SCOTT BENARDE
Special to the Jewish News

E

delman, Klein and Cohen sounds like the
name of a law firm on first read, but they
are names to watch in the popular music
arena, not the legal one.
Judith Edelman, Jess Klein and Jen Cohen are in
the forefront of a new wave of Jewish female singer-
songwriters who have been plying their trade without
much fanfare. Despite little radio play, they slowly but
surely have been increasing their fan base and develop-
ing reputations as engaging performers and writers
who know how to turn an insightful or provocative
phrase. They all released new albums during the past
year, which deserve more attention before 2000 turns
into 2001. And they are not alone.
Add to the mix new albums by Victoria Shaw, better
known as a hit songwriter for county music's biggest
acts, and Janis Ian, who has been making records for
more than 30 years, and could be considered the god-
mother of Jewish female singer-songwriters.
Coincidentally, Ian, Shaw, Edelman and Cohen
live in Nashville, though all were born and raised in
the Northeast. (What are the odds that in a few
years, Klein, a Rochester, N.Y., native who lives in
Boston, will find herself in Music City?)
Chanukah, which celebrates a victory for religious
freedom, is an appropriate time to give these records a
listen. These albums, intentionally or not, brim with
reflective and poignant folk, rock, country and blue-
grass songs about personal and spiritual liberation and
freedom, about undertaking the mitzvah of tikkun
olam, about honoring one's parents, and other corn-
mandments embraced by the Jewish people. And
some songs, like the holiday, are just plain festive.
Here, then, is "Chanukah music" for the new mil-
lennium:

Draw Them Near by Jess Klein (RykodisdSlow River).
Near is surprisingly insightful coming from some-
one so new to songwriting. Klein, the youngest of
this group, at 26, didn't discover songwriting and
guitar playing as her vehicle for expression until well
into college, while studying in Jamaica in 1994.
This is only Klein's second album, and first distrib-
uted by a national label.
The record, which runs from folk to rock, is a song
cycle of personal discovery book-ended by "Little
White Dove," and the title tune. The two songs sound
alike and include the dove as metaphor, but are corn-
plete opposites — about putting up walls or breaking
through them, shunning intimacy or allowing it.
When Klein finishes grappling with which way to
live — 12 songs later — she concludes that it's more
fulfilling to "sing to draw them near."
Klein lets listeners share in her unfolding sense of
personal revelation throughout the record. That
includes a pair of sensuously sung rockers, "Love Is
Where You Find It" and "I Sure Would."
The latter is a lusty, seductive tease that climaxes in
a frenzy of fiery guitars and pounding drums: "Tell
you what I'd like to do. I'd like to put my hands on

Scott Benarde is a Delray Beach, Fla., writer working

on Stars of David: The Jewish Contribution to Popular
Music 1953-Present.

you..." And it just gets hotter, without getting nasty.
The emotional highlight is the gentle, loving
"Cloud Song," which sounds Talmud-influenced.
With the simple, yet brilliant, lyric (and the record's
most memorable line), "Said the smile to the tear,
you're the reason I am here," it comes off as a
reminder of the importance of tzedakah, or doing
mitzvot, no matter your own situation.
The chorus reinforces that message: "Don't fade
out. I will lend you my silver lining. I don't need to
dress this proud. And I would like to lay my riches
down." The actual inspiration behind the song is a
daughter's thank-you to her mother for somehow
always being there for her.
"That song is about everything I learned from my
mom." Klein explains. "She's been such an amazing
example of how to be as a person. She somehow

Jen Cohen: "Being Jewish) is a bzk, part of my package."

managed to do what she needed to do for herself,
and at the same time, take care of me. The song is
my way of saying I would do anything for her."
Klein's parents divorced when she was 4 years old. She
grew up in the heavily Jewish suburb of Brighton in
Rochester, N.Y., hung out with Jewish friends, attended
lots of b'nai mitzvah but didn't have one of her own.
The family celebrated Passover and Chanukah at her
maternal grandmother's home. She describes her par-
ents, however, as "minimally religious." Her mother
even put up a Christmas tree, "not to renounce Judaism,
but because she just liked the tree." The Jewish kids on
her block made fun of her for it, she recalls.
No matter, Klein identifies "socially" as a Jew, and
is aware of the strong tradition of great Jewish song-
writers whose footsteps she sees ahead of her as
guideposts and inspiration: Bob Dylan, Paul Simon,
Randy Newman. (Thankfully, her supple singing
style, especially on "I'll Be Alright", and the title
song, is influenced by Emmy Lou Harris.)
"For me, these narrators want to find somewhere
where they really feel at home, and they're not satisfied
that they have totally gotten the most out of where
they are in life," Klein says. "They're wandering, even
when they're home. That also seems American to me."
With insight like that, and the ability to turn lyri-
cal and melodic phrases seemingly at will, Klein

should continue to draw more fans near. You can
visit her at her Web site www.jessklein.com .

Far Enough Away by Jen Cohen (Little Bit
Productions).
Far Enough Away conveys so much emotion and
sensuality with such little effort, it seems like
sleight of hand; Jen Cohen's stolen your attention
and increased your pulse before you're aware of it.
Simply put, Cohen's so cool, she's hot. As one
critic wrote: "She's like Alanis Morrisette ... if
Morrisette were talented, pretty and could sing
worth a damn."
And Janis Ian says, " In my next life, I'm coming
back with Jen Cohen's voice." Unlike her Nashville
peers, Cohen prefers to interpret others' tunes
rather than write them herself. And she takes pride
in her ability to pick 'ern.
Judging from her song selection — titles such as
"Are We There Yet, Mama?" "Gone," "Longest
Road, "Going South," "The World.is What You
Make It" and "Standing in My Own Way" — each
plays out like a personal Exodus. The characters in
these songs are seeking liberation from an array of
enslaving demons, or praying for a Promised Land.
Don't mistake these for country songs, or Cohen
for a country singer. They may be written by coun-
try tunesmiths, but Cohen transforms them with a
patient, dynamic voice that straddles blues and rock.
Her back-up band serves as a solid supporting cast,
running from controlled simmer to outright boil,
though the production occasionally keeps the lid on
a little too tight. Still, there's an engaging charm, inti-
macy and live concert feel to Far Enough Away.
That's partly because the album was recorded in
only two days, unheard of in an era when one song
might take weeks.
Cohen is another unlikely Nashville resident. She
graduated from Yale University magna cum laude in
East Asian studies, and speaks pretty good Japanese.
She arrived in Nashville about seven years ago
with the echoes of her Ivy League friends begging
her to change her name if she was going to move .
deep into the Bible Belt. She had no urge to do so,
she says, because that "felt false, and I had no
desire to hide. Maybe if I was a Top 40 pop act I
might, but that's not my goal."
Cohen carved herself a singing career on the
national college circuit as well as in Nashville clubs.
She performs on 70 campuses a year, including
schools in such non-Jewish bastions as Louisiana,
Iowa and North Dakota. (This year she was a final-
ist for the College Entertainment Association's
Contemporary Music Act of the Year and
Coffeehouse Act of the Year.)
During her performances, no matter what cam-
pus she's on, she often drops hints about her Jewish
background during between-song banter. "Even
though I don't daven every day, or light Shabbos
candles, [being Jewish] is a big part of my package.
Some of the people in my audiences have never
met anyone Jewish." But by the end of her concert,
she says, "Now, they've met one."
Cohen is a child of the Cyberspace Age and a
student of the Do-It-Yourself school, selling her
records and keeping fans posted through her
Internet Web site, www.jencohen.com

•

12/1
2000