Before September comes and I get totally wrapped up in fundraising and planning the 2011 festival, I wanted to share some of the music that has excited me this summer.

Lets start with Rob Rudin's Half Jewish Project. I met Rob at his niece's Bat Mitzvah where he told me about a musical suite he was working on in tribute to Joey Cornblit, one of the world's greatest jai alai players and family friend. Joey's life is the stuff of legend..with roots in Quebec, time spent in Miami, Basque Spain, and even a stint in Israel. Between segments, Rob's dad showed photos and told stories about Joey. With a little more refinement, this program should really be recorded and shared with music lovers across the country.

Klezwoods is another local band worthy of attention. I saw them at Johnny D's in Somerville and they were FABULOUS. A butt-kicking rhythm section, great soloists, and a really intriguing mix of pop and klezmer sensibilities. I hear they have a CD coming out in the fall. Trust me, see them if you have the chance.

Then, last week, I got to hear Frank London's Brass All Stars at the MFA. It was SMOKING! Frank has such beautiful tone and is such an innovative arranger and just an inspiringly eclectic guy. While we can't reveal the details, we are planning a fascinating project with Frank for the 2011 Festival. If you want to experience how innovation and tradition can combine to create inspiration, plan on being at Berklee Performance Center on March 12. Details will be revealed this fall.

Lastly, I must give some praise to  a CD that I just can't get off my mind or out of my player: The Kohane of Newark. Picture a Leonard Cohen playing with Lou Reed and you'll get a sense of what this sounds like. The lyrics are amazing, The arrangements really stripped down rock. Then again, maybe a song called New Mid-Life Crisis is just what I've been waiting for. If you like literary, smart rock with a New York edge, check it out.

Well, that's my Jewish music summer seen and scene. On August 31, it's back to Johnny D's for Alan Bern's  Other European's Project featuring Klezmer and Roma musicians. Should be simply fabu!

Hope you're having a great summer. Let us know what you've been listening to. And be forewarned; the Second Annual BJMF is shaping up to be even better that the first!

Jewish music is undergoing a real renaissance. It wasn’t that long ago that, if you wanted to listen to Jewish music, you were limited to scratchy recordings of chazzans, Mickey Katz parodies, Israeli folk songs  or The Barry Sisters. But in the last few decades, the world of Jewish music has opened to encompass new vistas of sound and style. You can hear hip-hop, electronic chazzanut, Jewish jazz, pop, klezmer, classical and everything in between.

Jewish artists are creating new music and revisiting classics, exploring new sounds and dusting off old ones. Not all of it, of course, is overtly Jewish, or even remotely Jewish. (What IS Jewish music, anyway? We’ll leave that for another day).

But, given the diversity of “Jewishness” these days, it’s probably not surprising to learn that one of the hottest rap stars today, Drake, a black Canadian former child actor (Aubrey “Drake” Graham, who  was in the popular high school drama follow-up to Degrassi High) is Jewish and had a bar mitzvah? That he wears a diamond studded chai necklace? My eyes certainly widened to hear the line “everything is kosher” in his latest single, Over (has the word kosher ever been used in popular rap before?).

In a world where John Stewart flaunts his being “Jewy” almost nightly, and Matisyahu becomes one of the biggest reggae stars around, blending reggae and Judaism (performing with a kippah, I might add), you know that times have changed.  And at the same time, Theo Bikel can sell out Carnegie Hall and Itzhak Perlman play klezmer in Russia and at Tanglewood.

So, it’s an interesting time to be presenting Jewish music. At the BJMF, we’re trying to ride these many streams of Jewish music and musicians and bring them to Boston wrapped up in a package that proudly wears the label “Jewish Music Festival.” We’re celebrating a culture that seems to grow by leaps and bounds each year.  We hope you listen, and come and support our efforts.

While we are busy planning the SECOND annual Boston Jewish Music Festival for March 6-20, 2011, I'd like to share some of the incredible successes we accomplished this past year. And all of it was made possible by everyone who attended events, by the artist who performed, by the volunteers, the donors both large and small, the custodians, the sound technicians, the printers. So many people had so much to do with this incredible success.

• Over 5000 participants

• 17 Concerts and Workshops 

• More than 20 Program Partners

• Events held across Greater Boston in Boston, Cambridge, Dedham, Framingham, Natick, Sharon and Waltham

• Over 8000 Web Site Visits

All this, on a just a shoestring budget.

Keep checking in on this blog for festival anecdotes and updates on future plans. And please share your favorite festival stories here, too.

Joey was right...surfing music meets middle eastern belly dancing sound. With a hint of the B52s.

What a fabulous night! Please invite the band next year. They were great!

Kudos to Jim and Joey for pulling this Festival off in such a short time. Congrats, my friends.

 

 

We are. Tickets selling, programs printed. Some of the musicians are already in town--others on their way. We're so grateful to those who have believed and supported, volunteered and helped us make this all happen.

Great two-page spread in today's Boston Globe G section (see the online version here:

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/03/05/jewish_artists_see_boston_music_festival_as_a_different_way_to_explore_their_culture/

 Also, last week's Boston Phoenix: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/97500-jew-note/ 

 And in this week's Jewish Advocate.

 And don't miss Sunday's family concerts: Peter & Ellen Allard at the MetroWest Jewish Day School in Framingham (2 PM); Yehuda Katz at Berger Hall Temple Israel in Sharon (3 PM); and Shira Kline and ShirLaLa at the JCC in Newton (1 PM). What a weekend.

 The excitement is palpable, we're revved up, still gotta' iron a shirt. See you there!

Jim

 

 

 

 

It seems so unreal.The festival begins in less than 48 hours. There is so much running around to do tomorrow! It is so exciting. There will be a wonderful article in the Boston Globe on Friday. And the Jewish Advocate did some great coverage this week too. And the BJMF Program Book is just amazing. So hurry up and get your tickets. I'm off to the airport to pick up Yehuda Katz who will be playing  in Sharon Sunday afternoon. There are so many great events. Enjoy.

The Boston Phoenix has published a terrific article on the Music Festival. A big shout out to Jon Garelick for his fine work that captured so much of the spirit. Nice picture of Ruth Dolores Weiss, too! Hope you have your tickets--they are going fast!

You can read the article here: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/97500-jew-note/

Jim 

 

Brochures are being delivered. Advertising is falling into place (Watch for ads in the Boston Phoenix in Febuary...Thank you, Phoenix). Tickets for ALL events are now on sale. But we still need your help.

1. Please tell your friends about the Festival and send them to this website or our FaceBook page.

2. If you would like to volunteer at an event, end us an email. We will be needing people to hand out programs (WAIT TIL YOU SEE IT! IT IS AMAZING!!!), sell tickets (unless we sell out in advance) and sell CDs and t-shirts after each event.

Buy your tickets. Tell your friends. Heck, an old friend from Toronto who is a kelzmer nut is hoping to come to opening night because he thinks seeing Don Byron and Judy Bressler again with KCB could be the klezmer event of the year!

But most of all. get ready to enjoy.

What a concert! Last night (Sunday), nearly 400 folks of all ages heard the fabulous Israeli trio HABANOT NECHAMA, one of Israel's most popular groups. It was the pre-concert of the BJMF, co-sponsored by Temple Aliyah  and Temple Beth Shalom of Needham and the Israeli Consulate.

 An outstanding show! These three women have amazing voices with terrific range and harmonies, singing erverything from gentle love songs to reggae to silly, fun show stoppers. A strong contingent of Israelis were in the audience (including Consul General Nadav Tamir, who was grooving in the back of the room) who were obviously loyal fans (the person behind me sang many of the lyrics). But those who didn't know their music were enthralled. The audience rose to its feet as one at the end--and, of course, the women did an encore.

 It was a memorable kick-off for the Festival, but also a signature evening of great Jewish music by three outstanding Jewish artists. Thank you Yael, Dana and Karolina!!

If you missed this, you missed something special. But don't worry--more is coming. Tickets will go on sale shortly and our mailer, with the whoile schedule and ticket information, is at the printers now. Watch your mailbox--and be sure to sign up for our email newsletter which will have all the details. You can sign up right here on our web site. Don't be left out, 'cause this was just the beginning.

Jim

There was a very nice article about the Festival in the Jewish Advocate this week. It's unbelievably exciting. The Festival direct mail brochure goes to the printer today and should be delivered within 2 weeks.  And Sunday night, we kick things off with Habanot Nechama. This Festival is no longer a dream, Its real. And it is going to be spectacular.