Efrat Gosh: The Israeli Edith Piaf

Eliciting comparisons to Edith Piaf is no small feat for a performer. And yet Israeli chanteuse Efrat Gosh is doing it time and time again.

Maybe it's the playful flirtatiousness of her performance that earns her the compliment, or the shamelessly romantic air that permeates her every refrain and high note. And her distinctively throaty croon and inventive vintage fashion sense certainly don't get in the way.

Gosh herself loves Piaf, and draws both her distinctive style and her musical sensibilities from 1940s and 50s Piaf's heyday – not to mention that of Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington. "I love this period of time," she said in a video interview with Vogue Italia. "They were kind of rough but they had a lot of glamour."

She could have been describing herself. Since being discovered as a backup singer back in 2002, the 29-year-old has made 3 albums, with music ranging from brazen to coy. Fully in character in one of the 7 videos she made for her love song "Ah ah ah ahava," Gosh paints herself with red lipstick hearts as she croons about lo-o-o-ve with joyful abandon, making you fall in love, right there, with her.

The Maccabeats Jam With Obama

In 2010 the Maccabeats became famous for their Hanukkah song "Candlelight," which was a cover of Mike Tompkins' "Dynamite," which was itself a cover of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite." After their delightful music video became a YouTube sensation, the Yeshiva University student vocal group went on tour, released albums, and were featured on TV shows like "The Today Show." This year they thought: Why did we stop at the green room? Let's take the briefing room: the White House Press Briefing Room.

Behold "Barack Obama and Jewish Celebrities Singing Candlelight by The Maccabeats" which is, well, pretty much what it says it is. This clever mash-up features President Obama and a slew of Jewish celebrities covering the hit song. It is, therefore, a cover of their own cover of a cover. It's all very meta.

While the new video may induce feelings of vertigo, it did get over 16,000 hits in its first 5 days, which makes it seem like people didn't much mind that a Hanukkah-themed song was being released either several months late, or several months early. Not that college students are known for sticking to deadlines.

The Music of Passover

Looking for Passover music -- either to get you in the mood for the holiday, songs you don't know, or just to brush up on come oldies?  Here are just a few websites where you can listen for free to the music of the holiday.

Songs and music have indeed been an integral part of human life and an indispensable part of human celebrations since times immemorable. Passover is no exception. This joyous festival that started with the miraculous escapade of the Jews from Egypt 3,000 years ago has always been celebrated with music. With Passover once again at our threshold, we bring to you an awesome collection of songs and music related to the festival. All these are free and no registration is required either. Enjoy these free Passover music from TheHolidaySpot. If you like them, which we know you surely will, click here to refer this page to your friends and loved ones. Spend a great time this Passover with our splendid collection of quality music for the occasion. "Gut Yontiff" to all of you.

You can also enjoy this YouTube Video of The Fountainheads' "Dayenu - Coming Home"

Many synagogues, including Ansche Chesed, include Passover music on their websites.

And if Reggae is your thing, check out Songs of Freedom.

American (Jewish) Idol

Do you ever catch yourself watching American Idol and wishing they would sing more psalms? Or wonder why you never hear "Adon Olam" on The Voice? Turns out, you're not alone. Four years ago, out of this void, a singing competition called A Jewish Star was born. (You didn't think they'd really call it "Jewish Idol," did you?)

The setup is familiar: A panel of judges evaluates contestants, and audience members vote online. But in this competition instead of skimpy dresses and love songs, you'll find men in suits belting out prayers, psalms, or proverbs.
Considering the recent hoopla about the religious female contestant on Israel's version of The Voice, it's no surprise that this competition, based in New York, is limited to men. And though we do miss hearing from the ladies, these guys have serious musical chops. The 2013 competition is just getting started—Round 2 is this Sunday, March 3rd. You can watch each entrant's videos and vote for your favorite here.

Just don't be disappointed when the judges pale in comparison to Paula Abdul on American Idol (even if she is Jewish).

50 Years of Allan Sherman

Before Weird Al Yankovic there was Allan Sherman. This summer marks the 50th anniversary of Sherman’s biggest hit, "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh," a hilarious song in the form of a letter from a kid at sleepaway camp to his doting parents, and which features hapless campers like Joe Spivey (and his poison ivy) and Leonard Skinner (who got ptomaine poisoning after dinner). The ditty reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts, and Sherman's album, My Son, The Folk Singer, sold 1 million copies.

In the early '60s, Sherman's songs were as ubiquitous as chopped liver at a bar mitzvah, and his oeuvre was just as Jewish. In Sherman's fevered imagination, "Greensleeves" became an ode to Sir Greenbaum, a righteous knight who gave up crusading and moved to heavily Jewish Shaker Heights, Ohio. "Frere Jacques" became "Sarah Jackman," a lady with an exhaustive list of rhyming relatives. President Kennedy himself was allegedly spotted singing about Ms. Jackman in a hotel lobby.

Despite ringing of a bygone era, Sherman's routines are still sidesplitting. For the definitive collection, check out My Son, The Box. And for the sharp-eyed, search Weird Al's debut album cover for a tip-of-the-hat to Sherman. (Hint: Squint your eyes at the foot of the bed.)

Brooklyn cantorial concert a milestone for new Barclays Center

Who knew the man behind the Brooklyn homecomings of Jay-Z and Barbra Streisand had a thing for heimische melodies?

Bruce Ratner, the developer and majority owner of the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn, which opened last September with a Jay-Z show and hosted borough native Streisand a month later, holds a special place in his heart for cantorial music.

“My parents are both from Eastern European descent, so that type of Jewish music is in my blood,” Ratner told JTA. “I grew up going to my Conservative synagogue in Cleveland, where they had an amazing cantor who I absolutely loved to listen to. And as I got older, I was always buying cantor CDs. The music is just so refined.”
Ratner, the chairman and chief executive of the real estate development firm Forest City Ratner Companies, is taking personal pride in having spearheaded efforts to put on the first Jewish event at the venue: a Feb. 28 concert featuring the renowned Israeli-born violinist Itzhak Perlman sharing the stage with Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot. The Barclays performance comes on the heels of the pair's recent collaboration, “Eternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul,” an album of Jewish music released in August.

In an age where klezmer music has gained a following in the downtown jazz scene and Yiddish culture has experienced something of a revival, Ratner is optimistic that between Brooklyn's hipsters and Chasidim, the show will find an audience.

“I know not everyone listens to cantorial music today, but if they really listen, they’ll find such a history behind it,” said Ratner, who became acquainted with Perlman 30 years ago when their daughters attended private school together in Manhattan. “Growing up, cantors used to be treated like rock stars, and I think kids today unfamiliar with it will really find this concert enjoyable.”

A century ago, it was hardly uncommon for Jewish cantors to perform at venues like Barclays. Cantors such as Yossele Rosenblatt and Zeidel Rovener were mainstream stars, recording popular records and gracing the stages of Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall.
Only about a third of Barclays' 19,000 seats are going to be made available for the Perlman-Helfgot show, but it's still likely to be one of the largest cantorial concerts in the United States in nearly a century.

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What is Jewish Music?

Jewish music stems from ancient prayer chants of the Levant some 3000 years ago. The musical notation that developed and that we find in the bible today is one of the most ancient forms of notated music, and yet it is still in current practice all over the world today. Jewish music has been constantly adapting to new conditions and yet retaining its identity in many widely differing ethnic, social and religious environments.

Through its daughter religions, the music of Judaism is one of the fundamental elements in the understanding of the sacred and secular traditions of Europe and the Near East, first having influenced, and then having been influenced by, the music of Christian and Islamic cultures. The study of Jewish music encompasses many genres of religious, semi religious and folk music used in the synagogue and in the Jewish home and also art music using Jewish texts or themes. The study of Jewish music combines distinctively, the essential elements of musicology, ethnomusicology and interculturalism. Jewish music today encompasses a wide diversity of musical traditions and Jewish songs are sung in many different languages.
Ashkenazi Music (Klezmer)

Ashkenazi refers to the Jews who settled in the Rhineland of South West Germany and Northern France from about the third century CE. They developed a distinct culture and spread out eastwards through Central Europe into Slavic lands. Ashkenazi cantorial song reached a very high level of sophistication and ornamentation. The vernacular language was Yiddish, based on medieval German with Slavic and Hebrew words and written in Hebrew script. Yiddish language influenced their popular music. Yiddish language and music travelled with Ashkenazi Jews as they moved to the new world. A musician was called a klezmer.

The term Klezmer comes from the Hebrew words klei meaning “vessel” and zemer meaning “song” - literally meaning “instrument of song.” This was the Yiddish word by which the musicians themselves were known in Eastern Europe. The term “Klezmer Music” was first used in the 1970s to describe the traditional instrumental music of the Yiddish-speaking people of Eastern Europe whose origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages.

Klezmer is enjoying huge popularity world wide and giving pleasure to thousands of listeners and performers. This toe-tapping Eastern European party music imbued with Jewish tonalities and spirituality resonates with people young and old from a wide variety of backgrounds.

For a selection of Ashkenazi/Klezmer music - CLICK HERE