Introducing…. Yood

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Over the past years I’ve seen all sorts of new bands mushrooming in the US and Israel and each one tries to create a catchy name. So I wasn’t expecting much when I heard about Yood, a rock band led by Eliezer (formerly Lloyd) Blumen but after reading about them in jpost, I must say he has a cool story.

This Chabad (I knew it!) baal tshuva used to be part of a successful 70’s-style rock band before being invited to play with Reb Shlomo (btw, his Yartzeit was this past thursday). Unsurprisingly, this event changed his life and he eventually moved to Ramat Beit Shemesh. But now he is back in the rockers scene and is going mainstream. His band, Yood (named after the “smallest but most powerful letter of the Hebrew alphabet”), already went out on tours in a few colleges in the US and they are hoping to be Rock And Roll’s new Matisyahu (sounds familiar, no?). They do have something in common with matis - a spin-off version of Tzomo Lecho Nafshi (see video below).

Here’s the link to the great article to found in this weekend’s Jerusalem Post.

And here’s the link for their very cool website. Don’t forget to “BY THE NEW CD” - funny typo in their site. Listen to a few songs in their myspace page.

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Yaakov Shwekey Performing Live @ Wedding

This is Yaakov Shwekey singing recently Live at a wedding Avi Bernstein on Drums

To see more check out the site….

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JM Awards - Another Update

It has been just one week of voting and we have a few good “battles”. 8th Note and Poshiter Yid are head-to-head for the Best Album and the same can be said about the “Amar Vs. Mayer” battle in the Best Debut.

I’ve contacted the other JM bloggers, in an effort to make this awards not only my awards but everyone’s. So far, JoeFlix, Chaim Rubin, Teruah and Sruly from Sameach have agreed to share their picks at the end of the vote so we can compare them to the public’s choices.

Since these awards are not only mine - they are everyone’s - I’m renaming them to “2008 Jewish Music Bloggers Awards”, and this will hopefully be a positive step towards creating a yearly vote to be organized by all the JM bloggers.

Spread the word and stay tuned!

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2008 JM Awards - Update

All the categories have been posted, finally. Throughout the past two days I added two categories and it looks like it needs no change; all we have to do is sit and wait. We have two months, and that’s plenty time. For the two new polls I used more input from the threads, so there are more options.

Meanwhile, I’m not really planning to post so much. So keep spreading the word and we will see what happens in two months. Most people don’t check this blog more than once a month anyways, so it’s pointless to jump to any conclusions just a day after the voting started.

As I said previously, I will be revealing my own picks and explanation after the close. I’ve invited Joeflix to reveal and explain his picks as well. I will soon go after the other JM bloggers to see if they are interested in taking part too, but I can’t guarantee anyone else will agree to participate.

The categories are:
- Best Song of 2008
- Best Album of 2008
- Best Debut Singer of 2008
- Best Arrangement of 2008
- Worst Song of 2008

This last category was added because so many of us are sick of the traditional “fillers” that come by so often. 2008 should be the year of their extinction.

Spread the word!

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2008 Jewish Music Awards - Blogger Version

A few readers emailed me about Kol Chai’s 2008 awards, most of them voicing disappointment over the restricted nature of this award.

You will probably not believe in me, but I was planning to introduce something I dubbed “YK’s Awards” before the Rosh Hashana but I felt it was the right thing at the wrong time - music awards in Elul didn’t sound good.

My plan was to hold a vote of the Best Album, Best Song, Best Debut Singer, Best Composer, Best Producer and Best Arranger. Now that Kol Chai preceded me in this idea, I feel like just starting it anyways before is too late - vote in the boxes located at the top-right of this blog. Additionally, this can be the blog version of Kol Chai’s vote - more interactive and more flexible. I now realize that the vote for composer/producer/arranger might be too much, so I didn’t include it this time.

The vote is open until 12/31/08 11:00 PM. That gives you two months to vote, and I think that’s the optimal time for a poll like this. If a new meaningful album comes out, I will add to the list.

Alongside with the reader’s choice I will choose my own favorites and explain my choices, after the voting process ends. Right from the start I can say that I will disagree with many of you, but that’s the beauty of polls, specially when the polls are about such a subjective topic - music.

I’m open to suggestions and I can add other songs or singers. Please only vote once. Spread the word!

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The Shofar

Few articles I’ve read are so clear, organized and insightful as “Exotic Shofars“, written by Rabbi Natan Slifkin, who’s also a blogger.
Through his great articles and books, the ZooRabbi has the unique talent of introducing us to the marvels of nature and the animal kingdom and once again, he delivers with this article about a musical instrument we grew up listening to - the Shofar.

Speaking about the Shofar, my Shul’s Baal Tokea had a great deal of trouble with the sequence of Tekiot on Rosh Hashana and he eventually was forced to call another guy to get the job done. And he got stuck in the second-to-last blow, just before the Tekiah Gedolah. Tough luck.

This wasn’t the first time I witnessed this situation. Years back the same happened with a very good Baal Tokeah back in my homeland. In fact, virtually every Baal Tokea has more than a few mistakes here and there and often times he will start the Tekios in one tone and suddenly jump to another in a desperate quest for a decent sound. Does the Shofar has musical tones? Is it possible to play real music with it, with different tones and everything? I thought not, after all the Shofar is just one of these wild things no one can control. All the Baal Tokea can do is blow and hope for the best.

Well, I was wrong. Turns out to be that one man has mastered this wild instrument and found a way to play real music with it. Introducing Shlomo Gronich, an Israeli songwriter and singer who uses the Shofar in many of his songs, with amazing results. I don’t think he is his Shuls’ Baal Tokea, but it would surely be cool to hear the Tekios from a guy who actually knows the instrument inside out.

For the Chabad fans, you will surely enjoy Gronich’s rendition of Keili Ato, with the Shofar:

In this other clip, skip to 1:33 to hear some other Shofar tricks of Gronich:

Ksiva Vechatima Tova

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Shana Tova

I wish a great new year to all of you and may we have only simchas and good fortune this coming year.

I had the privilege of spending this past shabbos in Tzfat - last time I was there I was 10 or so years old. One of the highlights of the city is the famous Carlebach Shul, Beirav. I couldn’t make my own recording of the Havadala, but I found this one in youtube.

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Shema Yisrael - Church Version

I know I’m posting too many videos, but I couldn’t let this one out.

In Portugal, children singing Shema Yisrael in a Baptist Church. If you’re afraid this is a conspiracy against Jews since you can’t understand the words of the Priest, it is not. He’s actually saying a beautiful speech, praising the Jewish People and how the two religions must be tolerant with each other - that’s why he taught them Shema Yisrael. Remarkable.

And even though I’ve lashed against boys choirs recently, this is actually the correct way of using child choirs - no out-of-range notes, just their pure voices without any screechiness. Perhaps we can learn a bit from them.

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Selichos videos - Parts 2 and 3

“Kadish” and “Lechu Neranena”:

“Haneshomo Loch”:

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EXCLUSIVE #3: Selichos with Naftali Hershtik and Eli Yaffe’s Choir

This past Motze Shabbos The Jerusalem Great Synagogue held a special Selichos service that took over 2 hours, and the Shul was absolutely packed. Although I really hope this is not true, the rumor goes that Hershtik will be retiring after the High Holidays so this was no ordinary event. Hershtik is undisputedly one of the greatest Chazzanim the world has seen in the past three decades and although he hasn’t become as popular as Helfgot, there’s a lot to like about his voice. Experience, good nusach and pleasant voice timber are his biggest assets, not to mention his amazing falsettos.

In addition, Eli Yaffe did an amazing job directing the choir. He is second to none when it comes to vocal arrangements. Forget about the choirs you hear in Jewish Music albums - this is the real deal. The choir is pleasant, in tune and always surprising.

I will be posting more videos soon; in this one you can hear the opening song “Ashrei”. There isn’t anything out of this world in this clip, so those of you who think Chazzanus is boring will not be able to enjoy too much of it. But keep in mind that this is a Selichos service and as such it must be solemn and traditional, leaving little room for geshmack moves.

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