Don't Forget The Soul
In the latest crop of Jewish CDs, traditional melodies
fare better than contemporary.
SUSAN BERNSTEIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
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Three canny Chassids in search of the last
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DANIEL KAHN
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September 10 - October 1
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he liner notes on Rebbe- tographs, her body covered in chic
Soul's latest compact disc, hats and faded denim.
Fringe Of Blue, recall the
Her bio reads like an episode
Sh'ma, one of the basic ar- of "Geraldo": She went from as-
ticles of Jewish faith: "Have them similated Reform Jew to born-
make tassels on the corners of again Christian student at Oral
their garments for all genera- Roberts University. Then she dis-
tions. They shall include a fringe covered Judaism, to her utter
of blue ... These shall be your tas- surprise, and became Orthodox.
sels, and when you see them, you After many years singing with
shall remember ..."
small rock bands, she's trying to
This text inspired Bruce Burg- adapt her career to her new, ul-
er, who creates most of Rebbe- tra-pious lifestyle.
Soul's sound, but it might hold
Sitting With An Angel is slick-
a deeper message for modern ly produced and packaged as
artists — when you see Jewish crossover pop, the kind of in-
music, you shall remember the nocuous spiritually-themed mu-
soul. Four new Jewish CDs, hit- sic that made Christian musician
ting the market just in time for Amy Grant a superstar. What
the high holidays, balance Jew- Ms. Grant does so successfully —
ishness and artistry with vary- match her strong vocals with
ing degrees of success. Those bouncy love songs — escapes
which remain faithful to Jewish Mrs. Mase. In her effort to uni-
musical traditions pack the most versalize her spiritual message,
punch.
she removes the Jewish feeling.
Mr. Burger, a jazz guitarist But the tracks don't stand up as
who plugged into Jewish music love songs or message tunes.
after studying with a Chabad-
Her soft soprano vocals, which
Lubavitch rabbi in California, will sound familiar to Joni
presents his version of the Jew- Mitchell fans, are pleasant
ish Top 40 on Global-Pacific enough. But her songwriting is
Records' Fringe Of Blue —
"Yerushalayim Shel Zahav,"
"Hinei Ma Tov," "Hatikvah" and
"Turn Balalaika" among them.
Although we've heard these times
a thousand times before, Rebbe-
Soul (what would John, Paul,
George and Ringo think?) injects
a fresh, passionate sound. The
music has a sinuous quality,
slithering its way through the all-
too-familiar framework of the
melodies.
To add a folksy, global feeling, self-conscious and repetitive.
Mr. Burger plays a slew of inter- Every track has the same theme
national instruments on the al- — I was lost and confused until
bum: balalaika, mandolin, oil can, I found You, with a capital "Y."
and something called a berimbau, This spiritual message will ap-
in addition to guitar, percussion peal to some, particularly on the
and keyboards. Fringe Of Blue is title track and the haunting "Fol-
a hip update on Jewish songs low Me." But I found an entire
that adds the best of contempo- discful of it too heavy to swallow.
rary jazz and world music with-
Like a classic recipe that suf-
out gutting the original.
fers from nouvelle cuisine up-
Do yourself a favor — skip Mr. dates, perhaps Jewish music is
Burger's pompous, look-how- served up best as our ancestors
plugged-in-I-am-to-Judaism lin- created it, undiluted and strong.
er notes: "My spirit has dwelt For traditional, simple takes on
here in this mystical city of gold Jewish tunes, try the two new
for a long, long time...I shall for- discs from Blue Hill Recordings,
ever remain in Yerushalayim We Are Here by Rosalie Gerut
Shel Zahav —Jerusalem of Gold. and Sleep My Child: A Collection
I am RebbeSoul and this is my of Jewish Lullabies.
music."
"We Are Here" is an ode to pre-
Another artist come lately to Holocaust Eastern European
Jewish learning is Dana Mase, a Jewish culture, the klezmer and
ba'alat teshuvah living in an Or- Yiddish songs of the shtetl. The
thodox enclave in Monsey, N.Y. tracks, in Hebrew, English and
On her new CD from Water Yiddish, are more a lament than
Records, Sitting With An Angel, an exuberant salute; some may
Mrs. Mase is glamorously obser- find the mournful tunes too slow
vant in artsy, diffused pho- and ponderous.
Perhaps Jewish
music is served up
best as our
ancestors created
it, undiluted and •
strong.