The first series of Chanukah reviews came out in 1999, when we partied like it was… well, that year. This year, as always, the Chanukah Wrap-Up highlights those recent Jewish CDs that are so good, you can give them as gifts.
Noa: Genes and Jeans
She has been teasing us with greatest-hits and live collections for a while; this is the Israeli superstar songbird’s first studio album since 2002. In it, she weaves contemporary stories and musings to the beloved Yemenite melodies her grandmother taught her. Most of the instrumentation is American-style acoustic folk, but some is Middle Eastern, and the few electronic elements are subtle and elegant. Themes of growing up and going away permeate the collection— the title track uses the image of an Israeli woman trying to fit into American jeans as a metaphor for any outsider trying to fit in to a new society. For fans of Yael Naim, Dar Williams, Shawn Colvin, and Suzanne Vega.
Craig Taubman: The Shabbat Lounge
The same Craig Taubman who created the Celebrate series of holiday-themed anthologies also put out a series of holiday-themed electronica albums. Here, he runs through familiar melodies from the Shabbat candles to the Havadalah candle (“Eliyahu”). Getting a scintillating, Jetsons-worthy space-age treatment are “Shir Hamalot,” “Yedid Nefesh,” and especially “Bo’i Kalah.” Taubman recasts his Friday Night Live melodies for “Le’cha Dodi” and “Hashkivenu” as, respectively, Brooks & Dunn on Mars and Enya in zero-gravity. There is a definite Latin flavor to “Dror Yikra” and “Tzur Mishelo,” while “Chiri Bim” is done as one of those alt-rock-featuring-soul-singer numbers currently overtaking the airwaves. Consistently fascinating; surprising… and surprisingly lovely. For electronica fans, and anyone who thinks orchids are prettier than roses.
Dan Nichols and e18hteen: The Roots
The two main sources of this CD are Jewish thought and the radio. Others include things Nichols has experienced or read. “All We Can Do” refers to the message of a preteen with AIDS, while “Turn the World Around” was written by Harry Belafonte. “Or Chadash” was inspired by Nichols’s first trip to Israel, and “Ani Ma’amin” by prayers he heard there. “Esah Einai” was composed by a songwriting class, and another was created at the request of his rabbi. “Eileh Chamdah Libi” quotes Shakespeare, but “Ufaratzta” sound-samples a baggage-return conveyor belt. To quote an earlier e18hteen lyric, “It’s all about what you do with it.” Nichols has a voice like Arabica coffee: dark, deep, and with an edge. The CD is half English, half Hebrew, and about 10 percent country. For fans of Rick Recht, Blue Fringe, The Wallflowers, Maroon 5, and alt rock in general.
The Klez Dispensers: Say You’ll Understand
The title comes from the No. 1 song in 1938, “Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn,” also the last track on the album. This is one of seven Yiddish theater songs presented, alongside “Sheyn vi di Levone” and “Belz.” “Oy Mama,” about falling in love with a klezmer violinist, is sung through enticingly in both Yiddish and English. In fact, the whole album has a certain insinuating, Bob Fosse vibe; if Mandy Patinkin’s “Mamaloshen” was PG, this disc is an R. There are also seven originals, including “Ray Charleston.” The air is one of sophistication, with Latin percussion, swingin’ trumpets… and fiddles and clarinets that both laugh and cry. For fans of Kander and Ebb, composers of the “Cabaret” and “Chicago” soundtracks.
Pitom: Pitom
Say your ensemble consists of a violin, a bass, and some drums. Now you add a guitar. An acoustic, right? Not if you’re Yoshie Fruchter. Now, in the right hands, say Billy Bragg’s or Mark Knopfler’s, an electric guitar can be a surprisingly tender instrument. And Fruchter plays in that mode on about half the tracks here. On the others, he asks the question, what if a heavy metal guitarist played improvisational jazz based on Jewish tropes? Answer: You’d get tracks like “Go Go Golem” and “Freigel Rock.” (The “pitom” is the tiny, fragile knob at the tip of the etrog). For fans of Nirvana, the Ramones, Megadeth, and other music that “goes to 11.”
Isabell Durin and Michael Ertzcheid: Hebrew Melodies of the Romantic Era
This is a collection of 19th-century compositions that merge that era’s stylings with Yiddish, Chasidic, or synagogue melodies, such as a scher, a Ba’al Shem Tov nigun, and even Kol Nidre. They are all presented on Durin’s violin and Ertzcheid’s piano; both studied music in Paris, and Durin also has a doctorate from the Sorbonne. The composers here include George Perlman, Joseph Acron, Ernest Bloch… and John Williams, from the “Schindler’s List” soundtrack. The music is both elegant and emotional. Many pieces, like “Yisker,” are full of pathos, while “Dance Improvisation” incorporates familiar Chanukah songs. For the classical-music lovers who need some Jewish music in their collections.
Yirachmiel: Ahava V’Achva
A very pretty album intended for engaged couples or newlyweds. Yerachmiel is a folksinger in the Debbie Friedman mode. He also adds some country, New Age, pop, and even reggae. Especially lovely is “Achoteinu,” a song for the b’decken, the veiling of the bride. The other songs echo the elements of the Jewish wedding ceremony and its moods. For those having trouble choosing processional music, needing something to pop in while the brand is on break during the reception, wanting perfect background music for a wedding video … or who just want something soothing in the background while working out the seating chart.
Charles Davidson: A Singing of Angels/…And David Danced
Part of the Milken Archive’s series of Jewish American Music; Davidson is a 20th-century American composer and cantor. The opening nursery songs are performed by the Finchley Children’s Music Group from England. The next suite, “…And David Danced Before the Lord” is a jazz-influenced setting of the Friday Night service, which contains many of David’s Psalms. This 1966 work is performed by adults, opera singers Amy Goldstein and Douglas Webster. The children return for Davidson’s short “Baroque Suite” to close out the album. For those who love “The Sound of Music” but have heard it one too many times.
Best wishes for Chanukah that is truly a festival of family, warmth, song… and light.
Paul Wieder is public relations manager at the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation.
