Looking for A Guest Post?

After some thought and some private communications from some folks named in -- and hurt by -- Chaim Rosenblatt’s guest post, I’ve decided to pull it. The reason I am doing so is because upon rereading it, I believe that he made some unfair characterizations about other offices' historical behavior that are incorrect. Snark and good-natured humor is ok. Put downs ought not be. Neither should misrepresentations. And, people who do the right thing by their musicians and by the public, ought not have their names publicly dragged into this. I should have vetted the post before putting it up, and I apologize for that and for any hurt caused by the post. And, rather than just rebutting those assertions, I'd rather leave these people out of it. They didn't ask to be brought into this conversation and their actions don't warrant it either.

Even though I’m pulling the post for those reasons, I will share my thoughts on the specifics of Rosenblatt’s comments, because I think his points are worthy of comment.

At the beginning of his essay, Rosenblatt listed reasons why musicians sign up with the union.

1) To make their needs heard
2) To assure they are guaranteed at lest a minimum payment
3) To assure themselves health and pension
4) To oversee that they are treated properly

He also gives a reason for why the orchestras sign with the union.

1) Orchestras sign up so that they can get access to the vast musicians the union represents.

It seems to me, that while these are all true, there are other reasons for why a musician might join the union. A major one, which Rosenblatt omitted, is to help assure their peers are also treated fairly. This concept of “arevus”, a sense of responsibility towards others, rather than just oneself, reflects a sensitivity that I see as lacking throughout the piece. I will elaborate shortly.

Rosenblatt listed a number of reasons for why musicians aren’t joining the union.
1) The health plan isn’t great for larger “frum” families.
2) The pension plan is in trouble. (He provided a link to document this).
3) The notion that the union represents union offices more than the individual musicians.

Based on what I’ve seen, these are all legitimate criticisms.

As far as working with the union… Rosenblatt, has offered to pay into the union pension/health fund for all union musicians he’s hired. To me, that sounds like a fair option, which would preserve union members benefits, while allowing Rosenblatt the right to decide not to join the union.

However, according to Rosenblatt, the union has demanded that he
1) Hire only union musicians
2) Or else, pay into the union pension/health payments, even for non-union musicians.

Since, even union bands in this field regularly hire non-union musicians and there is no reason for the union to collect payments on behalf of musicians it doesn’t represent (and who will never benefit from those payments), it seems to me that those demands are fundamentally unfair.

Rosenblatt also asserts that his non-union five-piece band costs him more than a union five-piece band would.

In this case, I believe he is comparing apples to oranges. Comparing first stringers who deserve, and get a premium, to generic “bottom tier” union musicians, might look good on paper, but is not realistic. The reality is, if you want to consistently present a good band, at least some of the musicians will command more than “scale” for their work.

Rosenblatt also listed a number of well-known mistreatments that occur in the business.
1) Getting cancelled for an in-demand date, like a Sunday in June, on the Thursday before.
2) Needing to wait one, two, or even six months to get paid.
3) Being treated disrespectfully by the bandleader.
4) Situations where there is animosity between a musician and the office, but he still takes work because he needs the money and they have the most jobs available for him.

As we’ve discussed in previous posts, the largest offenders in this regard are some of the union offices. (As I noted before, this should not be taken as a criticism of all union offices.)

Rosenblatt presented his policy, which is:
1) He reserves the right to hire whoever he wants, union or non-union.
2) He will not use a musician who cancels on him after confirming a date.

It seems to me that he is well within his right to adopt those policies.

As far as his characterization of specific people as haters… I think he unfairly included one pro-union musician in that list. There is a difference between arguing a pro-union position, as this person did, and unfair accusations as Mr. Farrington did. He should have acknowledged the difference. Again, good-natured teasing is one thing. Name-calling is another.

Rosenblatt included a bit about undercutting and named a lot of names, asserting that different bands have done the same thing he is doing to break in etc. I don’t want to get into the specifics of that, except to say that from what I know, he mischaracterized at least one band/bandleader there unfairly.

I do want to address the general concept on two levels. This will bring me back to the notion of “areyvus”, of looking after one’s peers/community and not just oneself.

There is a difference between lowering the commission a booking agent makes, which might be a fair tactic to use while breaking into an industry, and charging so low a rate, or even playing for free, in a way that harms existing businesses.

For instance, as I believe I've written about in the past, I’ve had competitors approach steady clients and offer to play for free. I believe this is an immoral tactic. (As an aside, I recently heard of a shul that had hired a band for their annual dinner and were then made such an offer by a competing band. To their credit, the dinner committee consulted with the shul’s rabbi, who told them that they should not accept the offer.)

Anyone can play one such gig for free on a given date. No one can play for free, or very little $ regularly. Adopting such tactics, while they may be beneficial to the individual making the offer, (and to the client) directly harm the community of musicians at large. A slight discount, to account for perhaps lesser experience, is appropriate. So is starting out playing smaller, low-budget affairs. But, the numbers I’ve heard quoted for some bands, indicate that at the very least, the regulars – who were living in their parent's home at the time and did not have real financial obligation of their own – literally took jobs that other musicians need to eat.

And, there is always someone else that can do this. To the extent that Rosenblatt alleges that other offices have done this, in those cases they are also wrong. However, based on price quotes I heard at the time, he took this to an extreme when starting out. I think this is unfair. It reflects the valuing of self, regardless of the consequences to others.

Incidentally, this criticism does not only apply to offices that use unfair booking tactics. It also directly relates to how the individual musicians within this part of the industry ought to view their obligations with regard to accepting work from certain offices. It seems to me that perhaps the largest criticism of the musicians union is that they don’t protect the individual musicians from unfair offices. Yet, to a large extent, those offices would simply be unable to continue their unfair practices if musicians -- union or not -- wouldn’t take work from them.

This is especially true when musicians take gigs where an office has lowballed a gig, beyond what their steady office can compete with, because the steady office is committed to paying everyone scale or above.

I think this illustrates the tension I personally see with regard to union/non union in the frum industry. In other words, I’m not convinced that Local 802 is relevant to the frum community. Thus far in this discussion, I’m leaning strongly in the opposite direction, and I take strong issue with a lot of what they do/have done. (I am open to hearing another perspective, and would love to see a guest-post from that side.) Yet, I still think there is a need for musicians to demonstrate solidarity (to use a popular union concept) within the frum industry. Perhaps its idealistic, but ultimately, thinking this way will benefit everyone.

More Email About Unions

Michael writes:

One final thought:
Any musician that worked for a band and got stiffed should NEVER agree to work for them again. Or better yet, before cutting them off accept a gig and show up and NOT play until the thief gives you what he owes you plus the current gig up front. If you let someone abuse you more than once you enable him to do it to others. (I do not believe Rosenblatt ever stiffed anyone out of money) On the band side: If a musician cancels a gig on me without justifiable cause I will Never book him for another one no matter how great a musician he is.

I have a similar policy. There are great musicians I will never call for a gig, because they cancelled for no reason or last minute without making any effort to cover the slot.

This actually raises a good point about something the union ought to be doing, but which, to the best of my knowledge doesn't do. We hear talk, as threatened in the Allegro article against Chaim Rosenblatt, about an office being labeled "unfair", with the result that union members would not be allowed to accept work from that office.

It seems to me that a more appropriate place to make that threat would be against union offices that are stiffing union members. This would serve a few goals. First, it would protect union members directly, which is ostensibly the union's main goal. Second, it would prevent these offices from undercutting those bands who do pay their musicians. I've lost a few gigs over the years to a union band who quoted prices so low, that the only way he could have do so, is by intending at the outset to either stiff some musicians at the end of the night, hire unprofessional kids to cover some slots, or, as has happened, both. In an extremely price sensitive economy, it's simply impossible to compete with that, in situations where cost is a/the major component of the client's decision process.

So, why didn't doesn't the union talk about this? If the tactic of not permitting union workers to working for a certain band does have an impact, why is that tactic not used here?

Some Pro Union Responses...

JP Farrington writes:

So the way you get to the bottom of things is you go to Chaim and ask him if the union's allegations are true? That's real investigative reporting. Hard to understand your complaint about the union doing nothing for musicians, when after several years they are actually trying to do something and musicians like you take them to task for it. Everything the union says about Chaim I am sure is true, including the contradictory statements that he is paying scale and not paying scale. He's doing both! That's the point. He entices certain musicians he likes for certain chairs and exploits the rest. He is the typical exploiter. Divide and conquer. But hey, don't take my word for it. Ask Chaim. I'm sure he'll tell you the whole truth. Then you can proudly carry his water for him. God save us musicians from your kind of truth seeker.

Actually, I asked Rosenblatt about some allegations the union made that were, in the main, absurd on their face. There is a lot of resentment at Rosenblatt/Evenal within the industry for their undercutting, yet, in several years of hearing complaints, and playing on other bandstands with these musicians, I have yet to hear of even ONE musician who claims that he was paid under scale, let alone that he was shorted, stiffed, booked for two gigs on a Sunday, then switched to a twi. etc. These are complaints I hear regularly about certain bands. When people talk about offices that have stiffed them, the top offenders have been union bands. (To be clear: I'm not claiming that all union bands mistreat their workers. Only, that the biggest offenders in this regard in the "frum" industry have all been union shops. Everyone in the field knows this.)

It seems to me that there ought to be a case the union can make, without misrepresentations or distortions. If you'd like to write a guest post about why "frum" musicians should join the union, I'd be happy to post it.

Jordan Hirsch writes:

I think that the complaints of union inaction against Barock are well founded, to a point. One of the things you have to realize is that the union can only go after employers for stiffing musicians if the musicians inform the union about it. In fact, when that has hjappened in the past, the union has been very effective in getting the money. But a lot of times, musicians are reluctant to go to the union because they are afraid of retaliation by their employers. Unfortunately, the union was not focussed on the Jewish Club date field for about four years, in the previous administration.

But all this talk of above scale makes me laugh. There would be no scale to pay above if the union, with the support of musicians, did not negotiate for it. The Union, in fact, any Union, is only as good as the interest of the members in getting involved. When musicians have gotten involved, the Union has done amazing things. By the way, it is not just scale that is secured by the Union negotiators, but Pension and health benefits. In other words, the Union can make it possible for the music business to be a professional endeavor, not just a way to pick up extra income. Chaim Rosenblatt does not pay a cent into anyone's pension. Unions are a fantastic way to make the needs of the musicians heard, but it can only happen if the musicians are willing to be involved.

You are too young toremember when scale was $89.00 for four hours, and overtime was paid at a little less than time. Now scale is much higher, and will get higher still if musicians are willing to make a commitment to working together. And overtime is paid at time plus 20%, which frankly happened because I was on a commitee that made it happen. Scale does not just magically appear, it has to be fought for.

That's just the beginning of my response. Feel free to ask me any questions.

I've invited Jordan to guest post. I hope he does.

Jordan's response actually highlights one of the issues with the union, which is, that although it is supposed to protect members from exploitation by management, it really can't when management is booking a lot of work.

With regard to the idea of musicians not complaining to the union for fear of retaliation.... even without complaints, the union ought to have known something was wrong and acted. We're talking years of non-payments here. It shouldn't take a complaint (and this was public knowledge in the industry) to get the union to do something.

I agree with Jordan that there would be no scale without the union. I'm going to leave the discussion of scale for a separate post.

More On The Musicians Union

So, I'd been hoping to get things started with a nice presentation of both sides of this issue. However, thus far, there has been no compelling pro-union case made in any of the emails I've received. So, we'll look at things from a critical angle first.

Let's look at the two recent stories I linked from the union newsletter...

On the surface, these stories (which the union has put out there) seem like union success stories, at least in part. In one, the union tells of its success at winning a $39,631.21 judgement against Barock Orchestra for health benefit contributions owed to the Local 802 Health Fund, its lawsuit against Neginah Orchestra and Shelly Lang to recoup $78,000 owed to the Local 802 Health Fund, and its convincing of Aaron Teitlebaum to sign a union contract.

The other one tells of the union efforts against Chaim Rosenblatt.

Yet, when reading these stories and thinking about them for a moment, it seems clear that the union does not protect musicians as it should, and that it selectively presents or misrepresents "facts" to suit its agenda.

Lets look at the first story...

Its been an open secret for years that Barock Orchestra has been regularly stiffing musicians, yet, where has the union been? The fact that things were allowed to get to the point where these kinds of amounts of p/w could be owed at all, seems to demonstrate that the union is NOT on top of situations where rank and file members are concerned. Similarly, without getting into specifics, there are an awful lot of known abuses by union bands that have gone unchecked for decades. Where is the union on this? Well, apparently, after the numbers accumulate enough, they are willing to go after money that will sit in their bank accounts for a while. But, as far as achieving justice for individual musicians who have been screwed, it seems, not so much.

The same with Neginah. There are decades of stories, and in fact, when I broke into the business many of the musicians I most respected were refusing to work for them after having been screwed.... yet the union did virtually nothing. And the idea of holding up one of the main actors there as "doing the right thing" since he split off, is weak tea at best.

OK, so the union isn't quick to stand up for rank and file members in the Jewish field... but certainly their organizing campaign against Chaim Rosenblatt is legit, right? Well, let's take a closer look at what they are trying to do...

The concept of the union, as I understand it, is to protect musicians from exploitation by unscrupulous management. So let's see....

The union makes a number of assertions about Rosenblatt in their article. On the face of it, some of them seemed absurd, so I emailed Rosenblatt to ask him a few questions about these issues.

Here are the questions I asked him:

I'm planning to write a piece about the union article you sent me. If you'd like to write a guest post, that offer stands.

I have a few quick questions for you... I've put some quotes from the article below with a quick question or two after each one, asking if the assertions made about you/your business practices are true.

"While claiming to be paying above scale to his musicians, a claim that we know is a lie, Rosenblatt cited the recent upheaval in Wisconsin in order to press home a point that should not be lost on Local 802 members."

1) Do you pay above scale to all of your musicians?
2) Do you or have you ever paid any musicians below scale?

"He also wants to paint the union as an organization that does not represent musicians but represents the Jewish club date offices who hire Local 802 musicians and who do the right thing and pay into the health and pension funds."

3) Is this a correct characterization?

"The truth is that the members themselves are calling us and asking us to please do something about Rosenblatt. By undercutting scales and not paying pension and health benefits, Rosenblatt’s ability to undercut bids from legitimate offices that hire union musicians is greatly increased."

4) Are you aware of any union musicians you've hired, who have complaints about your pay rates or the way you treated them?

"Rosenblatt may pay some players "scale" or even more – that’s fine with us. But we feel that Rosenblatt’s intention is to destroy the union in the Jewish club date field. Let’s say that Local 802 was forced to withdraw completely from this field. If that happened, does anyone think for one moment that Rosenblatt would continue to pay an amount greater than "union scale" if this scale didn’t exist anymore? And then, guess what would happen next? Another unscrupulous employer out there might then undercut Rosenblatt. More and more undercutting would lead to a race to the bottom. The union exists to prevent this scenario. We provide a minimum scale, a line in the sand that may not be crossed. That is why the grassroots musicians in this field are fundamentally on the union’s side – not Rosenblatt’s."

5) Do you really intend to "destroy" the union, so that you can pay musicians less?

"What kind of person is Chaim Rosenblatt? I think he’s a young businessman who exploits his employees and, because of that, undercuts his competition. He is apparently not a musician and does not understand or appreciate what it means to be a musician. I feel he is the kind of person who should not be allowed around art in any of its forms."

6) Has any musician ever complained to you that he/she feels exploited by you?
6a) Have you ever heard of such a claim being made to others by your musicians.

In his response, Rosenblatt told me that he treats his musicians well and always pays above scale - not just scale. Those union musicians who have health plans through the union need to have their jobs go through the union in order to count those jobs towards the required number of gigs to get those health benefits. Rosenblatt has offered to pay those musicians through the union, but the union is insisting that all musicians be paid that way. This insistence that he only use union musicians/pay through the union means that, if he signed a union contract, the union could (theoretically) stop him from hiring non-union musicians. Since many Jewish musicians are not union, this would potentially limit his ability to hire the musicians he wants. (In practice, the union hasn't forced this issue that I'm aware of with other bands.)

He does believe the the union represents the interests of the union offices, not the individual players. He says he is unaware of any musicians who are unhappy with their pay. (This allegation by the union seemed absurd on its face.)

It seems to me that an objective observer reading the union article against Rosenblatt would find it confusing -- (It both asserts that he pays less then scale AND that he pays over scale allegedly to "destroy the union") and not compelling.

Note: I am not a fan of the way Rosenblatt/Evenal broke into the business, but that still does not justify a smear campaign based on innuendo and distortion.

I'd still like to present a coherent argument for unions in general and for Local 802's continued involvement in the "frum" music business, so if you feel you can make one, please send it in.

If a good submission comes in, I'll post it. Otherwise, I intend to start looking at general claims the union makes, and explore whether they are true or relevant to the "frum" music industry.

Shed No Tears for the Death of JDUB

Over at Commentary, Matthew Ackerman blogs "Shed No Tears for the Death of JDUB."

A Personal Plea About the Boro Park Tragedy!

Please, guys! Can we, just this once, not write a song/capitalize on this? Thank you!

JDub Records is Closing

JTA report here.

This could be a good opportunity for someone(s).

Union emails

Michael writes:

Here is my take on the matter:
Chaim got started booking gigs for Evenal. (3 guys who could play a wedding but at that time could not get work with the 'reguler ' bands. They were willing to work for a pittance just to get work. Isn't that ok? The other guys they hired were paid scale+ but they still could pull off a 5 piece band for 1500.) After they got busy chaim figured it was time to start booking some stuff on his own. To my knowledge everyone who works for him demands and gets paid at least union scale.

A reader (if you want attribution, let me know) writes:

I am not keen for this discussion to take place, because many people who are affected by the Union, both positively and negatively, are often unequipped to put aside their prejudices from either the left or the right, and often the discussion of these issues turns into a yelling match. In addition, many of the participants are not old enough or in the business long enough to have an informed perspective on what the Union has until now accomplished for musicians, especially in NYC and LA. Suffice it to say that outside of the strong musicians Union locals, the freelance music field is a catch as catch can business, and there is no way to gauge of people are able to make a living as musicians.

The question can be divided in another way: Do you think a Union can help sidemen keep their wages and benefits stable and growing? And do you think THIS Union can do that? I think the answers to those questions will force people to think differently about the issue than they do now. I have much more to say, but Shabbos is coming.

I'm interested in hearing from more folks on this. Please send in your comments.

Housekeeping - New Email Address!

I've changed email addresses. For all future blog-related correspondence, please use the email address in the sidebar. Please update your files, as the old address will be out of service shortly. Thanks!

More Union Matters

I've received a number of emails with regard to the post "Does the Musicians Union Have A Role in the Jewish Club Date Field?"

I'll be posting these for discussion. I am hoping for a productive discussion.

First up, Chaim Rosenblatt emails to tell us about the union article against him. It is in the May issue of Allegro, the union newsletter. It is the fourth article titled, "'Are You Ready for Us?' Organizing Matters" by Michael Donovan

Unfortunately, the union website is not setup to allow hot-linking to specific articles, but you can navigate to it from their homepage.

Here's the opening, but I strongly encourage reading the whole thing for the purposes of this discussion.

"We enjoy paying our musicians well above what unions tell musicians they are to be paid. We enjoy treating them right! Wisconsin agrees!"

That was a recent text message sent by Chaim Rosenblatt, owner of the EvanAl Orchestra, to Local 802 Representative Peter Voccola.

As we demonstrate and protest against EvanAl Orchestra and Chaim Rosenblatt Productions in order to get the Jewish club date field in order, it is interesting to note Rosenblatt’s choice of words.

While claiming to be paying above scale to his musicians, a claim that we know is a lie, Rosenblatt cited the recent upheaval in Wisconsin in order to press home a point that should not be lost on Local 802 members.

For informed union people, this particular method of attack from an employer who exploits his workers in order to undercut scales is both insulting and ridiculous at the same time....

I've offered Rosenblatt the opportunity to write a guest post on the subject, and I hope that he will. I'll give him a chance to do so, before addressing the specifics of this article.

At the same time, I am happy to post guest posts from other perspectives. Send 'em in, and I'll put 'em up on the blog.

Not A New Lipa Schmeltzer Ban - Updated

Failed Messiah posts A New Lipa Schmeltzer Ban. Only problem is, he either misunderstands or misrepresents the material. It's not a ban on Lipa Schmeltzer at all, although the flyer does refer to Lipa negatively, in the context of condemning the notion of concerts in Uman.

Update: A post-event report (in Hebrew) here.

Does the Musicians Union Have A Role in the Jewish Club Date Field?

It's been a while since we've had a good discussion thread on the blog. Here's one that many folks have strong opinions on. I'd like to hear from folks on both sides on this. Pro and anti. From management, union workers, and the union too, if they want to contribute. Let's see if we can get a useful conversation going.

A few questions to start...

1) Does the union have a serious role in the Jewish club date field?
1a) Should the union have a role?

2) For union members: How specifically has the union helped you personally? Do you feel it is worth joining/staying in the union?

3) For non-union members: Why haven't you joined the union? Has there been any down side for you?

4) For offices who have a union contract: How has being union helped or hindered your business?

5) For offices who don't have a union contract: How has being non-union helped or hindered your business?

6) For all, any general thoughts or questions on this topic you want to share or discuss?

As a trigger, for this discussion, I'm going to repost a link I shared in an earlier link dump, "Let's Stabilize the Jewish Club Date Field."

This situation can be viewed in a variety of ways, as either demonstrating a strength or weakness of the union. What's your take on it?

Some Links for Y'all

Jello Biafra cancels Israel gig, but will go to Israel, and may reschedule. He attacks boycotters. Check this:

"I can't back anyone whose real goal or fantasy is a country ethnically cleansed of Jews or anyone else, where people who think for themselves or talk to the wrong person are automatically a sellout."

Read the whole thing.

Teruah posts "The Wondering Jew Talks Jewish Music." Jack's on a roll these days. check out some of his other recent posts while you're there!

JDub Records interviews the self-proclaimed Gangsta Rabbi. I remember seeing reviews of his cassettes in the Musician's Exchange mag they used to give out in local music stores in NY years ago.

7/2 link dump

Haven't done one 'o these in a while...

"A nigun a day" says "No joke. This song was composed, lyricized, recorded, and sold!" Look for a sequel coming soon! "Me and My Eidim's Five!

Over @ HuffPo, Josh Fleet posts "Words Of Wonder: How Jewish Poems Become Songs Of Praise."

Some yeshiva students rock Jerualem of Gold.

Oy, Mayn Libe Basarabye!"

Deleon releases a "Soca Hora Hora Medley."‬‏

Over at Sh'ma "Rethinking Music Making: A Teshuvah for the Conservative Movement."

Over at the musician's union website, frum wedding band offices gone bad.

Sibelius released "Scorch for iPad."

The Forward had a bit on "Daniel Kahn and the Relevance of Yiddish Protest Songs" and a piece on and Benjy Fox-Rosen's. latest. There are audio clips. Go listen!

This is Yiddish on " Rocking Out — In Yiddish."

Finally, Menachem Herman posts "Not Another Brick In The Wall".

Say What?

"Bugs Meany"
A Chanel-wearing older woman approaches the piano player at a nice soiree at a 2 Million dollar apartment in NYC to talk about how wedding bands ALWAYS play too loud. Totally not a concern with a piano/violin duo, one would think. After finishing her rant, she heads over to the buffet for some veggies. Returning with a plate of carrot sticks, she confides: "when the music is too loud, I just put these in my ears. Tissues don't help, but these are spongy and block the sound." It was tempting to play loud just to cause her to do that.

"The Goth Rebbetzin"
This older peep shows up dressed like a rebbetzin in prim black suit/white blouse combo, sporting a snood. Oh, and black lipstick. Mamesh tznius!

"Suicide Girlfriend"
If you invite your eccentric non-Jewish childhood friend --yes, the one with a handlebar moustache, who looks like a circus ringmaster -- to be your best man, keep in mind that he might bring his Suicide Girl model girlfriend as his date. She will wear a strapless/backless/sleeveless ball gown, which will show off her full body tattoos (featuring flaming skulls & naked women) covering her entire right shoulder/arm/back. And, she will be in all of the photos. Just an FYI.

Do you Ya'alili?

Do you Ya'alili? Hat tip, Leibel.

Seriously, what's the deal with wedding bands posting videos of themselves attempting to play the song? If your lead singer(s) have to keep leaning over/picking up papers to read the words, it might not be the best image to post all over the web. You do want to look like you know the material you play, right?

Simcha and Gorfinkel!

Gay Weddings

Check 1,2! Is this thing on?...

Some interesting changes are possibly afoot in New York. There is the possibility that the Senate will pass a same sex marriage bill. A bill was already passed by the Assembly, and they are one vote short in the Senate, so if one Republican can be induced to vote for it, the bill will be come law.

(This is just a question of timing anyway. It is inevitable that a same-sex marriage bill will be passed in NY sometime soon.)

Here's an article that discusses what Republicans are negotiating with regard to the bill.

Check this part:

Ball, one of the critical undecided Republicans, said he was looking at the same-sex marriage bill from a "very pragmatic perspective."

"I understand that there's going to be certain areas where they're not going to be able to have religious protections because you open up a whole new can of worms," he said.

One example: a proposal by a Washington and Lee University professor that would create exemptions for individuals who don't want to provide marriage-related goods or services because of their religious beliefs.

Professor Robin Wilson believes, for example, that a baker should be able to reject a couple's request for a wedding cake if his religion prevents him from serving a same-sex -- or an interfaith, or even interracial -- couple. He would only be forced to bake the cake if his refusal created unnecessary hardship for the couple, because, Wilson said, "in a straight up contest [...] marriage equality trumps religious liberty." Such a proposal would likely be a non-starter in New York state, particularly for individuals, as opposed to religiously-affiliated non-profits. "You can't institutionalize discrimination within the bill, nor would I ever want to," Ball said. Yet the proposal is an example of the issues that lawmakers may have to grapple with should they decide to broaden religious exemptions.

Depending on the final bill passed (whether this bill or a few years down the road) there may well be implications for how "frum" wedding bands deal with this issue.

Currently, I have seen offices take the following approaches to booking gay/lesbian weddings.

1) Turn the job down for religious reasons.
2) Book lesbian weddings and send out an all female band. (In Halacha, lesbian relations are only prohibited Rabbinically, as opposed to male homosexual relations whichy are Biblically prohibited.)
3) Book the wedding, but under a different band name.
4) Book the gig, and claim the client surprised the band a week or two out with the fact that it was a gay wedding. (This actually happened. The claim, that is. Not that I believe it.)
5) Refer the job to a different band (and earn a referral fee).
6) Accept the job.

Depending on the final legislation, some of these options may no longer be legal.

It is possible that this might open up the field of options for gay and lesbian couples looking for Simcha/Chassidic music at their weddings, which would be very meaningful to some homosexuals from the frum community.

New Skver Mitzvah Tants Melody - UPDATED

Here.

The silence from communal leaders in and out of Skver speaks volumes. For shame!

UPDATE: Tzig has some relevant comments here.

UPDATE II: Remix time!

Chag Sameach!

From the mailbag...

Six13 forward a link to their video "P-A-S-S-O-V-E-R." Their description: "It's our "Kosher L'pesach" take on two big hits by Usher and Ke$ha"

Dovid Kerner forwards a link to Matza'laya. I think I've posted this one before.

BDE - Micky Lane Z"L - UPDATED

Shalom emails to inform that Mickey Lane died recently. Baruch dayan emes! There's an obit here. His brother Zal has commented on the blog in the past. Condolences to the family.

UPDATE: 4/12

I will add any reader comments to this post.

Zevy Zions writes:

We all grew up with Mickey’s bass lines on all of the early Neginah albums. He was a great musician and he will surely be missed.

Sy Kushner writes:

I was saddened to read of Mickey Lane's passing. Mickey was truly unique, one of a kind. Though I had not been it touch with Mickey for many years, I recall our conversations about music and musical gear, both about which we were passionate. We both laughed at our inability to get rid of our obsolete gear with the result that both our pads looked like a Sam Ash warehouse. He performed with me during the Mark 3 days. He was surely a handful on the bandstand and beyond. May G-d give him peace and rest his soul.

Yehuda Mond writes:

Mickey Lane hasn’t played on a JM album since the late seventies (as far as I know), so here is some background for those who’ve never heard of the guy. Any Jewish music listener who has listened to the Rabbis’ Sons, D’veykus, Kol Salonika, Neginah Orchestra records, and The Messengers (among many other artists from the ‘60s and ‘70s) has heard Mickey’s bass line. Back when contemporary Jewish music was in its infancy, and before the fretted and fretless bass guitars became more standard, the bass fiddle (a.k.a. contrabass) was used, which was one contributing factor for the Rabbis’ Sons “folksy” sound.

My condolences to the Lane family – Mickey has earned an honorable spot in the JM Hall of Fame.

Parenthetically, a shout-out to Sy Kushner: We’re still singin’ Romemu. Keep squeezing the accordion!

UPDATE 4/17:

Shalom writes:

YouTube - MICKEY LEE LANE - "HEY SAH-LO-NEY"

YouTube - Mickey Lee Lane- "Shaggy Dog"

This is a side of ML that we never got to hear; I remember him only as a bassist and engineer, not a guitarist, but it sounds like he could rock out with the best of them.

An earlier one: hYouTube - Mickey & Shonnie Lane - "Daddy's Little Baby"This one is credited to Mickey and Shonnie Lane; did he have a sister?

There's some other stuff of his on YT if you dig around. Someone put up a discography at the Goner Records Mobile Message Boardbut that's just the non-JM stuff. Might be interesting to start going through some old records and see what else there is with his name on it.

Commentary Discovers 613

It is a great time for Jewish music, but I don't know that I'd choose this to illustrate that.

Ironic Orthodoxy

Oh dear!

To The Tune of....

Over at On The Main-line, Fred posts an interesting piece - "The original Shlock Rock: R. Yisrael Najara's 16th century religious Hebrew poetry set to Middle Eastern rock music.

Bigger Than Bieber

Leftover Cholent has da deets!

I'm Incensed!

From Shotei Hanevuah singer Ro'i Levy's Tehilla" (Glory) project, which is dedicated to prayers from the prayer book - "Ketoret." Groovy.

Concert Controversy - UPDATED

Yesterday, a promo video for an upcoming concert to benefit Tzivos Hashem was posted online. The event featured Avraham Fried, Lipa Schmeltzer, a boys choir, and a segment called Jewish Kids Got Talent.

Apparently, some in the community found either the notion or the actual footage of the black choreographer and hip-hop dancers to be unacceptable, and controversy erupted.

A little while ago, The Cool Jew interviewed the event producer, who defended the decision to include those performers, and said the show would continue as planned. A short while later, the Lubavitch youth organization "Tzivos Hashem" contacted TheCoolJew.com to state "this issue has been corrected. These performers will no longer be part of the show and will not have anything further to do with it."

UPDATE 3/27
I've done some checking around, and have been unable to find anyone else commenting on this aside from the Cool Jew's posts. There doesn't appear to be any controversy over this on any of the popular Chabad/Lubavitch websites. It looks to me like a one man crusade by the Cool Jew against the black choreographers. That changes the story materially, so I though y'all should know. CJ did write another post today, "Rabbi Heller Blasts Tzivos Hashem Concert" about the topic, but without audio, I'd read that as this rabbi is opposed to concerts in general, not specifically addressing this one and the question of non-Jewish dancers etc. In other words, the only person who seems to have had a problem here is the blogger himself. That's a very different story. It speaks to his racism alone. That's a relief to hear.

PS, as that post quoted Lipa, the dancers did appear at today's show.

UPDATE 3/28

The Cool Jew posted a rant, Shame on You Tzivos Hashem, today. I'm counting this as confirmation of my previous update. He's trying to gin up opposition, but, contrary to his reporting, this does not appear to have been generated controversy beforehand.

Maccabeat-down II

The authors respond to criticism of their Jewish Week article with "Missing the Point: It’s about women (and men) and Orthodoxy, not the Maccabeats."

Meh. A weak response to defend a weak article.

Dear Mr. Waters,

In the Forward, Israeli musician Koby Oz writes a Letter to Roger Waters on Israel and BDS.

Maccabeat-down!

In the Jewish Week... "Where are the Women in the Maccabeats Video?"

Most of the commentors thus far disagree.

From the mailbag...

Ben writes:

I thought you'd enjoy this new music video for Purim. It features 100 Israelis from all different backgrounds dancing in the desert.

It's called Raise Your Mask - a parody of Pink's Raise Your Glass.

Happy Adar!

E. sends a link to the Maccabeats "The Purim Song."

He also forwards a link to this VIN exclusive.

Jew Man Group writes:

Hi there!

Big fan of your site. We’re a new “Kosher comedy” venture that just released our first single – it’s “Bar’chu!”, a remix of “Forget You” by Cee-Lo, and we’re hoping you’ll find the video worthy of posting. It’s going viral as we speak. J

Please check it out and let us know what you think!

Psachya writes about Mikis Theodorakis:

The sad thing (for me) about the Mikis Theodorakis debacle is that he,at one time, was rather popular in many Jewish homes.

Those of us who grew up listening to Art Raymond's "Morning Simcha" radio program were very familiar with some of Theodorakis' music. Art didn't play it himself, but for years his program on WEVD ("The Station That Speaks Your Language") was immediately followed by a Greek language program. And, every morning, the first sounds heard after Art signed off was a selection from Theodorakis' score for the movie "Z". As a result, Theodorakis got a bit of a following in the Jewish music-listening community. My grandfather A"H had an LP of the "Z" soundtrack, and I've seen it in many other LP collections beside Shlomo Carlebach, Jo Amar, Ruach Revival, and other early-'70's Jewish music icons.

So it turns out that the guy was an anti-Semitic jerk all along. It just makes me sad. This is music I grew up with.

Shalom writes:

You wrote: "In case you had any doubt... "

No, I never had any doubt. Ever since I read, years ago, that he composed a so-called "Palestinian national anthem", long before the PLO had morphed into the PA, I kind of got the idea.

Shame, because the soundtrack to "Z" has got some great music on it; now I feel uncomfortable listening to it.

You think this is gonna stop Jewish musicians playing his music, though? I'm not altogether sure they even should. I remember the controversy a couple years ago regarding the move to rename Corbin Place, which was named after a notorious anti-semite; I think the biggest "shtoch" you can give them is to have Jews living peacefully on "their" street, or enjoying "their" music at a Jewish function.

(For other self-proclaimed anti-semites, check out author Roald Dahl. Personally I prefer to say "Jew-haters", because that was the original term before the PC folk got a hold of it, and because some of the worst Jew-haters are themselves Semitic.)

Hinei ma tov...

Shalom also fowards some more Al Hanisim clips:

First of all, how'd you know it was me?

Second, I've uploaded yet another Al Hanisim, this time really the original (it came out before the composer's own version).
YouTube - Really The Original Al Hanisim (Izhar Cohen, 1974)

(Someone else has uploaded a live performance at YouTube - אודי דוידי- על הניסים. Good stuff.)

Also, I've put up the original version of Tanchum Portnoy's Eitz Chaim, so the folks who sing it wrong can learn the right way.
YouTube - עץ חײם (The Original "Eitz Chaim" (Tanchumim, 1975 - composed by Tanchum Portnoy

A valiant attempt, but there is no chance that'll help.

Bob writes:

I think many Shlomo Carlebach tunes would go really well with a Caribbean-style steel band. Has this been done? I'd pay for a CD like this.

Yehudah Mond writes:

Tribute to Moshe Yess A"H:
Although it has been two weeks since the passing of Moshe Yess A"H, he deserves honorable mention for the major influence he's had on JM. While some might argue that he has gone off the deep end during the last few years, his musical style and personality is inimitable. For those old enough to remember there was Megama, and even the younger generation knows "My Zaide", with many a budding guitar player picking out the chords to that song (can't miss that CMaj7). His voice added a whole lot of feeling to Journeys 1 through 3 (e.g. The Ninth Man, No Place Like Home, Ride the Train, The Rebbe of Lublin, Pesach Blues and more), The Amazing Torah Bike, Miami Experience 1, and of course the immortal Marvelous Middos Machine...
Like Dr. Doomshtein, whom Yess played to perfection on MMM, Moshe Yess was also a ba'al t'shuvah who became involved with Jewish music while in Yeshivas D'var Yerushalayim. The bold, daring characteristic of his unique bass voice, and his personality, which shone through every recording, will be sorely missed.

Shmuel writes:

With all the brouhaha surrounding the passing of Debbie Friedman, it seems that the untimely passing of Moshe Yess, one of the seminal figures in modern Jewish music has gone unnoticed. Having worked with Moshe and Megama on several occasions back in the day, I can truly say that he was perhaps the finest singer/songwriter to cross over from the secular world. The man had real chops and he knew how to craft a pop song. His approach to Jewish music was original and totally out of the box. Lyrically, he had the soul of a poet. The effect that his song “My Zayde” had as far as lighting up Jewish souls across the world is simply incalculable. I still get requests for it almost every time I play out. (I frequently play for older crowds). Simply astounding. On top of that he was a really, really nice guy – just wanted to sit and jam.

Busy Weekend for Jewish Music

It's been a busy weekend for Jewish/Israeli music. First, Israeli trance DJ Noy Alooshe collaborates with Libya's Col. Ghaddafi to create "Zenga Zenga", a viral hit across the Arab world.



The neatest part of this is the fact that many in those countries will also see another side of Israel,apart from the government propoganda that is the usual fare there. Comments like this one can only help:

I pray for the Middle East especially during this time of protests against the long held dictatorial styles of government in all those Arab countries.

May you be able to shed the autocracies which have ruled you and lied to you and tried to keep you controlled with stories of hatred toward Israel---instead of being legitimate governments themselves.

The idea of Israel being the "boogey-man" has helped keep themselves in power. This, as well as many other lies, needs to come to an end.

It's currently the most-favorited comment on that clip.

Meanwhile, Yoely Lebovotz goes to the country!



Oh, and Lipa Schmeltzer released a wedding album too.

'Zorba the Greek' Update

In the J-Post: "Zorba the Greek" composer: I’m anti-Semitic

In case you had any doubt...

Matzav.com Needs An Editor!

E. forwards a link to a Pinchos Lipschutz article,
"Simcha, Unplugged."

Check this!

Have you ever noticed that when musicians play at weddings, they appear indifferent to their own music? They sit or stand impassively as their fingers run up and down their instruments. As they blow their trumpets, pound their drums and glide their fingers across the keyboard, their faces are expressionless. No wonder. Their ears are plugged. They are unable to hear their own music, much less enjoy it.

The only musicians who visibly enjoy their own music are those who sing. For these artists, singing is an opportunity to express their deepest longings and emotions in music. The singer whose soul is wrapped up in his music has the uncanny ability to touch his listener’s soul.

I know what he's describing. I've seen guys who do that too. That said, the generalization is frankly offensive to all musicians.

Fighting Lies With Lies

Life In Israel posts about a radio interview with MBD about his recent concert "for women only" in Israel.

MBD talks about the lies pro-ban activists have been saying. Like this one:

He said that before his last performance, the one to a woman only audience, Rav and Rebbetzin Landau (the rav of Bnei Braq) called the head of the organization and said that they had been told they were bringing a dancer to perform. The organizer was in shock and after a moment responded that it is not true but there is only one performer at the show and that is Mordechai Ben David. The Landau's thanked her and wished her well. MBD says he is happy the Landaus checked out the story and did not just sign based on what the askan tells them, like many other rabbonim do.

Rafi and the comments section call out MBD on his own dishonesty. He's been flogging a revisionist history for a while already. It's not working.

Ban Updates

Our good friend, Rabbi Ephraim Luft goes 0-2 this week in Israel. (We reviewed his magnum opus "The Torah Is Not Hefker" here.)

Meanwhile, a riot broke out at Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak's speech in Emmanuel, after some opponents played Jewish music he's been campaigning against, whi;e he was speaking. We've mentioned his campaign against Shwekey in "Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak Makes Stuff Up!". Via FM.

Discussing The Unspeakable

Recent events have me pondering the following topic -- How to have a discussion when one side believes the other side should not ever be mentioned or when mentioning one side, in and of itself, has consequences.

Two examples:

1) The recent brouhaha over a Jewschool post about Debbie Friedman. You can read about this here. I thought about whether or not I should bring this subject up at all. The family's response -as well as the fact that this was common knowledge- make me think that there is no additional harm to the family in linking the discussion. That said, personally, I found the Jewschool post offensive. There are appropriate ways and more importantly times to raise these questions. Not during shiva and in clear ignorance of the facts. However, it illustrates the conundrum I'd like to address, which is that there is no way to have this kind of conversation without raising the issue in some way. If the Jewschool blogger's facts had been accurate (they weren't), his point would be much stronger, than if he hadn't used the name.

2) I received an email about a recent post of mine on bans. The email was critical of my position/presentation. It included a request not to post the email, or even portions of it, without permission. Since I make a point of posting critical emails, I emailed back asking permission to post the email and a response. When this writer expressed discomfort with the idea, I offered a right of response as well. Ultimately, my correspondent denied permission to publish on the grounds that since, from their perspective, their position was Torah, it would be impermissible and impossible for me to disagree with it. Go argue with that.

The question I'd like to put out there is this. How can one have discussion on important issues, when one side, for whatever reason, makes even the raising of the topic off-limits? Perhaps, as in a situation like my first example, it can be done while respecting the individual's privacy. However, in matters of public policy, is there really no way to raise questions about the actions of Rabbinic leadership? Personally, I can think of a number of recent examples in which rabbinic action was taken in response to public criticism. In quite a few of these cases, I am convinced that if not for the public nature of the criticism, no action would have been taken.

A short list:

1) The Lipa Schmeltzer concert ban
2) The recent RCA "brain death" paper brouhaha
3) Agudah et al on sexual abuse

So, for those like my respondent who apparently believe in papal rabbinic infallibility... Do you ever think there's an appropriate way to publicly raise questions? If not, why do you grant yourself the right to take a position, if you won't concede that right to your counterparts on the other side? More importantly, if that is your position, why should the folks on the other side even address your concerns?

1/17/11 Link Dump

Over at the Forward's Sisterhood blog... "Taking on the Rabbinate."

Tininitus? Reboot your brain.

I want a printer like this!

John Lennon vs. Van Halen.

The J-Post obit for Debbie Friedman... Beloved US Jewish songwriter, Debbie Friedman, dies

Rootless Cosmopolitan on " The Death of Yiddish?"

At Life in Israel..."nteresting Psak: Which Music Should Be Used To Introduce Shabbos."

Here's a great song for you! "Mean Old Jews Who Crucify My Lord" by Sister Albertha Harris Lewis. A real toe-tapper!

More Winter Peeps

"Rerun Guy"
This peep, speaking at a sheva brachos, announces that he's repeating a speech most of the guests heard at last night's wedding, because the panim chadashos missed it. He then proceeds to repeat the entire speech verbatim. At least, that's what he claims.

"The Starving Host"
This peep lines up a number of speakers at the sheva brachos he's hosting. He speaks last. All of the speeches are before dinner is served. He asserts: "Rather than letting you eat now and dreading my upcoming speech, I'd rather speak now and have you look forward to the food!"

"The Proud Mother"
Quote: "You play as good as my daughter!" We hope that's a compliment!

Winter Peeps

"In Your Face Video Guy"
This peep stalks the room with his personal video camera. Sizing up his prey, he stalks them, waiting until the precise moment they are least prepared. Then, just as his prey begins chewing their food, he strikes. "Say something for the video" he urges, as his cornered prey frantically tries to swallow. This peep has also been spotted lying in wait outside the mens room door. Beware!

"Principal Shlemiel"
This peep, the principal of a small school (menahel in yeshivish), gets the Bar Mitzvah boy's name wrong in his address at the Bar Mitzvah. Multiple times! A good rule of thumb. If you can't remember the Bar Mitzvah boy's name, you really ought to turn down the invitation to speak.

"The Rambler"
This peep begins his speech saying "I won't speak long..." 20 minutes later he's still talking!

"Learn Out Loud Rabbi"
This peep can be found at gigs in private homes. When the musicians start playing background music, before most guests have arrived, this peep begins learning loudly. Natch, he's sitting next to us, and wont consider moving into the study, or anywhere else in the mansion. Don't worry. We're not fooled. We see his foot tapping along on beat!

"The Spiritualist Bandleader"
This bandleader calls to inquire about our availability for a possible great paying out-of-town gig, he had in the works. Upon being told we're available, he gives the following instructions: "K'muvan, go to mikvah and daven Reb Nosson's tefilos for parnossah!" P.S. we booked the gig!

"Pop Music Now"
This peep comes running over at a yeshivish affair to demand a Top 40 tune NOW! Naturally, the prep sheet for this yeshivish affair not only has no secular music requests, but even requests the band avoid playing any line dances or Mizrachit music. Dude, it's just not going to happen unless the bride or groom personally come over to request it...

BDE - Debbie Friedman Z"L

The great Jewish singer/songwriter Debbie Friedman has died. Baruch Dayan Emes!

"Lechi lach/on your journey I will bless you/and you shall be a blessing lechi lach."

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky on the Ban Process

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky 2008:

"Rabbi Kamenetzky confirmed that he had spoken to Friedman and said that he had understood that the request for the ban originally came “from rabbis in Eretz Yisroel. We didn’t want to differ with them. It was expressed that certain performers...upset some people.”

The Rosh Yeshiva was asked whether anybody had confirmed the origin of the request. “It seems that it was a request from mouth to ear and everyone went along with them,” he responded. “What they said was that it was a request from Rav Elyashiv and Rav Steinman. I didn’t confirm that.”

Asked if it is unusual for distinguished rabbonim to sign a kol korei on the say-so of one person, Rabbi Kamenetzky was candid: “Usually we meet together. This time, with time pressing, we did not get together. And maybe it was not the right thing.”

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky 2011:

"Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, who signed the ban, said he was not familiar with the site but was given the ban by Rabbi Malkiel Kotler, of Lakewood.

“I know very little about it, but I relied on the rabbanim that signed it and they said it’s terrible,” Rabbi Kamenetsky told The Jewish Star. “They said it has a lot of lashon hora,”"

Reader Email on Vos Iz Neias Ban

"Name Witheld" writes:

You write:

"Note, Rav Shmuel Kamenetzky signed this one. Surprising, given his public statements after the Lipa ban. It seems to me that he has an obligation to clarify the process he followed here, and explain why only this site, but not competing sites were banned."

------

Do I understand the ban? No. Am I a fan of bans? No. But this smacks of chutzpa to write on the web that R' Shmuel owes me or you or anyone else a clarification of why he feels this way. R' Shmuel is a true godol, a man who has no self interest involved, who doesn't have an ounce of "gaavah" in him.

I know you will disagree, saying that a gadol is not above the law, and we can question etc, but at the very least it is unparalled chutzpa to talk about him in that manner.

My response: I understand the point you are trying to make. I disagree with your premise. Rav Shmuel publicly stated that the process used in the Lipa Schmeltzer ban was wrong. For him to do the exact same thing, without explaining why he thinks the situation is different, raises obvious questions. A leader has the obligation to resolve those issues. I’m not demanding that he do so. I’m simply pointing out that if he doesn’t, his ban won’t carry a whole lot of weight. And, it will result in a diminution of his authority. As someone who thinks the community needs to be able to respect rabbinic leadership, this saddens me.

This is exactly the same situation as the Lipa ban all over again. Banning VIN without also banning Yeshiva World News and other similar sites? It’s arbitrary, and raises many of the same questions the Lipa ban did. And everyone sees through it.

If a gadol is going to do/say something that on its surface looks wrong, and publicize it, then they have an obligation to be aware of how their actions will be perceived and explain them. Ravv Kamenetzky is well aware of how bans are perceived both inside and outside the community. He knows that his actions here raise troubling questions. He should address them.

Incidentally, I’m fairly certain, based on what I’m hearing, that this specific website was targeted for a ban by the “askanim” involved, because of an unrelated issue. When gedolim allow themselves to be manipulated into taking sides on something that isn’t their issue, as it were, that also results in a reduction of kavod haTorah.

Yesterday was a great day for another ban!

This time, it's the website Vos Iz Neias.



Hirhurim has details and a translation of the ban, which was published in yeterday's "Tzeitung".

Note, Rav Shmuel Kamenetzky signed this one. Surprising, given his public statements after the Lipa ban. It seems to me that he has an obligation to clarify the process he followed here, and explain why only this site, but not competing sites were banned.

The askonim's plan to eradicate respect for rabbinical authority progresses!

From the mailbag...

Shlomo (Sol) emails:

Hi- I arranged and played in a kumzitz with Reb Shmuel Brazil this past motzei shabbos, I thought your subscribers might enjoy...there are a few of his Regesh classics, and 2 new never-recorded songs.
Enjoy!


Ki LaHashem Hamelucha

Ki Mitziyon - NEW SONG

Gam Ki Aylech

Modeh Ani

Shomer Yisrael - NEW SONG

Kichu

Dovid Kerner writes:

In which other music video can you find President Obama, Gamal Nasser, Rodney King, Jack Webb and yours truly coming together to make a point about peace in the Middle East?

"Move to a Settlement."

"Agunah" writes:

In the video at 2:35, the person sitting to right next to Matisyahu is Simcha Levenberg - the producer/director of the Miracles video. All the way to the left is Rabbi Dov Yonah Korn, chabad shliach to NYU, and standing is Tuvia Helfen, another Lubavitcher. All four of them are BTs.

Matis is not the only one who is responsible for his image.

Just sayin'

I disagree. Ultimately, of the people you've listed, he's the only only one responsible, although the others may be giving him bad advice (depending on your perspective). Personally, I see him as someone who is struggling with his place in Judaism. Since he's in the public eye, it is possible to see certain aspects of this struggle. He has his ups and downs, observance wise. I wonder how many of his critics appreciate the "ups" --and there are some big ones - even as they criticize the "downs."

From the spam folder... "Dash Valiant" writes:

Ran across your site - glad you created it. Just me, or is this the first (only) post? Questions:

- Which is the "original", and which is the "cleaned-up" version? (I have run across at least four textual Chasof Zeroah variations, I think.)
- Do your sources also indicate a medieval German origin for the tune? (Seems to be a common source for the music we have, as well as some Lutheran High Church hymns).
- Just what is a self-described Chasid doing in this evil online assur-type environment anyway? 

Interested in your thoughts -

My response: Just found your email in my spam folder...

There are seven years worth of posts which you can access at Blog in Dm.

With regard to the origin of Maoz Tzur, you might find this video clip interesting.

Personally, I believe that everything can be used for good and/or bad. I’ve written extensively on the blog about why I do this. See here, "Taking Stock (not Viacom)", for instance.

Finally, Alex Karpman writes:

Please consider posting this Yiddish Parody of Kanye West's song Runaway -- KanYid feat Shlepa T - Gai Kocken Offen Yom.  Just posted the video yesterday and it is on the homepage of funnyordie with 6000 views in one day!

You can watch the parody here: Jewish/Yiddish Parody of Kanye West's Runaway - KanYid feat Shlepa-T

The song is available on iTunes here.  All proceeds to benefit the Jewish Home for the Aging.

For the original Kanye's song that is spoofed: YRunaway (SNL Performance) - Kanye West feat Pusha T

For lyrics and a glossary of Yiddish terms, go here.

Oy!

We'd be remiss...

...if we didn't note this remarkable Jewish music video.

More Mussar for Matisyahu

Hat tip, anon.

12/14/10 Link Dump

A must read! Terry Teachout's WSJ article about German violinist Adolf Busch, "the Man Who Said No to Hitler."

In Haaretz, "Fiddling While The Candles Burn." Here's a bit:

The moment everyone has been waiting for arrives when the rebbe takes his seat again and picks up the violin.

But any expectation of hearing pristine, moving sounds is quickly shattered. The Hasidim are indifferent to harmony or quality, which are of no consequence when the rebbe himself is playing a Hasidic melody.

Vuvuzela as anti-piracy solution.

Not Jewish music, but a nice fan vid for Jonathan Coulton's "Shop Vac".

More non-Jewish music. Here's a nice organ cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

In the Forward:"Metamorphoses: The Sources and Journeys of a Tune."

Worlds are colliding!

The last edition of Jeremiah Lockwood's Nigun Project is up at the Forward.

Life in Israel posted " Interesting Psak: Homosexual Singers" and "Listening to Female Singers."

Finally, Esther K. finally understands the 'Kol Isha' Prohibition.

Mussar for Matisyahu

Over at PopChassid.com, Marcy Rivka Nehorai posts"Matisyahu, Say It Ain’t So." Great comments thread too!

From the mailbag...

Yehudah Katz emails a link to his latest music video.

Steven writes:

I have been trying to locate sheet music of songs performed by Etti Ankri. Been surfing the web with no luck. Even emailed her and got no response. Any Ideas??

Anyone have any suggestions?

E. emails a link to "Why Can't We UnFriend?" by War.

Christina emails:

Hope you're doing well! I wanted to send you a quick e-mail to introduce you to The Yule Logs, the world's greatest Christmas and Hanukkah Rock 'n Roll band from Chico, CA. They recently released their sophomore album, Walked With A Reindeer on Nov. 9th and I wanted to see about getting them a feature on your site.

Check out their hit Jewish song, "Hanukkah Mambo" here: www.myspace.com/theyulelogs

The Yule Logs truly encompass all that holiday spirit stands for! Let me know what you think!

"The Hesh" writes:

Here's a link to a blog I just posted, related to the whole issue of the supposed Jewish music ban.

Of Laws, Lockstep, Bans, and Boneheadedness | The Hesh Inc. on music

Enjoy. Let me know if you have any commentary.

Maccabeats Having A 'Dynamite' Chanukah!

That Maccabeats tune hits the Billboard charts.

A Different Spin On the Maccabeats Video

Gaby Dunn posts "Top 5 Cute Jews From the Maccabeats Video." Inevitable, I suppose.

Via DovBear.

The Evolution of Al Hanisim

Thanks to Shalom for posting these:

Shivat Zion


Shema Kolenu


Amudei Shaish

Happy Chanukah!

Sen. Orrin Hatch Adam Dickter: There are no good Hanukkah songs!

Matisyahu: Why aren't there more folksy Hanukkah songs! Plus his music video for his new Hanukkah song!

This was well done, I thought!

Chanukah Remixes for Y'all!

Atrocious Yiddish transliteration aside, here's a Hanukah remix project from Tablet. And you thought Orrin Hatch's song was fun!

Confidential to the waiter...

... who spilled the entire box of donuts for desert on the floor while setting up the desert buffet before the party. We saw you!

In Review: Ten Recent Albums

Just in time for the Hanukah gift buying season…

1) Jay Rapoport - "With All Your Heart"

Pianist/vocalist Jay Rapoport calls his style of Jewish music “Ruach Rock!”
Blending rock/gospel style piano and keyboards with educational lyrics, Rapoport sings of the importance of asking questions, exercising your Judaism, Torah study vs. action, and more.

Rapoport teaches at the Religious School of Congregation Rodeph Shalom in NYC, for which he wrote several of these songs, to musically reinforce each year’s educational theme.

I’d describe this set as Hebrew school lessons recast as rock songs; where the venue is a classroom instead of a pub. If my Yeshiva teachers had turned their lessons into rock songs, I’d have paid more attention in class, I’m sure.

Jay’s website is here: here.

Amazon has the album here:



2) Richard Locker - "Masterpieces in Transcription"

Cellist Richard Locker's "Masterpieces in Transcription" is a wonderful set featuring Locker's classical cello playing a nice program of songs. Of special interest is his solo performance of three transcriptions of Yossele Rosenblatt recitatives, “N’kadesh”, “Mimkom’cho”, and “Mi Sheberach.”

On this disc, in addition to the aforementioned Rosenblatt recitatives: Cesar Frank’s “Sonata in A Major”, Tchaikovsky’s “Entra'acte Symphonique Pour M. Leopold Auer” from “The Sleeping Beauty” and “Pas D' Action” from “Swan Lake”, Mozart’s “Rondo in C” (K. 373), Paganini’s “Caprice Op.1, No. 13”, George Perelman’s “Hebraisch” and “Hebrew Chant and Dance”, and Torrie Zito’s “Ballade.”

Locker has a beautiful warm resonant tone and both the cello and piano (there are several pianists on this recording) is wonderful throughout. I particularly enjoyed the performance of the Perelman pieces, which were new to me. (“Hebrew Chant and Dance” is based on the Yiddish melody I know as “Sha Shtil.”)

Richard Locker's website is here.

Amazon has the album here:



3) Three CD's of solo accordion music by Zevy Zions - "Olive Blossoms", "Dizzy Accordion", and "William Tell"

Zevy Zions is a fantastic accordion player. Zions, who plays accordion with Klezmerfest, and was the accordionist on Andy Statman’s “Learn to Play Klezmer” video for Homespun Records, has studied accordion with legendary accordionist Charles Nunzio.

Recently, he recorded a series of albums featuring mainly traditional accordion repertoire, adaptations of Classical music, and some klezmer. These albums are all excellent, and I’m hard put to single one out. There are lots of classic accordion songs by Frosini, Nunzio, and Gart, particularly on the first two albums, and lots of arrangements of classical repertoire too, especially on the third, “William Tell.”

As far as klezmer/Jewish music content, each album includes a Klezmer suite and “Dizzy Accordion” has versions of “Sharon’s Bulgar” and “Firn Di Mekhotinim Aheim”. “Olive Blossoms” has an arrangement of “Keili, Keili.” The klezmer suites consist of a doina, zhok, and freylakhs or --on "William Tell"-- a forshpiel, tekisher, and freylakhs. On Olive Blossoms, the doina is followed by a Jacob Hoffman zhok and then a killing version of “Oy Tate S’iz Gut!” On “Dizzy Accordion”, the suite is a doina, “Nokh A Glezyzl Vayn”, and “Tante’s Bulgar.” On “William Tell”, a forshpiel is followed by “Araber Tants” and then “Kalla’s Freylakh.”

I’ve been a fan of Zions’ accordion work with Klezmerfest. (I reviewed their latest here.)These discs are a nice opportunity to hear him solo.

Incidentally, Zions is looking for opportunities to perform some of this repertoire, so if you have any, please let him know.

Zevy Zions's website is here.

Amazon has “Olive Blossoms” here:



Amazon has “Dizzy Accordion” here:



Amazon has "William Tell" here:




4) Shlock Rock - "A Shabbat in Liverpool"

Here’s a concept. Set texts of Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat Zemirot to Beatles melodies. On this recording, Shlock Rock bandleader Lenny Solomon does just that. The result is an album of familiar melodies and familiar texts.

Some of the adaptations are:
“Shalom Aleichem” to “With A Little Help From My Friends”.
“Lo Tevoshi” to “Penny Lane”.
“Yigdal” to “When I’m Sixty-Four”.
“Ein Kelokeinu” to “Let It Be”.
“Askinu Seudoso” to “Come Together”.

Sacrilegious? To the Beatles? To the texts? Why not check out the album and decide for yourself?

The Shlock Rock website is here.

Amazon has the album here:



5) Asher Hillel Burstein - "Am Kadosh"
Safam meets Billy Joel. Chazan Asher Burstein’s Am Kadosh features his his original music and Hebrew lyrics as well as settings of some liturgical texts. This outing also reminds of Jonathan Rimberg and Jeff Braverman’s Shoresh collaboration.

Much like Safam, Am Kadosh mines the intersection between American pop and traditional Jewish song modalities. Burstein’s voice is in great form here. “Tefilat HaTam” is a pretty waltz. “Shir HaShabbat” is a debka. “Mhayra” is a freylakhs. “HaGevul” is a funky tune with some jazzy brass. “Limdu” is a khosidl. Album closer “Gott Fun Avrohom” is a fifteen-minute through-composed piece.

Lyrical topics include simple faith, Shabbat, redemption, and more.

The album is available at the Am Kadosh website.

6) Yiddish Princess - "Yiddish Princess EP"

If Jon Bon Jovi and Kate Bush had a love child…

On their debut EP, Yiddish Princess features their hard-rocking settings of trad Yiddish songs. Fave tracks include “Ver Vet Blayben” “Oy Avram” and “Az Nisht Keyn Emune”, but the whole thing is great.

Vocalist Sarah Gordon (Yiddish diva Adrienne Cooper’s daughter), is supported by a powerhouse rock band, which includes Avi Fox-Rosen and Yoshie Fruchter on guitars, and Klez clarinet virtuoso Michael Winograd on synths! I wanna sub in this band!

Don’t miss this one!

The band's website is here.

Amazon has the EP here:



7) Eden - "The Knock At The Door"
Eden reinvents themselves for this outing, featuring a harder “alternative” sound. This EP includes five songs: “Yigdal”, “Lo Yisa Goy”, “The One Above”, “Lecha Dodi”, and “Kaddish”.

Eden is: David Ben-Yshay - Vocals, Bass Guitar, Moshe Axelrod – Guitar, Motti Shanet – Drums.

Eden's website is here.

Amazon has the EP here:



8) Julie Silver - "Reunion"

I’d seen Julie Silver’s name around for a while, but first became aware of her music through her beautiful “Sim Shalom” on the Ruach 5761 compilation.

“Reunion” is Silver’s first new release in ten years.

This album features 12 songs, including three settings of liturgical texts, “Dodi Li”, “R’fa-einu”, and “Halleluya (Psalm 150)”, and nine songs with original English lyrics. “Meditation” includes the “Yehiyu L’ratzon” and original English lyrics. The music is soft pop/rock.

On “Step By Step”, Silver sings about entering the “water of creation.”

“Barefoot Sisters” is a song about a meeting with St. Patrick on a mountain. It seems like an odd choice for a Jewish-themed album. One “40 days on the mountain” reference is the only tenuous Jewish connection I see to this song. In the song, Silver asks “What would St. Patrick do?”

“Guide My Steps” is a prayer asking for guidance. Silver duets nicely here with a male vocalist. (The digital album they sent me doesn’t include any liner notes or info about who this singer is.)

“Been To Canaan” features smooth jazz style saxophone. Sample lyric: “Because I’ve been to Canaan and I won’t rest until I go back again.

On “Where Am I”, Silver sings about how she feels about the Torah portion about vows, which tells how men can annul their wives/unmarried daughters vows.

Julie's website is here.

Amazon has the album here:



9) Peter and Ellen Allard - "Little Taste of Torah"

Peter and Ellen Allard write hooky singable songs for children. This album is a great example of their approach. There are songs for Chagim like Tu B’Shvat (“For Trees”), Rosh Hashana (“Shofar Blast”), Yom Kippur (“May You Be Sealed”). There are songs about Lashon Hara, Baby Moses, Torah, Kriyat Yam Suf (“Nachshon” and “Wall of Water”), Tzedaka, and more.

The vocals and music on this are excellent and the songs are both educational and a lot of fun. Well-performed Jewish kiddie rock that parents will enjoy too.

I like this one a lot.

The Allards' website is here.

Amazon has the album here:



10) Prodezra Beats - "Proud to Be" EP

The follow-up to his “Beats L’shem Shomayim” (which I reviewed here), “Proud To Be” sounds more produced. I liked the rougher “street” sound of BLS more. This is a deeply Jewish rap EP.

"Faith" is about emunah. “Faith in the face of a world of drama. The man with emunah, ain’t nobody calmer…”

“Let Me In”, a duet with Nachman, is about coming closer to God.

“Proud to Be” is my fave track on this one. Powerful lyrics and nice synth background. Check this: “cause I’m a Lubab, Litvish, Breslov, shtreiml-wearing Jew….”

“Soul of Moshiach is an instrumental arrangements of the Chabad nigun, best known as “We Want Moshiach Now”.

Amazon has it here:



Up next, reviews of Craig Taubman's latest, "How Good" and the forthcoming reissue of Marty Levitt's - "King of the Klezmers". (I'd promised a review of that one, but am holding off until the new distributorship puts the album back in print.)

Not By Might - The Debbie Friedman Cover Band

This is too funny!



Via Teruah - Jewish Music.

From Jail to Judaism

In today's NY Times..."Shyne Finds Order in Orthodox Judaism in Israel."

11/9/10 Link Dump

The latest installment of Jeremiah Lockwood's Nigun Project, "Through the Castle at Night", is up at the Forward. This time, a Modzitzer Nigun.

Don Imus: Jewish Music Critic.

This was a great show. Adrienne Cooper's new recording, "Enchanted" is definitely worth checking out. Amazon has it here:



Here are some brief music reviews at Hadassah Magazine.

Rav Shmuel writes about "Jewish Music That Makes Me Laugh Uncomfortably."

Vos Iz Neias posts an "Exclusive Video Interview With Israeli Breslov Hit Singer Yosef Karduner."

iPhone? "There's An App For That!"

Over at J-Post.com... "Fastest Guitar In the West."

Vodkazak re-release with overdubs as "Chassidic Breeze." With,Alicia Svigals, Jeff Warschauer, Marty Confurius, Sy Kushner, and Aaron Alexander.

Amazon has it here:



No comment! Uncle Moishy Vitamins, Cereal and Pizza!

Life in Israel tell MBD to stop bellyaching.

Finally, here's Y-Love with a nice Yechi Hamelech T-shirt.

From the mailbag...

Some reader comments on "One-Man-Band"...

Steven writes:

I appreciate the humor/sarcasm however for the most part they get the job done and save the customer lots of cash. I much prefer the 'real band' experience but most non musicians don't really care one way or another.

This is a common myth. Actually, for the going rate for a good one-man-band plus "Srully Reverb", you can have a good small live band at your affair.

"Jewish Musician" writes:

BloginDm,

I regularly follow your blog, and generally enjoy it, but this is my first time commenting, as it just got me so enraged.

Below is your post. Underneath each point is my comments in bold.

I am a regular chassidic one man band in the NY wedding scene.
-------------

1) Two women emerge from around the mechitza and approach the "musician" with the following request. "Can you possibly turn down/off the speaker on the women's side. We understand that, for the men, its geshmak like this. By the ladies, its too loud."
The fun part was that the speaker on the women's side was already off. Gives an idea of the volume, though.

My comment - Perhaps the customer requested it "Super loud" - I don't know of any fellow musicians that enjoy playing loud, this is what the crowd wants to hear, this is what we have to do in order to get the gigs, if we don't, someone else will.

2) Carlebach's V'hayu Limshisa as a 4/4 rock song! Arranger technology can make even a one finger player sound way better than he deserves. That said, the musician still does need to be able to tell the difference between counting to three and counting to four.

My comment - You are correct, this is wrong.

3) Who said musicians need to present properly/dress up for simchas? Apparently, there's no need to shave, put on a jacket, tie, or even tuck in your shirt.

My comment - This is not Marina, its Ateres Shlomo, we are generally working for a crowd that doesn't care if we wear a tie. That being said, showing up Mentchlich is definitely the right thing to do.

4) Apparently, disco is the style of choice for "dinner" music. Who knew?

My comment - YES, out of North jersey and the Five Towns, alot of the crowd we work for prefer a slow type of disco during dinner.

5) All Am/C Major, all the time!

My comment - Not necessarily, maybe just the guy you saw. Many of the regulars in the scene are very talented musicians, despite never going to Julliard etc.

My overall comments: You can't paint an entire industry with one brush based on one musician. There are plenty of chassidim that are extremely talented musicians and true professionals. A little ahavas yisrool is in order.

Let's take a look at "Jewish Musician's" assertions.

1) I happen to know, based on past conversations with these baalei simcha, that they don't want music to be too loud at their events. The reality is that people are often busy/involved/distracted at their own affairs, and so they pay less attention to volume, as long as the guests seem to be dancing etc. There's a range between "comfortable" and "I need to stop participating in my own simcha to go over to the band." Obviously it varies from event to event.

3) When I play at Ateres Shlomo, I wear a suit and tie. This is not about whether or not someone wears a tie or not though. It's about a community where people wear their jackets to go to the grocery store, but can't be bothered to show respect to their clients/the guests at a lower budget affair. (Ateres Shlomo is a subsidized hall.) The fact that people have become used to it is a shame, not an argument for why to continue the practice. Wear a tie or not, but dressing respectfully is important.

4) I'm not talking about "lite" disco. I'm talking about busting out the full volume "Ease On Down The Road" "Ben Bag Bag" set right after a dance set. The guests have sat down, peaople are trying to socialize, and this guy is busting out That's The Way, Uh, Huh, Uh, Hu, I Like It "Zoche" at full volume!

5) The post was not meant to be a criticism of all one -man-bands. There are definitely some talented Chassidic musicians. That said, simcha-goers know that the situation I described is not an uncommon occurrence.