Not Dead Yet

Khevre --

I'm sort of on hiatus at Jewish Week for the summer, a combination of a book deadline and belt-tightening at the newspaper. I fully expect to back at that lemonade stand (we serve kosher lemonade; our highly qualified shokhet cuts the lemons himself) in September.

But there is so much going on in the world of Jewish music and I feel both an urge and a responsibility to cover it. Undoubtedly, anyone who is reading this blog already knows about the astounding Kulturfest, which wraps up tomorrow. Thursday night I had the singular pleasure of seeing the Ger Mandolin Orchestra making a rare public appearance. They brought down a nearly full house with exactly the sort of virtuosity you'd expect from eleven of the best mandolinists in the world. (My piece on the group can be read here.) Let me also get in a plug for the Dutch band Nikitov. I saw them do a sort of mini-set before a theater performance at the Abrons Arts Center and was very impressed with their chamber-jazz-cum-tango sound; they are playing at Joe's Pub tonight and are well worth a look.

There is a heck of a lot of great Jewish music on offer both live and recorded. The Jewish community (communities, really) ought to be getting behind its musicians. That's why I'm reviving this blog.

Simple as that.