lighting times, or chanukah candles like many other organizations do. When this is sent to a targeted list, with some discrimation as to whom it is sent to, this is often a fair approach for a fundraising organization to take. What is different here is the following:

The scale of distribution. The sheer number of CD's produced is well beyond the numbers any reasonable outside person would find acceptable given the size of the community, the potential appeal of the CD's etc.

The method of distribution. In addition to a mailing campaign, many of these were just left in public areas for people to help themselves to. I've seen that there are still many left in pizza shops and other stores.

The expenses of production. I know enough about music production costs, and have enough inside information, to know that Oorah spent an awful lot of money producing this project. This premium cost them way more than other organizations premiums typically do.

The hype. The CD artwork (and Oorah's explanation about the purpose of the CD) seem unduly focused on the artists. That's good for the artists, but it's simply wrong for Oorah to spend that kind of money essentially promoting artists, in the hope that Oorah will be considered cool (and therefore worthy of support) by association.

Interestingly, here's Oorah's press release about the CD. Here's a quote:

“If five of the most sought-after musicians in the Jewish world felt Oorah’s work was worthy of their support, we’re hoping that everyone who sees this CD will feel the same way,” said an Oorah spokesman. “When you see the joy that Jewish tradition brings to fellow Jews, you want to become a part of it.”

Unfortunately, there appear to be some errors in the press release, but Blog in Dm's diligent investigative team has obtained the corrected honest version. Here it is:

“If five of the most sought-after (by Oorah) musicians in the Jewish world felt that tens of thousands of dollars of Oorah’s money was worth taking in exchange for having hundreds of thousands of CD's featuring them distributed to the Jewish community at no charge, we’re hoping that everyone who sees this CD will feel the same way,” said an Oorah spokesman. “When you see the joy that donations in support of Jewish tradition bring to select Jewish entertainers, you want to become a part of it.”

Just to be clear. I don't fault artists for asking for remuneration for their time and effort. This is what they do for a living. The fault here lies with producers, in this case Oorah --although the same criticism could be leveled at some of the organizations producing charity concerts-- who spend more than would seem viable from a commercial standpoint.

The issue isn't even whether the organization nets money. It's whether the expense to income ratio is justifiable. So, for example, if Charity X produces an annual concert that raises one million dollars, but only nets $200,000 after expenses (musicians, featured entertainers, hall rental, sound companies, advertising, staffing, etc.), then to my mind the event is unjustifiable. Especially if most of the money raised is Tzedaka dollars, meaning it eats up money that people would otherwise have given to tzedaka.

If a donor is willing to give $100 to a charity and ups their donation to $200 to buy tickets to the charity's concert, then, if the charity nets anywhere less than $100 from that donation, the event was a waste of tzedaka money. Furthermore, even if they just break even or make an inconsequential additional amount, there is a strong argument to be made that the event was not worth holding.

Shirei Nefesh Yehuda

In the mail... Shirei Nefesh Yehuda, a disc featuring the music of Harav Yehudah Henkin, who is known as the author of Responsa Bnei Banim.

The CD features arrangements of Harav Henkin's melodies sung by Yaron Bar (excepting track 12 sung by Harav Henkin). The music is performed by Daniel Bensimien on keys and synths, with Leonid Raskin on accordion, Arik Shachar and Aryeh Naftali on guitars. Aryeh Naftali takes a turn on mandolin as well.

I've been listening to this one for a few weeks and I like it.

A project like this is all about the melodies, with the mostly electronic music playing a supporting role, and this disc delivers.

Harav Henkin has a strong sense of melody and the words and tunes fit well together. Listening to this CD, one gets a sense that the composer understands and feels the meaning of the words. Many of the melodies are set to texts that are less commonly sung like "Lama Hashem Ta'amod B'rachok... "(Tehilim 10), "Im Tashiv" (Shabbat Kiddush), as well as verses from Iyov and Esther. To me, the songs evoke Yosef Karduner by way of Uzi Hitman.

Vocalist Yaron Bar sings these melodies in a warm folksy manner without much embellishment, which is a good thing, since the tunes carry themselves. This is an enjoyable first outing, although I'd have loved to hear the songs with actual acoustic instruments.

At the moment, this CD does not yet have a distributor. If you are interested in distributing this CD, or if you'd like to obtain one, send me an email and I'll pass your information on to Harav Henkin.

Tzedakah Tatzil M'Advertising Expenses

Krum is blogging again on sketchy fundraising tactics. I receive the Kupat Hair mailings as well and find them offensive on so many levels. A while back, we got one proudly sharing this story:

"At the conclusion of the meeting, the gedolim were presented with the name of a contributor from the United States who had, only two days earlier, donated $18,000 to Kupat Ha'ir. The man, who was facing a trial for tax evasion to the tune of millions of dollars, had requested that the rabbanim, shlit"a, pray for him.
The gedolim took the sheet of paper and began praying for his success.
Two days before Rosh Chodesh Ellul ..... the United States government decided to drop the charges against him. ..... "It is clearly yad Hashem" the man cried out. He contributed an additional $3,600 in gratitude to Hashem for his rescue. In this case, it was clearly evident that a tzaddik's prayer makes an impression in Shamayim."

Some more comments on Kupat Ha'ir's brochures can be found here, here, and here.

On the subject of fundraising...

In a recent post, I responded to a question from a reader as to my thoughts on the Oorah CD. (You can see the album cover and listen to the songs (with video) here.) I wrote:

I've been meaning to write about the broader issue of using artists to promote tzedakah, or should I say, using tzedakah to promote artists. I'll try to get to it soon. In short, there is a tension between using one's talents for mitzvos, which is clearly a good thing, and taking advantage of a mitzvah to promote a personal agenda. The dividing line isn't always clear. This CD can serve as a good illustration of the positive and negative sides of this issue.

People should use their strengths for the good, so a singer using music to help raise funds is definitely a positive. Or is it? In this case, Oorah featured five singers' tracks on a CD that was enclosed in a shrinkwrapped packet together with the brochure for their Chinese auction fundraiser. The cover of the CD sleeve (and the CD itself) feature pictures of four of the five singers; Yisroel Williger, Yaakov Shwekey, Shloime Daskal, and Mordechai Ben David. Curiously, Shloime Dachs was omitted. The idea seems to have been to attract interest in the auction booklet by using the CD as an incentive.

On the plus side of the equation, the singers volunteered their time (I assume it was volunteered) to raise awareness of a fundraiser for this Tzedakah. Whether it was a justified expense by Oorah, whether it worked at all, or whether it was a worthwhile project are separate questions, but from this perspective, this was an admirable move by the singers. Any entertainer who donates services to a charity for no remuneration is admirable, in my view.

To my mind, an important question is whether Oorah should be involved in promoting any entertainers at all. In this case, Oorah is clearly trading on the singers' name recognition, and in exchange has invested greatly in promoting them, even going so far as to find material for some of them and to pay for having the music arranged and performed. In fact, I'd wager that more copies of this CD were pressed than of some of these artists' recent albums. So, at this point, IMO these singers have been remunerated quite handsomely by Oorah's heavily marketing them to the community. This is far more exposure than they'd have gotten simply by donating their services as a prize to a Chinese auction or the like. (Something that Oorah and others have offered in the past.) Oorah is delivering their business card, one that would cost them at least $1 apiece to produce on their own (not counting studio and music production costs), to many potential clients. That's thousands of dollars worth of benefits. Now, there might not be anything wrong with a straight up business arrangement, but this kind of quid pro quo doesn't feel right.

Please don't take my word for this. Take a look at the cover art and at the credits on the videos. It's quite clear. Factoring in the widespread distribution of these CD's and videos, these artists got quite a sweetheart deal for a few hours' work.

Now, this episode by itself might not be enough of an issue, but there have been other clear-cut cases of exploitation whereby singers used a tzedakah for personal gain. A few that come to mind are a past HASC concert at which one "name" singer was paid $50,000 for his appearance, and a CD (Gideon Levine's "The Best of the Best vol.2") that was ostensibly released to benefit the "Child Life Society", but according to CY magazine only donated $1 from the sale of each CD to the organization.

It's clear that there's a line, but where is it? In my opinion, if it's a case where the singer isn't directly rewarded, or if it's a case of zeh neheneh, v'zeh lo chaser, where both sides clearly benefit and neither one is being used, then I think participation by artists is appropriate. For example, many artists volunteer their services to organizations, to sing at fundraisers or as an auction prize to be auctioned off to benefit the charity. In those cases, I think it's fair for the Tzedakah to acknowledge their participation by mentioning it (in an appropriate manner) in their ad for the event, a dinner journal, or the like.

If it's a case where the benefits to the artist far outweigh the benefit to the charity, though, then I think the promotion really needs to be rethought because it makes the artists and the organization look bad. In this case, I'd think that Oorah's board should take a close look at this method of promotion. It doesn't make the organization look good and it may make the singers look like they're exploiting the situation. Even when they're not.

A Ghoti Question

Which caterer came up with the idea that at buffet tables, the whitefish salad should be stuffed back into the carcass? This is attractive how? Can anyone explain this one? I see it all the time at simchas and it is not appetizing in the slightest.

5/31/06 Link Dump

Create Digital Music has the scoop on Garritan's new online "open source" orchestration course.

Sample designers Garritan Library, the folks behind the popular orchestral library Garritan Personal Orchestra (GPO), have begun releasing portions of their free guide to orchestration (see my previous story). The full text and examples are straight out of the classic Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration text, the landmark guide to orchestration that has taught many master composers. The Rimsky-Korsakov is a must-read for composers, but it’s still one perspective and hardly perfect, so it’s even better to discover the text has been fully annotated in this version.

The result is a community-driven guide to orchestration that’s really unlike anything I’ve seen before. The whole course is designed for self-study, with plenty of examples and illustrations. The professors who edited and annotated the text are discussing the results, turning the Garritan forums into a kind of interactive classroom. When the whole set of lessons are done, they’re even holding an orchestration contest. (Now that’s something I never got in my orchestration classes — not just grades, but genuine competition.)

Neat!

Here's a Jewish Week article on outgoing JTS chancellor Rabbi Ismar Schorsch's farewell address.

In his commencement remarks, Rabbi Schorsch told the 144 graduates (20 of whom were ordained by the rabbinical school): “As opposed to the dense and demanding discourse of scholarship, students crave instant gratification. The way to the heart is not through the circuitous and arduous route of the mind but the rhythmic beat of the drums. …

“The primitiveness of rap and the consumerism of the mall threaten to trivialize the literary culture that is the pride of Judaism. Kitsch has become kosher. A synagogue out of sync is deemed bereft of spirituality. … Our addiction to instant gratification has stripped us of the patience to appreciate any discourse whose rhetoric is ddense and demanding. Mindlessly, we grasp for the quick spiritual fix.”

That darn rap music! In addition to promoting misogyny, degrading Black people, and promting various vices, it's also affecting the scholarship level of the Conservative community. Via Jewschool.

In the mood for some oldies? Check out these rare 78s.

YCT Rabbinical student Drew Kaplan writes about why he doesn't blog about music.

A Different Derech asks:

why is it that the only "jewish dance" is walking around in a circle... *sigh*

Canonist writes about a fake Vatican organist.

Jewfork reviews Etan G's "South Side of the Synagogue. Mordy comments:

As much as I love snarky reviews of Jewish music - isn’t there an expiration date on most of these albums? Plus, can mocking a Shlock Rock sideproject be called edgy?

Meet "Hatebeak"; a death metal parrot.

Say hi to the Sasregen Boys Choir too.

Glenn Reynolds is saying nice things about Sweetwater. I've only had good experiences with them too.

The Town Crier emails a link to a video produced by the CFJF, "Oy! Did he? Oh!" Incidentally, in both the Yehuda! version used in this video and the Ohad/Kinderlach version we linked to previously, the melody in bar two is sung wrong. Compare with Neshama Carlebach's version. In Cm, the third to last note of the bar should be an Ab, not a G. Let's nip this one in the bud guys, m'kay?

From the mailbag...

Shmuel forwards a link to a Gospel choir version of Reb Shlomo's Pischu Li.

Yacov Young writes:

Yacov Young Cd in store now thank you for all your help
YY
--
Best Regards,
Yacov Young

MOChassid forwards a link to his post "Niggun Un-Neshama: How to Destroy a Beautiful Song."

Eat Gebrux sends in a Carlebach Mad Lib:

If you would have stopped a Yiddelah while he was filling out a police report because his house just got robbed, and just the day before his mother had passed away, and he was maxed out on his credit cards and he was $50,000 dollars in debt and his middle son was going off the derech and he just got off the phone with his boss who had fired him: and asked him "what are you thinking about"
he would answer "I'm thinking about Yerushalayim,
I'm on my way to Yerushalayim"

Ban School writes:

Yaakov Shwekey's recent track on Oorah's latest album is-is it just me?-horrible. I mean, the guy practically slobbers over the lyrics and the melody itself lacks just about everything. Again, it could be just one persons humble opinion.

What's your take?

Looks like he didn't like it. I've been meaning to write about the broader issue of using artists to promote tzdakah, or should I say, using tzedakah to promote artists. I'll try to get to it soon. In short, there is a tension between using one's talents for mitzvos, which is clearly a good thing, and taking advantage of a mitzvah to promote a personal agenda. The dividing line isn't always clear. This CD can serve as a good illustration of the positive and negative sides of this issue.

As far as musically, I listened to the CD once. Nothing about any of the songs caught my ear.

Jordan Hirsch writes:

Hey guys,

Come on down to Barbes on May 30th for a great double bill. I start with the Kleztraphobix at 7:30, and Slavic Soul Party plays their regular Tuesday night set starting around 8:30.Barbes is at 376 9th Street in Park Slope right off Sixth Avenue.

Ellis Workman writes:

Who is Jordan?
Why should I care?
If I did? What city, state, country, & planet?

5/25/06 Link Dump (Carlebach Mad Libs edition)

David Kerner forwards a link to his website and writes:

Firstly, I enjoy your blog very much - its insightful, informative, enjoyable and needed!

If you would take 3 minutes to listen to my recording of a 'new version' of Hatikvah, I'd be most appreciative.

In honor of Yom Yerushalayim, I've posted it in its entirety on www.kernersongs.com

May we all be zoche to partake in the complete rebuilding of Yerushalayim, speedily!

THE LIFE-OF-RUBIN BLOG posts about the "most overplayed song in Jewish music." The Town Crier comments on honesty in Jewish Music promotion.

I also received the email from Shiru Lo with a link to the mp3 and wondered why they're posting it for free download if they're intending to sell it as a single.

In honor of Yom Yerusholayim Heichal HaNegina is quoting R' Shlomo Carlebach.

“There is no pain in the world that can make us forget Yerushalayim
There is no joy in the world that can make us forget Yerushalayim
For two thousand years, whenever we prayed, and we prayed all the time,
We directed our thoughts, our feet, our minds to Yerushalayim

If you would have stopped a little Yiddeleh on his way to the gas chambers
And would ask him, ‘What are you thinking about?’
He would answer, ‘I am thinking of Yerushalayim. I’m on my way to Yerushalayim!’

If you’ll stop a little Yiddeleh on his way to Siberia:
‘What are you thinking about?’
He will answer, ‘I am thinking of Yerushalayim.
I’m on my way, I’m on my way to Yerushalayim!’

We once played with a Carlebach wannabe who sang this whole bit during a party. For days afterwards, we were joking around about it singing things like:

If you would have stopped a little Yiddeleh on his way to dinner at Prime Grill
And would ask him, ‘What are you thinking about?’
He would answer, ‘I am thinking of Yerushalayim. I’m on my way to Yerushalayim!’

Carlebach Mad-Libs! Fun for the whole family! Create your own!!!

Arutz Sheva has posted a partial transcription of Ben Bresky's Adi Ran interview.

Finally, meet Steve Barnett - Motivational Non-Speaker

5/22/06 Link Dump

Over at Israel National Radio, Ben Bresky has posted the audio of his interview with Breslov rocker Adi Ran.

Steven I. reports that "If You Insult the Jews, You Can't Come Over and Play in Graceland."

Here's some info on a neat looking drum controller.

No comment!

Finally, here's HOW TO SPEAK STUDIO YIDDISH!

Closing Arguments

Bangitout.com is reporting that Makor is closing.

From the mailbag...

Psachya writes:

I love the idea of using John Cage's "4:33" as a fanfare. Here's another suggestion: For customers who insist on continuous music, put a copy of "4:33" on each musician's music stand during breaks. If you want an especially long break, put repeat signs before "Tacet 1" and after "Tacet 3". Voila - continuous music!

Hey, lets do a comp album. 10 different J-bands each performing their own arrangement of the tune. I call Hassidisco! I hope we won't get sued!

David K. writes:

Regarding your recent post on the subject - what about Zev Brenner's Talkline giving Dov Shurin airtime every motzei Shabbos? Its sad that the NY Jewish market has to settle for this - not to mention motzei Shabbos programming that is all too often one long commercial for an electronics store - don't we have enough microwaves and ipods?

In my original post on this topic, "Radical Jewish Music (Not by John Zorn)", I wrote:

I've always been disturbed by the connection between the Brooklyn jewish music scene and the radical “Kahanistas.” Dov Shurin, extremist, and the composer of the song, Zochreini Na, writes a regular column for the Country Yossi magazine, a journal which has come to be identified with the JM scene. I find it embarrassing that the JM community isn’t ashamed to be associated with such amoral, anti-halachik views.

I think that at the very least there ought to be a public debate about the appropriateness of singing “songs of revenge”, but to the best of my knowledge, no Rav here in America has addressed the issue. The artists, producers, distributors, and promoters on the “scene” here have an obligation to the communal good and shouldn’t be associating themselves with extremist views.

It is not my intent to deny Mr. Shurin the right to express his views, abhorrent though they are. But, I am saddened at the lack of moderate voices on the Jewish music scene and troubled by their flirtation with and tacit endorsement of the radical right.

Sing It Again, Sam?

Here's Hirhurim on repeating words in songs.

From the mailbag...

Aryeh writes:

This e-mail is based on Michael's comments.

I listened to the Rockapella version of Sweet Home Alabama, and it is most definitely not the same arrangement as AKA Pella. Although they both use the same bass line, that line is from the original arrangement, and it's expected for acapella groups to adapt intrumental songs to vocals by using some of the same parts.

PT forwards a link to "I Got Your Blog", a duet with Dr. Bean.

From the mailbag...

Banschool writes:

What's your take on Matisyahu's second studio album YOUTH? I'm just curious to hear your opinion. I think it's infectious and downright uplifting...then again I'm not a professional music guru. 'Jerusalem' is my favorite track.

Didn't listen to the whole thing. Didn't like the tracks I heard.

Michael writes:

In addition to the general silliness surrounding the Monsey/5-Star-Judaica/Sapphire Advertising video clip, I would like to point out that the actual vocals-only *arrangement* of “Sweet Home Alabama/Yibaneh Hamikdash” was ‘borrowed’ from Rockapella, which in turn covered the famous Lynyrd Skynyrd song.

The Rockapella album is called “Common Time.”

So they’re not just ‘borrowing’ songs from the goyish oilem, they’re borrowing arrangements from goyish a cappella groups.

Let’s hear Sameach’s response to that.

If the use of the arrangement is licensed, I have no problem with their using it. If not, they can be sued for infringement. Regardless, I'm pretty sure Sameach had no idea of its source.

Rachel writes:

Thanks for your great blog. I just started an Adi Ran blog, and wanted to get any ideas you may have. I'm going to try to put up translations of Adi Ran songs, and have put up 2 so far.

Adi Ran News & Translations of Hebrew Lyrics

Heshy Maryles writes:

I noticed that there was some interesting discussion about sources for prohibiting taped music, and I thought I could add some information.

The original source to prohibit taped music is from R YC Zonnenfeld, zt"l, who paskened that the prohibition adopted in Yerushalaim against music at chasunas included recorded music. Now realize that at that time recorded music was very unsophisticated, and he still held it was ossur, so kol shekain today, where a good sound system with a great CD could sometimes sound better than live!

There are those (tzitz eliezer, for example) who maintain that a tape recorder, etc, is a musical instrument, which would prohibit even the poorest quality "musicless" sefira CDs (he even says v'chein nohagin), but it doesn't seem that the velt is mekabel this chumra.

Sources - ayin Piskei Teshuvos

P.S. your blog gets real interesting in a Toradige way sometimes -- it's starting to look like Hirhurim (minus the UO/MO issues, of course)!

I didn't include R' Sonnenfeld's psak in the discussion because I'm not convinced that it is relevant to sefirah. The takana against music at weddings in Yerusholayim is relatively recent (150 years or so) and was in response to a cholera epidemic. It is not based on the Talmudic prohibition against music since the Sanhedrin was abolished. The premise of the takana is that Jews living in Yerusholayim, who view Yerusholayim b'churbonoh daily, have an added obligation to mourn its destruction with heightened sensitivity. Thus, extracting anything from those takanos and applying it elsewhere may be a stretch, since the premise isn't applicable.

Thus, one could accept Rav Sonnenfeld's psak and still permit listening to recorded music during sefirah, IMO.

In fact, I've heard that many poskim in Yerusholayim, who accept Rav Sonnenfeld's psak, rule that it is permissible for Americans getting married there to have a full band at their weddings; which makes it clear that this is something that only applies to residents of Yerusholayim.

Incidentally, the minhag in Yerusholayim is to allow drums at weddings. They usually have one drummer and some singers. I'm surprised that no one has adopted this approach to producing sefirah albums ala Funkapella. Why waste all that time on sampling and producing second rate "mouth drums" when it seems as though you can just have the real thing?

5/15/06 Link Dump (Sewer edition)

Stepping into the sewer, the lovely Jew haters over at Liberty Forum have discovered an old Hashkafa.com thread discussing revenge, a discussion started when someone posted a link to my post on Dov Shurin and the inappropriateness of performing his song, "Zochreini Na." Here is my original post, "Radical Jewish Music (Not by John Zorn)". Here's a related post,"Singing of Revenge." Talk about missing the point! I'm referring to the H.com'ers.

LGF has posted "Voices from the Past, More Relevant Than Ever", an audio link to a rediscovered BBC recording from April 20, 1945, featuring newly liberated inmates of the Bergen-Belsen Nazi death camp singing “Hatikvah” — for the first time in 6 years.

Shira Salamone is quoting a Lenny Solomon tune, "Davar". The tune, the album closer on "Shirei Boker", an album setting the AM liturgy to music,is a fun setting of the text found at the end of Korbanos.

Davar halamed may-in-yano
v'davar halomed mesofo,
v'chayn shnay ksuvim hamachishim zeh et zeh.
Ad sheyavoh hakasuv hashlishi v'yachria bay-nay-hem.

The track features a masterful kazoo solo played by Gary Wallin, and quite influenced my approach to that instrument.

Here's a link to buy the sheet music for John Cage's composition, 4'33. We're thinking of using it as a fanfare to introduce the couple at weddings just before the 1st dance. What do you think? Here are various clips of 4'33" in MIDI, .wav, and OGG formats.

Finally, Kallah Magazine is shocked that a potential simcha industry advertiser would think that he's entitled to dictate editorial content and which of his competitors ads may be accepted. It's nice to see an advertising circular with a sense of ethics.

Shir Hashirim Asher L'Sefarad

In the mail... "Aires de Sefarad", an interesting recording by Duo 46. Duo 46 is guitarist Dr. Matt Gould and violinist Beth Ilana Schneider.

The project features composer Jorge Liderman's 46 song cycle setting of unchanged original Ladino melodies that were sung by the Sephardic Jews. Here's some info from their website:

Born in Buenos Aires, Jorge Liderman is quickly becoming one of the most highly-regarded South American composers of today, with his works being performed worldwide. Though his music is experimental, it is also extremely colorful, with a strong nationalistic undercurrent. Aires de Sefarad (Airs from Spain) is a cycle of 46 songs without words for violin and guitar, and although many of them are love songs, they vary in character and their musical nature. These songs highlight, at the core of their musical structure, unchanged original melodies that were sung in Ladino by the Spanish, or by the Hebrew, Sephardic Jews. After the Spanish Inquisition, a large number of Jews emigrated to Portugal, Tunis, Morocco, Turkey and Israel among other countries. After a 2003 visit to Spain, walking through the Jewish quarter in Cordoba and experiencing the vibrant life of the region, Liderman was inspired to write Aires de Sefarad. As he says, "This work reflects my impressions of past and present Spain in its vast and varied culture.

The music is well-played and the duo has a good rapport. The songs are short, with none longer than three minutes, and most lasting about a minute and a half or so. The flow from track to track is nice and makes harmonic sense. If you'd like to hear traditional Ladino melodies explored in depth in a classical style, or if you like art music featuring the combination of violin and classical guitar, check out Duo 46.

Kickin' It, Sefira Style! - UPDATED

Here's an interesting approach to marketing a Sefira album. Note: The video has Fiddy's "In Da Club" for those who avoid recorded music during sefira and those who avoid rap music in general. You've been warned.

Jewish Music Blog comments here. LIFE-of-RUBIN's take is here.

Miscellaneous comments:

LOR is correct. There was a Sameach logo on the box one of the chassidim was standing on last night. It's not there anymore. This is not the only Sameach related AKA-pella web item that's gone missing. In a since deleted post, referenced in the comments here, people involved with AKA-pella posted that Sameach has a policy of not allowing for the acknowledgement of which secular melodies were used in a project. IOW, the producers of AKA-pella, an album featuring Jewish lyrics set to such tunes as "Sweet Home Alabama", Van Halen's "Right Now", the "Theme from Gilligan's Island" and more, weren't allowed to credit the melodies sources in their album liner notes. An unusual policy, shall we say.

The video was filmed in Monsey in album producer Mo Kiss' father's Judaica store. Remember Moishy and Me?

Reading the comments on several of Jewish Music Blog's AKA-pella related posts, as well as on the Hashkafa.com thread linked by LOR, it's evident that some involved in this project are very thin-skinned. That's fine. But, it's pretty foolish to release an edgy album with marketing deliberately aimed at offending some people/groups, and then complain about being criticized. What kind of reaction were they expecting?

Finally, I'm interested in hearing other people's responses to this type of advertising. Share your thoughts, please.

UPDATE:

Sruly Meyer from Sameach writes:

Sameach Music does not have any policy refusing to allow credit to be given to an original composer, regardless of its origins. This situation was created by a misunderstanding of how much secular music was actually on the CD. Had Sameach known how prominently the secular music was featured we would have had an entirely different approach to this album. Sameach's policy towards using secular music is as follows. We strongly urge artists, present and future to only use original material. If secular music is being used as a parody similar to Shlock Rock or Variations that is different.

At this time I would also like to state for the record that Sameach Music is in no way involved with the marketing or promotion of this album. We were not at all involved in the artwork created for the ads or the video that was produced.

If anyone has any further questions about this, please e-mail me at SameachMusic@aol.com

5/8/06 Link Dump

Can I get some sympathy for the Beatles? Not!

I'm Haaretz, Ph.D. has posted her "(not J-music) suggestions for busting the sefira blues."

Here are 61 Versions of Tico Tico.The big JM in the AM radio station blog missed the Jewish version, "Hora Tico", on Yochis Briskman's "Mostly Horas 2" album.

While we're on the subject of multiple covers, here are 60 versions of "Stairway to Heaven."

Ever get a song stuck in your head? Brownsville Girl did.

Here's an article about Reva L'sheva frontman Yehuda Katz's latest project. Via Yitz.

Music for Yom Hazikaron

Here are some lyrics for Balada LaChovesh and Hakotel which we performed tonight as part of a Yom Hazikaron program immediately prior to the Yom Ha'atzmaut festivities.

Regardless of how one views the State of Israel and Yom Ha'atzmaut, I think it behooves us all to at least stop and recognize the tremendous sacrifices made by Israeli soldiers and their families, many of whom have to deal with the pain of losing a father, brother, husband, or son who gave his life to protect other Jews.

Unfortunately, there are many, especially in Israel, but here in the US too, who find it beneath them to honor the soldiers and their loved ones. In Israel, some Chareidim make a point of actively disrespecting the national moment of silence. Is it really so difficult to be sensitive to others? This, even if just the actions of a few,ought to be condemned by all chareidi leaders in Israel. Would that they would! Unfortunately, the biblical commandment to refrain from paining widows and orphans is ignored in favor of sending a message of some sort. It's hard to see anything positive coming out of this, but the chillul Hashem for the average Israeli, and for this Jew too, is great.

So, read through these lyrics, based on real life, and take a moment to reflect and appreciate our soldiers, who guided by the values of Torat Yisrael, put their lives on the line for Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael.