Customer Reviews

Between Heaven And Earth: Music Of The Jewish Mystics

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3 star:		(1)
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Most albums of Hasidic music tend to focus on the rapidly-paced "table bangers" designed to get your adrenaline going. Not so with this album. Statman and crew have chosen some of the slower, more contemplative Hasidic tunes, and rendered them in a soul-filled cross between klezmer and modern jazz. The result is meditative Jewish music that is definitely not the usual "new age" pablum.

In their original cultural context, these tunes are sung orally, usually without instrumental accompaniment, because the use of instruments is forbidden on the Sabbath and festivals. Instead, the singers sit around the table, using their voices to improvise complex harmonies and variations on the basic tunes. Sometimes the tunes have words, but more often, they are made up of meaningless sounds such as "ai-ai-ai!" that, precisely because they are wordless, can contain all possible meanings of the heart. The result is a sort of verbal jazz that reaches deep levels of the soul.

Such music is known in Hebrew as a "devekus niggun" (D'VAY-kuss-NEE-gun), which means, loosely translated, "A sacred tune for connecting with God." What Statman has done here is to translate that oral devekus experience into instrumental music. And it really works! As I listened to this album, I was carried back to my own deepest experiences around the Shabbos table. There are only nine pieces on this CD, but each is long enough to really get into the music, the same as when we sing them around the table. This album truly conveys the inner spirit of Hasidism.

This album is really a favourite of mine. No easy listening, no swinging. It's full of subtle and spectacular ensemble music. Statman's clarinet reaches out to unknown heights and the combination of styles is really moving. Improvising on well-known Hassidic themes, Statman and his musical friends create a new genre: mystical music with body and Soul! Unlike so-called 'New Age-music', that usually lacks any depth, this album combines the old with the new.

I think the reviews by Jason Verlinde and Rabbi Yonassan Gershom are accurate as to the feel and value of this music. I mostly want to add some technical stuff that may be of interest. The quartet is Statman on the clarinet (he has a beautiful yearning tone) and mandolin, Kenny Werner on the piano, Harvie Swartz on the acoustic bass and Bob Weiner on the drums. Bola Fleck (banjo), David Grisman (mandolin) and Scott Lee (bass) put in guest appearances.
When I first heard the first song on this record it reminded me a lot of the first song on Moodiology by George Garzone. Werner also plays on that excellent album and on both albums he is in fine McCoy Tyner form- playing piano of great spiritual power and beauty. Other than Statman, Werner is the main instrumental presence on this disc.
Statman on clarinet is wonderful. He doesn't so much tear up the changes as work with the melodies. When you have melodies of this beauty it is a wonderful approach.
One reviewer found this music to be too new ageish. Maybe but I think in that case he has heard a lot better new age music than I have. I find this album to hold its own against anything I put it up against on my CD changer. Right now I am playing it with masses by Palestrina. I have played it up against Leila Josefowicz, Anouar Braham and George Garzone (it is apparent that Statman is not the player that Garzone is but then how many are?). Each time I play this CD I find new things to hear, new beauty to enjoy. These guys play this music because they love it, they feel it to the bone, it cuts to the heart of how they see the world and, I suspect in Statman's case as well as Palestrina, it is part of an ongoing conversation with God. How often do you get to hear music played with that much heart? It may not speak to you but it is definitely worth a listen to find out.

It is often said that Andy Statman is a "musician's musician." He also may be said to be a "critic's musician," having earned an unending string of accolades from the press throughout his career. This CD, for example, was featured on the cover of the year-end double-edition of Billboard just before the record hit the stands, and subsequently was dubbed one of the Ten Best CDs of the Year by NY Times music critic, Neal Strauss. If I may add my "two cents," I would say that "Between Heaven and Earth" is an American-Chassidic answer to "A Love Supreme." These sessions were truly inspired!

Andy does a tremendous job of taking nigunim (songs) of the holy hasidic masters of long a go. he puts it in a format which people can appreciate today. However, he does not sell out. Meaning, is he does not "water down" . Andy perserves the holiness and sacred nature of each tune so that even the tradional are able to enjoy this. Andy bridge the tradition with modern times and does so in a magnificent fashion

Sometimes it pays to be adventurous. I was not quite sure what to expect when I purchased this CD, but it has turned out to be one of my favorite CDs. Statman plays mostly clarinet, plus mandolin, and the rest of the quartet consists of Kenny Werner on piano, jazz veteran Harvie Swarz on bass, and Bob Wiener on drums and percussion. There are also guest appearances by Bela Fleck on banjo, Dave Grisman on mandolin, and Scott Lee on bass. These musicians combine to make some of the most compelling and entertaining music I have heard in a long time. I am not quite sure how to describe it--it sounds like a cross between klezmer and Coltrane. Spiritual, yet danceable. Energetic, yet meditative. Great, great stuff. As a bonus, the liner notes are fascinating and informative. In short, this is a fantastically good CD that I recommend more than enthusiastically to all who love music.

This CD is by far the most emotional CD I have ever heard (in fact, apparently Kenny Werner, the pianist, burst into tears during one of his solos). Close listening to "Maggid" can bring a guy to tears. Statman and the crew play their improvisational adaptations of ancient Hasidic tunes in a way that literally no one else can. Truly a remarkable CD.

In search of the true feeling within a nigun, Jewish vocalise sung as an outpouring of spiritual depth, I have been largely disappointed. Some albums of Shlomo Carlebach, Mike Tabor, and Joel Rubin only approach that heart, though they offer fine music and some worthy and interesting innovations. When I heard again my copy of this purely instrumetal Andy Statman album, I was stunned. Here it was! Through jazz! Statman captures and blends Chabad Chassidism, klezmer joy, and spiritual jazz (with its roots of blues and religion). He even throws in some bluegrass via guest Jewish musicians Bela Fleck, banjo, and David Grisman, mandolin. Here is an album to place along those of Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, and Charles Lloyd. Between Heaven and Earth is a milestone, unique among klezmer, and as the title indicates, the listener is drawn away from mundane affairs toward the essence of our existence. Here is beauty. Here is wrapped the history of Jewish exile. This is quite an accomplishment for a small klezmer band.

This is a beautifully crafted and performed cd. There are no vocals, and many long improvisational interludes and clarinet solos. It was a bit too New Agey for me. It has grown on me a bit listening to it, but still not one of my favorite cds. Good backround music for a quiet party.