Arts & Entertainment

From his Michigan home,
Jack Zaientz is the man behind
an internationally known blog
about Jewish music.

Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News

G

rass Lake, a small town outside
Ann Arbor, may not be among
the places generally thought of
as music centers — particularly when it
comes to Jewish music — but social net-
working could be changing all that.
Jack Zaientz, a longtime fan of Jewish
music, has created an internation-
ally known blog, Teruah Jewish Music,
teruah-jewishmusic.blogspot.com , main-
tained out of his Michigan home.
Zaientz offers news about today's
music scene, provides video and audio
performance segments, calls attention to
relevant sites and researches material for
people accessing his Internet space.
The cultural blogger thought the name
Teruah would be particularly appropriate
for what he is trying to do. Teruah is the
call of the shofar summoning the cel-
ebration of the Jewish New Year.
"I enjoy the diversity of the blog, the
different perspectives, types of music
and kinds of Jews represented there says
Zaientz, 40.
"When the website started five years
ago, I didn't know where it was going to
go. I didn't know enough about Jewish
music to have an idea of where it was
going."
Zaientz will update local music
lovers with a speaking engagement
at the upcoming Stephen Gottlieb
Music Festival planned by the Jewish
Community Center of Metropolitan
Detroit. He'll be at the podium 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 24, at the Jewish
Community Center in Oak Park with a
talk titled "The Silver Age of American
Jewish Music Is Happening Now — And

Why We're Missing It!"
The music blogger, who earns his liv-
ing working on computer interaction
software in Ann Arbor, developed his
hobbyist site after building a collection
of materials important to his interest in
Jewish music.
"When blogs exploded, I thought I
could use a blog to help me organize my
own education:' says Zaientz, intent on
learning about new Jewish artistic initia-
tives regardless of origin.
"I found it's very hard to study any-
thing consistently if you don't have a
project, something to hold accountability.
The blog was a great way to keep me
accountable and hold me focused!'
Describing himself as a scavenger,
Zaientz likes connecting with the people
who give him ideas.
"A good chunk of the information —
or at least tip-offs — get e-mailed to me
from bands, producers and publishers:'
he explains. "These e-mails lead me to go
look for more information. I'm a friend
now with many bands, and they tell me
about their continuing ventures.
"I hear people wiser than me talk
about Jewish music, and that gets me
curious to go out and research the things
they talk about. If I give a talk, I get ques-
tions from audiences and that will send
me off to do more research."
Zaientz, whose family belongs to
Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor,
recently talked to the congregation about
Jewish art music after being prompted by
a question.
A blogger trying to locate a tape of
Jewish music long ago played by his
parents contacted Zaientz, who tracked
down a copy and got one for himself.
That effort led to Zaientz's nickname,

"I hope my enthusiasm is contagious."

–

"Musical Shadchen" ("Matchmaker").
"It's taken me a lot of time but very
little money to work on my blog," Zaientz
says. "The software is free, and a large
bulk of the videos come from YouTube. I
buy books, but I would do that anyway.
I do spend some money on music, but
that's probably the only real expense."
Two trends gaining attention through
the blog are the growing interest in
Sephardic sounds throughout the larger
Jewish community and pop musicians,
like Regina Spektor, acknowledging their
Judaism as they perform.
Upcoming postings will spotlight par-
ticulars of the Stephen Gottlieb Jewish
Music Festival, a new album by the
Michigan-based Heartland Klezmorim
and a documentary of the Diaspora
Yeshiva Band.
Although he has played saxophone and
guitar, Zaientz, who grew up in a small
town in Connecticut similar to Grass
Lake, has stayed away from perform-
ing instrumental music since working
on his master's degree in human com-
puter interaction at Carnegie Mellon
University in Pittsburgh. His bachelor's
degree was in English at the University of
Connecticut.
Zaientz and his wife, Stephanie, a

Jack Zaientz

social worker, moved to Michigan for job
opportunities. They have two daughters.
"I hope my enthusiasm is contagious:'
says Zaientz, who has been interviewed
about Jewish music by Israeli National
Radio. "I believe there is more authentic,
passionate and brand-new Jewish culture,
particularly music, being created now
than at any point in American Jewish his-
tory since the great wave of immigration
in the 1930s.
"Because most of our media comes
from mainstream media, it's difficult for
Jews to be connected with Jewish culture
and community, and I want everyone to
understand exactly how much wonderful
[artistry] is going on.
"It's my hope that, with an often
fragmented community, American Jews
have the opportunity to tap into all this
artistry. I also hope my blog is a window
into the music part of that." II

Jack Zaientz will speak 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 24, at the Jewish
Community Center in Oak Park. To
reserve a place, call (248) 432-5652
or go to www.jccdet.org . Find his
blog, Teruah Jewish Music, at
teruah-jewishmusic.blogspot.com .

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