Music From The Yiddish Radio Project [Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 12, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Shanachie
• ASIN: B000060P7J
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,642 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #15 in Music > Folk > Jewish & Yiddish Music
  • #21 in Music > World Music > Middle East > Israel
  • #42 in Music > World Music > Europe > Eastern Europe

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When klezmer met swing in the USA, May 10, 2002

By 

Rabbi Yonassan Gershom (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Music From The Yiddish Radio Project (Audio CD)

This CD is truly a priceless time capsule, gleaned from what co-producer Henry Sapoznik calls "The King Tut's tomb of Yiddish music" -- a re-discovered "lost" collection of rare, one-of-a-kind recordings, made on-the-spot as the shows were broadcast from the 1930s and 40s. Out of that discovery came the 10-part "Yiddish Radio Project," which aired on National Public Radio in 2002. And from that series comes this CD.

The CD is much more than a trip down memory lane. It's an important slice of Jewish-America history. At a time when Yiddish-speaking immigrants and their American-born children were trying to fit into their new land's pop culture, old-world Klezmer met new-world Swing in an endearing, sometimes hilarious combination. Some of these songs, such as "Bei Mir Bist Du Sheyn," became national hits and are still sung today. Others, such as a Swing version of "Dayenu" (a song from the Passover liturgy), never caught on in the gentile world, but will still bring a smile to any Jewish face.

On the technical end, the CD has been edited as if it were a one-hour radio program, complete with station identifications and some wacky commercials -- including one for a local cafeteria that served "meat, dairy, and some foods we can't mention" (i.e., not kosher.) If you don't understand Yiddish, the liner notes contain English translations and some excellent background history by Henry Supoznik. There's even a photo of the "Joe and Paul" store, which spent decades running its jingle and "going out of business" sales until, in the 1960s, they finally did. It was the end of an era -- or maybe not... with the recent revival of Swing music, these songs may yet be sung again.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gets 5 Bagels -- but seriously..., May 2, 2002

By 

mattgb1 "mattgb1" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music From The Yiddish Radio Project (Audio CD)

...I expected this to be a compendium of the kind of stuff I heard as a little boy, but oh, it has so much more.

In addition to all of the standard Yiddish music which I (thought I) knew so well, there are moments here of amazing power and virtuosity!

This is not just bar mitzvah music! In its golden age, this music was treated as seriously and professionally as Duke Ellington treated Jazz, George Gershwin treated Swing, and Leonard Bernstein treated classical music. Unlike the other musical styles, this one was suddenly snuffed out after the holocaust, its echoes drowned out by the louder sounds that followed.

But it's still there, and parts are right in this treasury! You will be amazed at the excellence of this stuff, and amazed as I am that it still lies so obscure and unknown in the murky past.

Be prepared to have a whole new bunch of favorite performers.

(Oh, and some of the shlocky fun stuff is in there too. Hey, even the finest gefilte fish should have some horseradish on the side, right?)

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heaven, July 24, 2002

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Music From The Yiddish Radio Project (Audio CD)

This swing and klezmer collection combines many forms of mastery, not least the kitschy commercials and jingles. Between numbers, listeners are enticed (in Yiddish, as they would have been on an hour-long Yiddish radio show) to buy everything from Adler's elevator shoes and Manischewitz Matzo to Joe and Paul's clothing and Ajax. Of course, many products and stores hawked here have long since bit the dust. But the music is timeless right down to a couple of Chasidic niguns--nonsensical words sung as prayer--one doubling here as a station identification. --"Ya ba ba, ya ba ba bye, WBVD."

My favorite piece is Dave Tarras' rendition of Second Avenue Square Dance, a piece of divine klezmer, braiding alto and soprano clarinets into musical silk. But Abe Ellsteins's Orchestra rendition of Die Goldene Khasene comes a close second. And one cannot but smile at the Barry and Andrews Sisters' jazzy but melodious harmonies.

Each of the 34 cuts on this disc offers a kind of elegance, whether peddling the most pedestrian products or gliding through a Naftule Brandwein serenade. Treat yourself to a small piece of heaven.

--- Alyssa A. Lappen