One of my grandfathers was a hard working guy from Brooklyn who was a first generation American. He built a successful costume jewelry wholesale business, invested wisely, was married happily for sixty six years until he passed away last summer. He was curious, opinionated and loved schmaltzy music. I know for a fact that he loved the record I’m about to discuss—Soul of a People, arranged and conducted by Gordon Jenkins—because he told me so a few years ago. This one’s for you, Victor!
Jenkins is best known for his work with Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and one of my favorites my Nat King Cole, Where Did Everyone Go? Jenkins was a master of the moody strings and woodwinds sound that hint at the darker side of the adult nineteen fifties cocktail hour scene. Jenkins’ facility with melancholic minor chords and mainstream adult pop make him ideal for this popular orchestral rendition of Jewish-themed tunes such as “Hava Nagila” and “My Yiddishe Mama.” I could just picture my grandfather playing this record when his mother was visiting. It’s Jews moving into the American mainstream music, looking back with nostalgia at the old neighborhood but glad to be in the middle class music. Jazzers Red Mitchell and Nick Fatool are among the lineup of musicians on this record. I wonder, was this recording a passion project for Jenkins or just a gig? In any case, it was $2.95 well spent.
My other grandfather Milton, was a songwriter. His best known composition—”Jim”—is something of a jazz standard. He was also the son of a synagogue cantor. Therefore, it only seems fitting to discuss A Centennial of Jewish Music by The New York Cantors Concert Ensemble with Milton in mind (although I have a feeling he might have dug the Gordon Jenkins record more). I’m a bad Jew. I know nothing about cantorial music and its traditions, but this record seems like a fair cross-section of Jewish vocal music from the nineteenth century to the twentieth. We can hear how traditional Eastern European Jewish music is influenced by the harmonics of Western classical music (of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries), and then later Israeli folk music, in this variety of compositions, performed by the above mentioned New York Cantors Concert Ensemble. I’m still learning…
