36 August 1 • 2019
jn
T
he entertainer for this year’
s
Stephen Gottlieb Concert — at
Temple Israel Maccabi Host
Family Night — holds staying power.
Jacob Spike Kraus, who immerses
himself in Jewish themes and will be
joined Aug. 7 by a band, has been
chosen artist-in-residence by the
temple to plan and lead innovative
programs throughout the community
for at least one year.
Kraus’
s debut concert in Michigan,
sponsored by the Sarah & Harold
Gottlieb Endowment Fund in mem-
ory of Stephen Gottlieb, is open to
the community at no charge for the
concert or dinner.
“I’
m coming out to Michigan
toward the end of my summer tour,”
says the singer-songwriter, 27, who
is moving from New York to Ann
Arbor. “I’
ve been visiting 15 camps
and a couple of synagogues across
North America to present concerts
and workshops.
“I’
ll bring high-energy Jewish
music, and the songs are all going
to be my original numbers. I have
recorded two albums of contempo-
rary Jewish music, and they can be
heard anywhere you can find music
online. We’
ll also bring CDs to the
show.
“You could call my music pop soul
or pop folk or pop R&B. It’
s really an
eclectic mix. Some songs are totally
in Hebrew, some totally in English
and some a mix of both. There will
be a few liturgical pieces.”
Kraus, the son of a
reform rabbi, plays gui-
tar. He will appear with
Ricky Watts on drums,
Matthew Krane on key-
boards, Dan Lee on bass
and Chris Range on sax-
ophone.
Two songs, one from
each album and perhaps
in the Michigan show,
have special resonance
with Kraus — “Pitchu
Li” from Cornerstones
and “What Makes You
Glow” from Shake Off
the Dust. Both have to
do with recognizing and
appreciating the unique
qualities and abilities
that individuals have.
“I do a lot of per-
forming for kids and
teenagers primarily,
and everybody at times
wonders about fitting
in because of some-
thing that feels different
about them,” the singer-songwriter
explains. “Sometimes, the things that
make people different make them the
most important to what’
s going on.
“Musically, the first song exem-
plifies what I do because it’
s upbeat,
exciting and catchy. The rhythm is
very jumpy and border-
lines on rap. There’
s a
lot of internal rhymes
and plays on words. It’
s
a mix of my own words
and words from the
psalm, and it was pro-
duced in a very modern
style so there are a lot
of synthesizers.
“The second song
is really accessible
because it’
s a call and
response song, so peo-
ple are learning it as
they sing it. It’
s straight
pop, happy, excited.”
Kraus, who grew
up in Massachusetts,
became known to
Temple Israel through
people who watched
him perform at a
Canadian camp.
“I find his music
inventive, catchy, pro-
fessional and beautiful,”
says Cantor Michael
Smolash, who will take part in plan-
ning the upcoming programming.
“He’
s a full-fledged recording artist
with talent and charisma and 100
percent committed to Jewish music.
I think he’
s a tremendous resource
for the whole Jewish community.
“We had him booked for the
Gottlieb concert some time ago, and
I heard a rumor that he might be
moving to town. When we heard he
was going to be here for three years,
we worked something out. We’
re
really excited to have him as an art-
ist-in-residence.”
Among the later plans for Kraus
will be leading satellite services for
residents of Huntington Woods,
Royal Oak and other areas at a dis-
tance from Temple Israel. Besides
performing, he also will be conduct-
ing classes.
“He’
s excited about bringing in
other artists, engaging artists in the
community to do Jewish music and
setting up coffee houses,” Smolash
says. “His first community service is
being planned for Sept. 13, and there
will be eight of them throughout the
year.”
Kraus’
s musical interests began
before he thought about professional
possibilities.
“I picked up a guitar at age 10,” he
recalls. “My father (Rabbi Jonathan
Kraus) was a song leader when he
was growing up in New Jersey. He
taught me how to play guitar, and
I learned many songs at Jewish
summer camp. I found it a way to
engage in Jewish text and values and
wrote my first religious song in high
school.
“I went to Muhlenberg College (in
Pennsylvania) as a creative writing
major and took a few music classes.
At the end of my freshman year, I
thought about making a career out
of Jewish music and traveling the
country, and that kicked off in the
summer of 2016.”
Kraus, with a music performance
degree, has been a camp counselor
and New York teacher. He joins with
people expressing different ways of
religious observation and has been a
member of the diverse Jewish a cap-
pella group Six13.
“I write non-Jewish music, but I
don’
t perform it,” Kraus says. “The
chords come first and the words after
except when I write music for prayer.
Then, I think how the music can
serve the lyrics. I write Jewish music
for functionality in partnership with
art.” ■
High-Energy Music
Jacob Spike Kraus kicks off this year’
s Stephen Gottlieb Concert.
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
music
arts&life
Details
The Stephen Gottlieb
Concert at the Temple
Israel Maccabi Host
Family Night is set for
Wednesday, Aug. 7.
Dinner starts at 6 p.m.,
and the concert starts
at 7 p.m. The program
is free to the community
with reservations
needed by Aug. 2 to
temple-israel.org/
gottlieb.
COURTESY OF JACOB SPIKE KRAUS