Judeo-Arabic dance songs, Sephardic wedding songs, Berber rhythms and Moorish romanzas from the heady, hot spices of Andalusia and the Maghreb. Joglaresa has a sound that is at once traditional and contemporary – combining intoxicating elements of Middle Eastern, Latin and Celtic musics. With flamenco guitar, oud, darabuka, bendir, cláirseach and searing vocals they meld […]
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If you like Kurt Weill or Tom Waits, you will probably enjoy Ghetto Tango, an immaculately packaged collection of World War II Yiddish theater songs intelligently interpreted by two contemporary musicians. Adrienne Cooper’s vocals can crack you up with laughter or wring your guts with heartbreak, and Zalmen Mlotek’s piano accompaniment is brilliant. The anger, […]
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Another tapestry from Vocolot of breathtakingly beautiful melodies, harmonies and dynamic percussion. These songs are passionate, upbeat, and evocative, and take their inspiration from sources ranging from the ancient wisdom of Isaiah to the modern poet Walt Whitman. This is music with universal heart, Jewish soul and social conscience. Includes the passionate anti-war “Lo’ Yisà’ […]
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Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II, an album produced in Toronto, has been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best World Music Album. The awards ceremony on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles will reveal how it fares against four challengers: albums by Nigerian bandleaders Omara “Bombino” Moctar and Seun Kuti, […]
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Right from the opening notes from the Didgeridoo, you can tell that Mitch Smolkin’s A Song Is Born is going to be an interesting listening experience. Smolkin leads us on a wondrous journey through Yiddish song, infused with world music in such a way that the album transcends the way we relate to this music. South American […]
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Katchko: 3 Generations of Cantorial Art, featuring the music of Adolph Katchko, and including a CD of music sung by Cantor Katchko-Gray. The book is a combination of scholarly articles about the lives and work of Cantor Adolph Katchko (1866-1958) and CantorTheodore Katchko (1927-1997) and music. Essays on the nature of the cantorate, and transcripts […]
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From the aisles of the idishe comes this incredible anthology of 5 albums to remember the best songs of Mexican music from 1920 to 1969. Almost 300 songs that will remind you of your best moments or surprise you when you remember them. They say that character, tastes and education are all recorded in the […]
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Few recordings so well selected, so clearly interpreted, and so significative as this one: Gale Kissin sings Mama Loshn 15 songs that illustrate Jewish life and struggles through the last 300 years! I was afraid that America would not be able to rescue the real soul of Yiddish Music both because of self-imposed censorship, simple […]
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