Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation: Our Blog

BRINGING IN 2010 THE ONLY WAY WE KNOW HOW: WITH MOISHE OYSHER - January 5, 2010

Happy 2010 to all our readers. We have a full slate of concerts planned across the country this year, a blockbuster new recording coming out, and a museum exhibit set to launch in April- so we look forward to meeting many of you in the months ahead.


What better way to celebrate the birth of a new decade than with a shofar blast and the sobbing sensation that was the great cantor, Moishe Oysher star of the pulpit and the silver screen. We have been long time admirers of his holiday themed releases that defined the Jewish year for many audiophiles in the 1950's. To see him perform live in this clip from the 1939 Yiddish film, Der Vilner Shtot Khazn "The Vilnius City Cantor" is to see a legend in action.

Germany loves The Idelsohn Society - December 21, 2009

Remembering Ruth Wallis - December 18, 2009

Two years ago this month, we were saddened to learn of the loss the remarkable singer, songwriter, pianist, and comic Ruth Wallis-- a genius of the risque, a poet of the saucy. Like so many, we were long-time fans of Wallis classics like 'It's a Scream How Levine Does the Rhumba," "The Dinghy Song," "Queer Things," "Drill 'Em All," and of course, "Marriage Jewish Style."


Wallis was born in Brooklyn and sang with Benny Goodman, before dominating the the cocktail lounge circuit in the 50s and 60s, ruling Boston's Latin Quarter, and releasing a slew of LPs for labels like DeLuxe, King, and eventually the label she founded with her husband Hy Pastman, Wallis Original Records.

After she passed, we connected with her son Alan Pastman, who has been doing amazing work preserving his mother's important legacy. He's overseen two compilations: the first, Boobs features the double entendre dazzle-- clever, but never vulgar-- Wallis was best known for, and the second Love Is For The Birds re-issues a 1959 jazz album of more straight ahead material. Fittingly, Pastman includes a previously unreleased bonus track, "My Children are My Treasure."

As he told us last year, "I think that most people will find it hard to believe that 'My Children are My Treasure' was written by the same person that wrote 'You've Gotta Have Boobs'."


To mark the two year anniversary of his mother's death, Pastman sent us this short tribute:

"Ruth Wallis wrote words and music to 150+ songs. Her career spanned three decades and four continents. Typecast as solely a risque cabaret performer, her music was eschewed by the media and banned in Boston during the Eisenhower era. December 22nd will mark the second anniversary of my mother's passing. Since then, she's received more notice from the mainstream media than during her 30 year career. The New York Times published a nice article about Ruth Wallis in their January 3 (2008) edition. Time Magazine gave her kind mention in their "Milestones" section. "Boobs ! the Musical" opened at New York's Triad Theater in May of 2003. Based on Ruth Wallis' catalogue of music, it ran for 300+ performances, with encores in New Orleans and Wichita. There's been a resurgence of interest in Ruth Wallis' music. College stations have been introducing her music to new fans around the U.S. Not bad for the "Saucy Chanteuse" who was banned in Boston."

Click here to read her New York Times obit.





And here are some other Ruth Wallis gems:

The Legendary Gino restaurant - December 16, 2009

If there was an official restaurant of the Idelsohn Society, Gino at Lexington and 60th would be it. With its old world ambience and singular zebra wallpaper, not to mention the greatest capellini with segreto sauce ever served, we love that place. So we have been saddened to read about its current predicament and threat to its existence. The New York Times covered the story but the New York Observer captured the real grandeur of the place.

Unique in its décor and its adherence to the ancient practice of cash-only transactions, among other old-timey eccentricities, Gino (commonly called “Gino’s”) has cultivated a devout clientele and, after first opening on Lexington Avenue back in 1945, became the favorite trough for Manhattan’s business, artistic and entertainment power elites. Ed Sullivan and Frank Sinatra were regulars back in the day. “I have been going to Gino’s for 50 years,” the writer Gay Talese wrote in a letter to The Observer. He has written about the restaurant for The New Yorker and in his recent book, A Writer’s Life. “[It] would be an unhappy occasion for me (and hundreds of other longtime customers of the place) if it should go out of business.”

We pray for a resolution over the holidays.

The Idelsohn Society on PRI's The World with Marco Werman - December 14, 2009

Check out our interview with Marco Werman on PRI's The World here.

Hanukkah Mix 2009 - December 10, 2009

The Sway Machinery Pilgrimage - December 7, 2009

Here is the amazing Jeremiah Lockwood, of the underground rock cult favorites, The Sway Machinery, rocking out at our Lincoln Center show this past August.

The Sway Machinery is leaving in three weeks for Mali to perform at the much lauded Festival of the Desert, in the Sahara just outside of Timbuktu. They will be the first group bringing the music of the Jews out to the Islamic tribal nomads of the Desert in many centuries.

In order to raise funds for this remarkable project, The Sway Machinery is hosting a house rent party/chanukah bash of vast proportions at an old synagogue in the lower east side this Saturday night (December 12). If you are in NYC this is a must-see. Get tickets here.

All proceeds go to support The Sway Machinery Pilgrimage.

For more on The Sway Machinery, go here.

Looking for Geula Gill - November 19, 2009

Geula Gill was a stand out among several beautiful Israeli songbirds of the 1960s who took the US by storm (like Hannah Ahroni and Shoshana Damari). She was popular both in Israel and the US, putting out several albums in both countries and appearing on radio, television and Broadway. She recorded with the infamous Theodore Bikel-- "Theodore Bikel and Geula Gill Sing Folksongs From Just About Everywhere" (Elektra, 1959).



Geula was born in Palestine and grew up in a musical family. She appeared as a soloist in the Tel Aviv Choir and also performed during her service in the army. After the army, she graduated from the Teachers seminary and became a kindergarten teacher in one of the kibbutzim. But she felt the call of the stage and went on to tour the US, Canada and South America, along with her husband Dov Seltzer (Israel's most famous conductor). She recorded albums as a soloist on Folkways and Epic ("Israeli Dances" "Yemenite Folk Songs", "Holiday Songs of Israel") as well as several albums with the Oranim Zabar Israeli Troupe on Elektra.


Geula also made a name for herself as an actress when she was nominated for Broadway's 1968 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical) for "The Grand Music Hall of Israel."

She currently resides in Los Angeles. If anyone knows more about how we can reach Geula, please be in touch!

Habitus: Moscow Party in Brooklyn - November 16, 2009

The Idelsohn Society Loves Boston - November 12, 2009

It was a real joy to meet so many of our Boston supporters on Tuesday night at the remarkable New Center for Arts and Culture program at the House of Blues. DJ Eyal Rob's knowedge of Israeli psych music was formidable, host Marco Werman understood the project better than we did, and the real highlight was meeting Jeff Klepper of Kol B'Seder. We were indebted and look forward to returning to the city with artists in tow.

Judaica Sound Archives - November 9, 2009

We at the Idelsohn Society have long admired the incredible work of the Judaica Sound Archives at Florida Atlantic University and have long cherished our ongoing collaborations with them. They recently discovered a massive private collection of Jewish vinyl and have been begun to index and digitize their astounding new treasures. Check out their recent blog post:

"We Shall Never Pass This Way Again"

The Idelsohn Society Needs Your Help! - November 4, 2009

The Idelsohn Society has recently started work on the classic television show, The Jewish Entertainment Hour, a New York City public access show hosted by the legendary Gary Wagner. The Jewish Entertainment Hour showcased many of the artists, musicians and entertainers we love and admire. However, we need help tracking down some of the artists that appeared on show. If you have any information on the whereabouts of these people, email us at info@idelsohnsociety.com!

The Yentatainers- Thelma Glass and Frances
Langner
Cantor Joseph Malovany
Ricky Penn
Aliza Kashi
Jossel Goldstein
Amy Goldstein
Dov Keren
David Stepanovsky
Aleph Duo- Avi Albrecht and Zfira Avsholom
Marian Marzynski
Fay Nicoll

Also, if you were a fan of the show and have any fond memories to share, please contact us. We'd love to hear from you.

Found: Kol B'Seder - November 2, 2009

Toward the end of our album cover history of Jews in America, And You Shall Know Us By the Trail of Our Vinyl, we included a terrific, autographed find from the early 80s by the cantorial duo Kol B'Seder, who looked like they took a break from desk jobs at IBM to shoot their cover photo. We knew little about them, but were thrilled and honored to have been recently contacted by the Darryl Hall of the duo, cantor Jeff Klepper.

"When your book came out last year I was buying Chanukah gifts at Barnes and Noble, saw the display, sat down and spent maybe 15 minutes flipping page by page," Klepper wrote to us. "I wasn't looking for me/us, I was looking for the two biggies who came before us, Debbie Friedman and Safam, and I was starting to wonder if anyone from my corner of the Jewish world would be featured, until I got to p. 221. The feeling of that moment was incredible and unforgettable. Not birth-of-a-child unforgettable, but pretty close."

Turns out Klepper is a fan of Mickey Katz and Allan Sherman, he heard Gershon Kingsley's moog-rock Shabbat service at NFTY camp, and caught Cantor Smolover and the Levites perform Edge of Freedom at a synagogue in 1969, a show Klepper says helped influence him to become a cantor.

Klepper's father Larry was a magician who performed "Jewish magic shows" at shuls and JCCs around the country and was managed by the Jewish Center Lecture Bureau, a Jewish CAA that handled the careers of Theodore Bikel, Shlomo Carlebach, and others. Klepper sent along these pics of his late father and this amazing signed headshot of the great Shari Lewis, whose father Abraham Hurwitz was a founding member of NYC's Yeshiva University and a mentor of Larry Klepper's. Who knew the history of cantorial music would eventually lead back to a famous talking sock.

The Mystery of Aris San - October 26, 2009

Aris San's career amounted to a story so far-fetched, it could only be true. A Greek singer who arrived in Israel in 1957 and within five years became a megastar, close friend of generals and politicians including Moshe Dayan. But his manicured guitar work and smooth vocal stylings incorporated Arab melodies into Israeli music fed suspicions that Aris, in addition to being a genius guitarist and playboy, was a spy. Aris left Israel to conquer America. He opened a night club, Cirocco in Manhattan where Hollywood stars, politicians, and Mafioso mingled. His friends included Anthony Quinn,Telly Savalas,Harry Belafonte, as well as the Gallo crime family. Aris thought that he had found the key to success, but at the end of his meteoric rise came his fall, drug addiction, jail and a mysterious disappearance in Budapest. His body has never been found. But his music lives on.

Here are some tracks from his album Bim Bam which has not been off our turntable this week, and the opening scene from Dani Dota's sensational documentary, "The Mystery of Aris San." A sweeter opening scene in a movie, you will not see.

Aris San- Dam-Dam

For Your Listening Delight - October 21, 2009

Lee Tully was a Chicago born performer who found fame in the Catskills, the Jewish Alps in the late 1940s. As he writes so evocatively in his liner notes "It was in this scene of minks, wolves, canasta, chopped liver, borscht, and sour cream that he discovered heartburn which led him to write his first record hit "Essen" which became the number one Yiddish seller in the country." This album is swinging and has hardly been off our turntable this past couple of days. The music sounds as swinging as the Dali-esque cover. If you have any Lee Tully memories, please be in touch.

Lee Tully- Seltzer on the Rocks

Yiddish Mamas and Mammies - October 16, 2009

The Idelsohn Presents: Yiddish Mamas and Mammies, a playlist.

The Idelsohn Society Presents: Yiddish Mamas and Mammies

Great Aunt Kay Rides Again - October 13, 2009

< Click here to enlarge.

A message written recently in the guest book at our JEWS ON VINYL show at the CJM in San Francisco. The centerpiece of the show is a vintage 1950's record player/cabinet (see picture below) and as this gorgeous message reveals -- everything has its own story. Anastasia, we are proud to keep your Great Aunt Kay's legacy alive... be in touch, we would love to hear more...

A Taste of Mazel Tov at Lincoln Center - October 6, 2009

The remarkable Gregor Ehrlich cut this short piece which takes us back to one lazy day at the end of summer in which Arturo O'Farrill lead a cast of thousands in a recreation of Mazeltov, Mis Amigos. This snippet includes glimpses of Sway Machinery's Jeremiah Lockwood, Arturo, and Irving Fields, who incidentally is celebrating his 80th, yes eightieth, anniversary in show business on October 22nd with this event and homemade poster...

The Fast is Over - September 30, 2009

Ok. we are a little late on this one. In honor of Yom Kippur which took place last Monday, we proudly present this masterful rendition of the opening prayer Kol Nidre by none other than Mr. Johnny Mathis, who mastered Aramaic to add this tune to his 1958 release "Good Night, Dear Lord." We played this track recently whilst doing an Idelsohn Society presentation at a retirement community in Sun City, Florida and there was not a dry eye in the house. Although one old lady stood up at the front and informed the room that "Perry Como's version was far superior."

Back to the Seventies - September 18, 2009

We are about to enter the Jewish Year 5770. We at the Idelsohn Society are thrilled to be back in the seventies -- few decades were better for music, and we look forward to the year ahead with relish. 5769 was a landmark year for our organization and its development. If you would like to read our newsletter which reviews the year click here. We would like to thank everyone who has helped us through the year, and wish all of our supporters happiness and health in the year to come.

One of the low points of the year was the passing of the legendary Lionel Ziprin. We miss him terribly and it is fitting that a lovely piece by Idelsohn's David Katznelson ran in today's edition of Arthur. Read it here.

Lionel Ziprin

JEWS ON VINYL to rock Los Angeles - September 9, 2009

We are delighted to announce that our exhibit JEWS ON VINYL which was developed in partnership with the amazing Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco is moving to Los Angeles in 2010. More details to come, but the exhibit which has had over 60,000 attendees at the CJM will be leaping into theSkirball Cultural Center and we could not be more honored. Below is a letter which was forwarded to us by the CJM's maestro, Connie Wolf. Please note, it is real. Our mothers did not write it, but it is exactly why we started the Idelsohn Society in the first place.


Dear Connie,

My family and I visited the museum today, we are members and this was my 3rd visit, my daughter's 2nd and my husband's 4th. We really have a thing for the Jews on Vinyl exhibit. What I particularly like is how alive it is, it is different every time because we catch a different part of the music cycle, we are with different friends or family and there are different people present in the room with us. Today was another reminder of how special this exhibit truly is as my daughter thumbed through record covers than relaxed on the couch. A multiracial couple listened to headphones while she sat on his lap. Two women sang along to Tumbalalika (in russian? yiddish?) to a grandchild.

I know this show has been held over twice, what about making it a permanent exhibit right there in that fabulous room?

We are delighted to be members, the museum is fabulous.

Idelsohn Society on Beyond the Pale - September 3, 2009

One belated link from the Lincoln Center show: Idelsohn co-founder David Katznelson rocks it with Arturo O' Farrill on the amazing Abe Velez's Beyond the Pale Show on WBAI. Velez (right) is a remarkable bloke who interviews in an intimate style.

Sophie Tucker Back Where She Belongs - August 31, 2009

Mazel Tov Mis Amigos Rocks Lincoln Center - August 25, 2009

"Shalom aleichem and buenas noches." So began one of the most memorable nights in the history of the Idelsohn Society.

(The Antibalas Horns)

After months of planning and rehearsal, the Idelsohn Society brought the 1961 album Mazel Tov Mis Amigos-- a collection of Yiddish theater tunes gone Latin-- back to vibrant life on the esteemed stage of Lincoln Center. The historic concert closed out Lincoln Center's summer outdoors series and was the smash grand finale of the "26th Annual Roots of American Music" day, filling the courtyard with a packed house of nearly 5,000 people who braved the rain to witness the live mash-up of Latin, Jewish, and African-American song styles.

With leading Latin jazz bandleader Arturo O'Farrill and his skilled Afro-Cuban Sextet at the helm, Mazel Tov MIs Amigos was re-invented from start to finish, following the album's exact song order but taking creative liberties in re-introducing the songs to new generations of listeners. The night was full of special guests who all brought the house down: salsa legend Larry "El Judio Maravilloso" Harlow jammed on electric piano to turn "Papirossen" (Herman Yablokoff's lament about an orphaned cigarette peddler) into a blistering mambo; Latin jazz giant Andy Gonzalez sat in on bass for a joyous pachanga version of "Bublichki-Baigelach;" the young blues picker and intense cantorial experimentalist Jeremiah Lockwood made "Die Greene Koseene" into a gnarled rock blitz; the Antibalas Afrobeat horns took "Oy Momme" on a trip into Nigerian funk; 94 year old Irving Fields seduced the crowd with a 10 minute medley of Jewish classics (that ended with a rollicking version of "Hava Nagila"); and the young Mexican-American singer Sandra Velazquez introduced "Yossel Yossel" to "Jose Jose," leading the band in something we could only describe as a ranchera-cha- cha-cha.

At the start of the night, one side of the audience was full of couples dancing the mambo and the cha cha, and the other was peppered with spinning circles of hora dancers. By the night's end, though, the two sides became one and when the band closed with a sing-a-long of "Bei Mir Bist du Schoen," Orthodox Jews were dancing with Latino hipsters, and veterans of the Catskills and Palladium days were dancing arm in arm with New York City's Finest. The lines between generations and cultures blurred, and at least for one night, the music of memory became the music of an exciting future that is still unfolding.

The legendary Larry Harlow

Andy Gonzalez

Sandra Velasquez

Jeremiah Lockwood

Irving Fields

Michael Alpert

Our incredible band leader, Arturo O'Farrill

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