TUBACHRISTMAS 2003

Attention, tuba players! Looking for a gig?

Rejected!

The anti-Semitic Greek composer tries to "apologize", but is rejected!

The Rabbi and the Rock Opera

Here's a Forward article about a recent CLAL event.
Best 'graph:

"Kudish admitted that he was unsure what the story of Galileo had to do with the very real and pressing problems facing the Jewish community, but he dropped the subject when he became wrapped up in a discussion with Turner about Bertold Brecht."

So there is life after Deep Purple after all!

Bad Review

Here's a story about neighbors calling 911 on a singing teen!

A teenage girl whose opera-like singing was mistaken for screaming found herself face to face with police responding to her neighbour's 911 call.

It was "the most embarrassing night of her life" said Caroline Pors, the mother of 14-year-old Stephanie Pors. "She'd rather not talk about it."

"I know my voice is bad and I'm just assuming she has my genes," Ms. Pors said.

Got Rhythm?

Here's a fascinating article by Greg Sandow on rhythm:

But classical musicians often don't hear the groove at all! One reason for this is that -- especially in romantic classical music -- rhythms are stretchable. Imagine a melodic phrase that arches up toward a climax. Most classical musicians will push the beat faster as they surge toward that peak. They'll literally change the beats, pressing them closer together. Then, as they come down from the climax, they'll slow down. They may not know they're doing this; it's so much a part of classical performance that it's practically unconscious. And they may not be able to avoid doing it, even if they're suddenly thrust into a non-classical context where pulling and pushing the beats in this way isn't appropriate.

Here's a real-life example. I won't name names, but I know a terrific musician who works both in classical and pop. He's done some crossover projects, using pop musicians and classical musicians together, including some very big classical names. He told me once that one of the big classical names couldn't feel the groove. He'd push the beat forward when he reached toward the climax of a melody -- not really hearing the other players, who were grooving along, each in his own way inflecting what they infallibly felt as a steady pulse. What the classical soloist did in this case would be reasonable, if he knew he was leaving the groove, and came back to it after he'd pushed the phrase to its climax. But he couldn't do this, because he didn't feel the groove, or at least didn't feel it with the tight precision that the pop musicians had. He'd come back to a very slightly different tempo, which for the pop musicians was like not feeling any tempo at all.

One result of this -- some people, for whom classical music is home base, can't always hear what's going on in pop music. A classical musician might hear a rock song, and say, "Yuck! Those rhythms are just juvenile! The same pounding 4/4 in every measure." While a rock musician will say, "Listen to how tight they are!" -- meaning we should listen to how well they play their groove. Each good band has a groove of its own. Those different grooves help give different songs their identities -- something classical music people may not hear, because they're listening for structural things that just may not happen in rock. Meanwhile the groove is developing in ways they don't get at all.

To put this in another way (crudely stating an intriguing philosophical difference) -- classical music gets involved with thought, rock gets involved with body language. I'd say both are needed for a full view of life. But remember that this really is quite crudely stated; rock music in fact has thought, and classical music does have body langauge. It's just that the relative importance of thought and body language differs.

Interesting! I'd use his distinction in that last paragraph to explain the difference between the "classic" styles of Jewish music that I love and the "contemporary" JM styles I find banal. The new stuff is all about beat -- the melody is almost an afterthought.

Holiday Klezmer

Protocols points out an ad for a Klezmer Christmas album, "Oy to the World!" by the Klezmonauts (not The Klezmatics) on Joshua Marshall's Talking Points Memo.

I haven't heard the Klezmonauts release, but if you're looking for a great holiday klezmer album, I'd recommend the Klezmer Nutcracker.

Antitrust Exemption

Slashdot reports that Senator Orrin Hatch is supporting an antitrust exemption in the Copyright Act [for] record companies and music publishers" Why? Because of 'market realities.'

The good Senator's opinion on the bill -- a dumb idea-- wouldn't have anything to do with this, would it?

Instapundit thinks an antitrust/RICO investigation is warranted.

Singing Mushrooms???

Read about it here.

Via Dave Barry's Blog

Adam Sandler's Hannukah Song

Meryl Yourish want to know if Adam Sandler plans on revising his "Chanukah Song" to include the line "Michael Jackson: not Jewish!"

Give Your Turkeys Back Their Confidence!

"Britain's farming union has released a chill-out album to help turkeys keep calm in the understandably stressful run-up to Christmas" CNN reports.

Thanks, Dave

Not Secure After All

CNN reports that a Norwegian hacker has cracked the iTunes code.

A Dilemma

Ever since I heard about the following story, I've been debating with myself whether or not to blog about this. I have never agonized over a post the way I have thought about this. Here's the background. On September 26th the Jerusalem Post reported:

Two haredi men, one the singer son of a prominent American haredi performer, were arrested Friday afternoon in Jerusalem for enticing girls, some of whom were below the age of 16, to take dangerous drugs and then to have sexual relations with them.

In addition, police said the two men photographed the girls in intimate positions in the bathroom and having sexual relations with other men. The suspects would later show the pictures to their friends. A search of the downtown apartment of one of the suspects turned up the miniature camera that was used.

When the singer was arrested, he tried to swallow the memory disc of his computer, breaking the chip as he chewed it. "We think he had good reason to do so," the police told the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court judge.

The victims were all harediot, and police said the suspects took advantage of the girls' innocence and lack of sex education.

Investigation of the case began based on complaints filed by some of the girls as well as on additional sources, said police.

The police description of one of the suspects as the son of a prominent haredi personality led to wild speculation in the haredi community. Radio reports noted that Israeli Internet sites carried the full names of the suspects.

The judge ordered the police to allow friends of the two suspects to supply them with strictly kosher food with Eda Haredit certification.

I'm not going to name the singer here because he is presumed innocent with regard to the particulars of this accusation until proven guilty. I will say that at the very least the drug part of this has been an open secret for years. And sadly, my point here isn't just with regard to one individual. There are several others as well who are known to indulge in alchohol/drugs. The big question here is how will the industry respond. Will business continue as usual, or will the others see this as a wake-up call?

The industry's response to this scandal is even more important than the individual artists. To date, there has been no public response by the industry, and perhaps there shouldn't be, but privately there should be some deep introspection on the part of those who produce and promote Jewish music.

I believe that the producers and distributors have an obligation to stop promoting these artists. Their responsibility to the community should prevent them from promoting inappropriate role models to our youth. Unfortunately, their track record isn't good. Recent years have seen many unsuitable artists and groups promoted to our community. These include a bar-band, Soulfarm, whose logo is a psychedelic mushroom, as well as other suposedly "frum" singers whose private lives are anything but "frum".

Over the past few months, this blog has achieved a following among many in the Jewish music industry. I've received emails from producers, musicians, and the like, and I've been "blogrolled" and linked to by several Jewish blogs and forums. I think that one of the things I've been able to accomplish –and I'm assessing this in large part on the basis of the private correspondence I've received – is to increase the awareness of the importance of providing proper role-models for the community. I've posted many times about inappropriate acts that are being marketed to our community. I've also blogged often about the importance of honesty, whether in advertising, or in a singer's public actions or comments. And I believe that I've made people reconsider on that front as well. There's still a long way to go, though.

I believe that sunshine is the best disinfectant – that if people know that the public is aware of what is going on, then they will be less likely to try to cover up or be associated with wrongdoing. The OU/Lanner scandal is a good illustration of this. Abuse that went on for years, and was ignored by NCSY leadership, was addressed immediately upon publication of the accusations in The Jewish Week. Here too, I believe that if people in the industry realize that this word is out here in the U.S.A. too, (it is widely known in Israel) then they will refrain from associating with this artist and others similar to him.

It is my hope that people in the industry take this message to heart, rise to the challenge, and help to make our community better. If not, know this… people are watching and the truth will out!

A final thought:

The singer who was arrested makes a living singing Torah. The total disconnect between his music and his lifestyle is shocking and I think that it demonstrates that he didn't/doesn't mean what he sings. This is a feeling that one gets from much of the Jewish music being marketed today. The trend of late has been for vocalists to buy songs from composers. Anyone with enough money can buy these songs, hire Yisroel Lamm, Moshe Laufer, or one of a few others to arrange the music, and put out an album. The only criterion appears to be the person's voice. (Well, that or the fact that he's willing to pay Yochi Briskman, Gideon Levine, or another producer a lot of money.)

The community has been programmed to listen to music for the quality of the singer's voice alone, instead of for the emotional content of the lyrics. I hope that the producers and distributors once again begin focusing on artists who are performing inspirational music that comes from their souls. (It goes without saying that singing ability should also be factored in.) I believe that it is possible to have heartfelt, Jewish music in most any music style so long as the artist means and genuinely feels what he's singing.

Different Dei'ah V'dibbur

Here's a Dei'ah V'dibbur article on wedding planning.

These 'graphs are interesting:

The location of the band is critical. "The musicians need a place to play that will honor the guests," explains Gedaliah Shofnos, a popular orchestra leader for more than twenty years, originally from America. "If they're stuck in a corner or put under a low ceiling off to the side, you get sound that's accentuated and louder than it should be -- not to mention disinterested musicians. The band also needs to have eye contact with the dancers." For these reasons, a central location in the hall, close to the center of the room, is crucial.

People should be aware of these issues when deciding where the band should set up at their affair.

I hate it when this happens:

For example, at rabbonishe weddings, the entrance of every new rosh yeshiva invariably brings someone over to the orchestra to demand another round of "Yomim al yemei melech..."

"We can play Yomim for ten minutes until the guests have it coming out of their ears, but each time we start to play another song, someone comes over to tell us to play it again," Shofnos recalls. "The hosts should trust the band's judgment, and also assign someone as an intermediary, to tactfully say `no' to unreasonable requests."

This usually happens on Purim as each Rebbi/Rov enters the room. It sometimes happens at weddings too.

Surprisingly, the catering can slow down the momentum of the band and the dancers... or extinguish it altogether. By serving the courses too quickly, too much time is freed up for dancing, which overtaxes the guests.

This is something that many people don't realize. Often, the dance set will be either longer or shorter than necessary and people will naturally assume that this is the bands fault. The reality usually is that the caterer either needs more time to get the main course ready, or else, is trying to rush the event to keep it on schedule. In the NYC area, it's usually the caterer who decides the length of the dance sets and not the bandleader.

More Silly Music

Goys and Dolls!

Say Oy Vey

A Tale of Bridge, Romance, and a Nice Prune Danish!

Safam Songwriter

I think I just found the guy who wrote Dodi Li, B'nei Safam, and other sappy songs for Safam.

Sameach @ the Wheel

So I just heard some of the new Sameach at the Wheel release. What are these guys thinking? The drums sound terrible and the guitar is way overprocessed. The album concept seems silly too... Jewish driving music???

Also, the Neshoma office seems to have a schizophrenic approach. One day they decry the secularization of Jewish music…

This album has been recorded with one purpose in mind. That purpose, simply stated, is to return Jewish Music to its former glory and splendor. It is our hope that we have captured the Neshoma of a Heimishe Simcha in its most pure and basic expression. That is, we have attempted to let the Niggunim and the words speak directly to the heart and soul of a Jew-without the extraneous influences that unfortunately have begun to corrupt many of our meaningful and most treasured Niggunim. We pray that you, the listener, will discern the emes amiti of the music included on this album and will allow it to elevate your Neshoma to an even higher plane(From the liner notes to Neshoma Orchestra's "A Heimishe Simcha" )

...while the next they're releasing this sort of rock/pop album. The album even includes The Axel F. theme from the Beverly Hills Cop movies.

Look Out, Chevra!

Here come the singing pickles!

Oy Baby!

The The yada, yada, yada blog has a post about an new video for Jewish babies titled "Oy Baby!"
One of the vocalists, Kim Palumbis, recorded vocals for "OyBaby" only days before giving birth.

Concert or Wedding?

From the Jewish Press letters section: "Where Am I?

In defense of those whose behavior Beth Schindelman (Letters, Nov.7) found deplorable at a Sukkos concert: Perhaps they mistakenly thought theywere at a wedding. At a number of weddings I`ve attended in the last few years, I mistakenly thought I was at a concert.
Mark Sodden
(Via E-Mail)

Ha!