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> > > Jewish & Yiddish Music |
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Artist:
Itzhak Perlman
In his introductory note to this CD, Itzhak Perlman informs us that, more than anything else he has recorded, this is truly his own music--"what you might hear if you came to my house and I decided to jam with some friends." And jam he does--with some very talented friends indeed. Klezmer music, which combines the folk and religious music of Yiddish-speaking cultures with various musical traditions of countries such as Russia, Turkey, and Greece, is unusual territory for a major label and a superstar artist, but here the combination works perfectly. Perlman, who normally is the star of his recordings, just blends into the whole celebration. The playing of violin, accordion, mandolin, clarinet, and other instruments is stylish, infectious, and at times virtuosic. Strangely, the sound lacks openness, inhibiting the characteristically vibrant timbres of these instruments. --David Vernier
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Artist:
Matisyahu
Although reggae's religious overtones are often overshadowed by the music's ties to ganja and the hippie movement, there are some socially active or religious leaning artists out there. One of the newest comes in the unlikely figure of a young Hasidic Jew named Matisyahu. Singing with a slight ghetto patois, in Yiddish, and even displaying considerable beat-box skills, the New Yorker is at his best when he works himself into fits of righteous indignation and Old Testament fervor (the limits of his vocal range are laid bare when he croons on ballads). The lean three-piece band on this live recording, his second album, is aerodynamic and flexible, able to do the slow reggae groove or rock out with ferocity. After 12 tracks of stripped-down reggae, however, the music tends to blend into one long groove. Nonetheless, there is an undeniable urgency in this live recording that comes through loud and clear, making it a live document of note by one of reggae's most interesting new figures. --Tad Hendrickson
List Price: $13.98 |
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Artist:
Theodore Bikel
Theodore Bikel had already recorded several albums for Elektra when he made Songs of a Russian Gypsy, but were those records anywhere as successful as this one? Nyet! In fact, not only did Songs far outsell any previous Elektra release by any artist, but it was also such a hit that the label rushed to record a sequel, Songs of Russia Old & New, that weve combined with its predecessor to form a great, Russian-themed twofer! Bikel himself in the notes says that to this day he gets mail about these two albums, so were expecting a big response to this Collectors Choice Music exclusive.
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Our Price: $7.59 |
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Artist:
Bob Booker
,
George Foster
One of my fondest family memories of my wonderful childhood in the 1960's was listening to record albums on the hi-fi set in the den. Real records, that you had to flip over after side one, and be careful not to leave on top of the toaster oven. This was a time where my Little Golden Books and little transistor radio were my essential bedtime companions. Not to mention the hot mug of Ovaltine that Mom would make us before hitting the sack. "You Don't Have To Be Jewish" and it's follow up, "When You're In Love, The Whole World Is Jewish" were both staples in the Lifson home. Jewish comedy was not available to me as a kid through visits to the Catskills, so these albums, along with "Chanukah Carols" (also available on JMG) were my first exposure to a genre which would help prepare me for the Woody Allen and Albert Brooks movies I would love watching in the next decade, the '70s, and have enjoyed ever since. These very funny records were the brainchild of producer Bob Booker, who had produced a hugely successful pair of albums called "The First Family" which lampooned the Kennedy clan, with actor Vaughn Meader doing a brilliant JFK. These were essential listening fo...
List Price: $12.98 |
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Artist:
The Klezmatics
The story of Wonder Wheel is a glorious tale of happenstance and discovery, populated by luminaries from different worlds and different eras. In the pantheon: American folk icon Woody Guthrie and world music superstars the Klezmatics, Woody’s daughter, Nora Guthrie, maestro Itzhak Perlman—whose chance meeting with Nora helped plant the seed for the project, Celtic vocalist Susan McKeown, and producers GoodandEvil (Sex Mob, Elysian Fields, Felix Da Housecat). These Coney Island-wrought lyrics add a less-known urban dimension to a man seen as the avatar of dust- bowl ballads. But, like thousands of his songs, they were left unrecorded, their music forgotten. The result, seven years in the making, is Wonder Wheel—a record Nora describes as "Just as my father would have wanted." The album reflects Woody’s political stance and social agenda into a larger, global mirror, and brings a 20th century American figurehead to a 21st-century audience. Woody’s lyrics—set to music that’s filled with Eastern European, klezmer, Latin, Celtic, Afro-Caribbean and folk flavors—take on a universal life of their own. As GoodandEvil’s Danny Blume notes, the music is "an in...
List Price: $17.98 |
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Artist:
Matisyahu
The thumbnail description of Matisyahu: File under Hasidic Beatbox Reggae. Despite having markings of novelty, it's really nothing of the sort. Fronted by a man named Matisyahu (born Matthew Miller), they are truly a band. Two independently released CDs brought them a rapid and well-deserved ascent, making their signing with a major label a logical step. Youth benefits from a more expansive sound and production by the fantastic Bill Laswell (Golden Palominos, Laurie Anderson, the Last Poets). Matisyahu's singing and the substance of his songs (spiritual living, self-awareness, the value of knowledge and learning, kindness to others) are presented with a loving sincerity, and buoyed by tremendous musicianship. In particular, drummer Jonah David and guitarist Aaron Dugan bring a wider set of influences and interests to their playing than the reggae tag the band often gets. Free of any proselytizing, this melding of Talmudic teachings and Jamaican rhythms flows so naturally that it underscores the shared roots of the two cultures. --David Greenberger More from Matisyahu ...
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Artist:
The Klezmatics
This second interpretation of Woody Guthrie's Jewish-themed lyrics by the Klezmatics--America's premiere Yiddish band--revolves around Hanukkah, and by the title, it's not surprising that most of the offerings boast a lively tone. Guthrie, the Dust Bowl balladeer, lived in post-war Brooklyn (Coney Island, to be exact), and, inspired by his mother-in-law, the Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt, wrote a newly found series of poems that focused on Jewish culture. Primarily set to music by the Klezmatics' Lorin Sklamberg and Frank London, the holiday lyrics come alive to prayerful Hasidic nigunim and playful klezmer freylekhs, as well as to Nashville-tinged country fare. The band also conjured several instrumentals to flesh out Guthrie's slight Hanukkah catalogue, though the funk-'n'-jazz "(Do the) Latke Flip-Flip" seems a mistake. Sequenced near Guthrie's "The Many and the Few," a somber persecution-and-renewal story song about King Cyrus's release of the Jews from their Babylonian captivity, it seems as out of place as Christmas in October. But this innovative collaboration still has the makings of a holiday classic, as appealing to children as to the parents who spawned them. --Alan...
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Artist:
Matisyahu
Matisyahu No Place To Be CD + bonus DVD package CD contains 7 new tracks, including "Jerusalem (Out Of Darkness Comes Light)" and "Message In A Bottle" recorded with Sly & Robbie. The bonus 'Live in Israel' DVD contains a live show shot in Tel Aviv, intercut with interviews and street performances from Jerusalem. It also includes the new music video for "Jerusalem (Out Of Darkness Comes Light)." DVD length: approx 90 minutes.
List Price: $18.97 |
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Artist:
Kenny Ellis
List Price: $13.98 |
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Artist:
Zohar
List Price: $13.98 |
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