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By Recorded Sound Archives, September 28, 2015 3:33 pm

Did you know the Recorded Sound Archives at FAU Libraries has over 49,000 albums along with over 150,000 songs in its databases, which is growing everyday with the help of volunteers? With so many recordings to choose from, we have given Research Station users the ability to request items be digitized.

See a recording that hasn’t been digitized?

As a research station user you can request it using the Music on Demand forms on the website.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access.

Below you’ll find a list of recordings that were recently added in September by Collection from requests made by Research Station Users.

Judaic Collection

Prayers from Jerusalem by Naftali Herstik

Zemirot – Turkish-Sephardic Synagogue Hymns  by Los Pasharos Sefaradis

Oriental Song Festival 1973 by Various Artists

A Song of the Heights by Andrew Edison & Norman Summers

Tanchumim by Various Artists

A World of Jewish Music by Allan Michelson

Blue Star Camp – 1984 by Ted Grey

30 Golden Moments of Music by The Epstein Brothers

Lamenatseach Shir Mizmor – Oriental Song Festival 1974 – Volume 2 by Various Artists

Tsur Mi’Shelo Achalnu – Famous Traditional Sephardic Hymns by Renanim Choir

Achva by Various Artists

Ismach Moshe by Sawel Kwartin

Al Taschlicheinu by Sawel Kwartin

Erev Shel Shoshanim by Various Artists

Gems of the Synagogue by Josef Rosenblatt

My Mother’s Sabbath Candles (Sung in Yiddish) by The Malavsky Family

Vintage Collection

The Bells of St. Mary’s by Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra

Featured Collection

Hit of the Week Collection

High Holy Days Collection

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By Recorded Sound Archives, September 14, 2015 2:25 pm

In years past, the Recorded Sound Archives Judaic collection or the Judaica Sound Archives as most know it has highlighted the music of Leibele Waldman, Gershon Sirota and Moishe Oysher for the High Holy Days along with some of today’s finest cantors.

This year the Recorded Sound Archives has created a High Holy Days collection for you to  share and enjoy with your family. Included in this collection is a mixture of cantors, and other musicians such as Shimon and Ilana Gewirtz, Ramon Tasat and Cindy Paley.

Click here to view this collection.

Click here to view past blog posts on the High Holy Days.

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By RSA Guest Blogger, August 24, 2015 6:53 pm

Theodore Bikel on stage as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.

With his grey beard, clear voice, and room filling performance, Theodore Bikel had so much in common with Tevye the Milkman. He was the fiddler on the roof, a versatile man.

Theodore Bikel, actor, activist and folk singer, passed away at the age of 91 last month on July 21, 2015 in Los Angeles. He played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof onstage in thousands of performances, created the role of Baron von Trapp in the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music, recorded as a singer and guitarist for many albums in different languages, and was involved in civil rights causes.

Bikel was born into a Jewish family in Vienna, and named after Zionist Theodore Herzl. They fled to Palestine in 1938. and according to his mother in his autobiography, he sang before he could talk. Theodore started acting at a young age and performed in the Habimah Theatre in Tel Aviv in 1943. Bikel moved to London in 1945 and next to the United States in 1954, where he started his acting career on Broadway.

Bikel released thirteen albums between 1955 to 1965. The most popular recordings were: Theodore Bikel Sings Jewish Folk Songs (1958), Songs of a Russian Gypsy (1958), Theodore Bikel Sings More Jewish Folk Songs (1959), A Harvest of Israel Folk Songs (1961), and Theodore Bikel Sings Yiddish Theatre and Folk Songs (1965). With this repertoire, he paved the way for a renewed interest in Yiddish folk songs, and ultimately for the klezmer revival in the late seventies.

Along with folk singer Pete Seeger, Bikel became one of the founders of the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. This festival is known for the performances of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan in 1963 and played a crucial role in the American folk music revival of the sixties.

Just recently, a documentary film was released about the intertwining of Theodore Bikel’s life with writer Sholom Aleichem, the great storyteller of Jewish life in Eastern Europe: Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem. In March this year, Record Sound Archives’ Alethea Perez wrote a blog about this portrait. click here to read more.

Listed below are some of his popular tunes.

 Dona Dona

Di Mame Iz Gegangen

Az Der Rebbe Zingt

Dodi Li

 Click here for more Theodore Bikel recordings.

Due to copyright concerns only snippets can be heard on the RSA public website. Full versions are available to users of the RSA Research Station.

If you enjoyed this guest blog post you may enjoy Gone but not forgotten – the Barry Sisters.

RSA Guest Blogger, Niels Falch, is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and is currently writing a dissertation on the influence of Jewish music in American popular songs.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, June 25, 2014 9:26 am

Alma Gluck and Efrem Zimbalist

Before there was Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt…before there was Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall…before there was Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton…There was Efrem Zimbalist and Alma Gluck.

A little over100 years ago, a nice Jewish boy who happened to be a violin genius  met a lovely Jewish young woman who was making a name for herself as a singer. I guess you could say that when these two Jewish superstars of classical music fell in love they were destined to make beautiful music together.

The Zimbalist-Gluck romance provided lots of material for the gossips of their day. While the idea of such a wonderful pairing of talents was thrilling, there were those who pointed out that Gluck was six years older, as well as a divorcee with a daughter. Scandalous!

Read more about Alma Gluck’s relationship with Efrem Zimbalist.

Read more about Efrem Zimbalist.

Browse 40 recordings the talented couple made together.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, May 28, 2014 11:56 am

Growing up in a family of Hazzans and Klezmer musicians, Cantor Elias Rosemberg may have been born to perform.

From his early days as a wedding singer in Buenos Aires to his present position as the Cantor for Temple Emanuel in Newton, MA. (the largest Conservative synagogue in New England)  his talent and energy have made him a stand-out performer. No stranger to radio, television, and the recording industry, he won the “Argentina Sings for Israel” vocal contest in 1998.

Since coming to the United States in 2000, he has continued to receive honors and recognition for his talent as a great singer and as a gifted Hazzan. His repertoire includes Cantorial, Israeli, Yiddish, and Ladino, as well as opera and Broadway selections. True to his Argentinean roots, he also enjoys singing Tango. At the Cantors Assembly Convention in 2002 he was asked to sing the memorial prayer at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.

You can visit his YouTube channel to see live performances.

The Judaica Sound Archives is proud to include these four  wonderful recordings by Cantor Rosemberg. Click album cover to play.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, April 28, 2014 1:40 pm

Israel is 66 years old! Celebrate by revisiting the early years.

Listen to the authentic recordings from the Vistas of Israel radio series.

Historic radio broadcast of the Israel Broadcasting Company celebrating the millionth immigrant to Israel (8/29/61). Click on label to play.

From the  late 1950s, through the 1960s, and into the early 1970s the State of Israel sought to inform Americans and others about their young country’s culture and accomplishments through a series of radio broadcasts in English.

These programs featured popular Israeli performers, topical discussions, and interviews with prominent Israelis and others. These original radio broadcasts were aired on local stations throughout the USA.

The Judaica Sound Archives has an extensive collection of these  historic “Vistas of Israel” radio programs. There are over 400 recorded broadcasts in the collection and about 250 of them have been digitized so far.

Click here for more about Vistas of Israel radio broadcasts.

You may also be interested in:

JSA celebrates Israel’s Statehood (5/5/2011)

JoAmar: A pioneer of Israeli Music

Israeli Performer: Shosaha Damari

Selected Israeli Songs

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By Recorded Sound Archives, April 1, 2014 8:57 am

Why is this holiday different from all others?

On this holiday, we celebrate the gift of freedom, we remember Jewish history through special Seder foods and  we teach the lessons of the haggadah to the next generation. The Judaica Sound Archives invites you to  add music and song to  your family’s Passover traditions.

The Judaica Sound Archives has compiled a mix of Passover songs that the whole family can enjoy.  From Cantorial splendor to children’s play-songs, music expresses the heart of the Jewish people. Give Jewish music a special place in your home for the  holidays. All the songs  in this compilation can be heard all year long on the JSA website.

You may also enjoy the following albums:

• Passover Seder Songs – Cantor Deborah Katchko Gray
• Passover in Song and Story – Gold and Wertheim
• Canciones de Pesah – Cantor Bogomolni
• Passover Music Box – Cohen and Gamliel
• Passover Collection – Safam
• Passover Medley – Jan Peerce
• Passover Sing-A-Long – Children’s Village
• Let My People Sing—Cantor Elias Rosemberg

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By Recorded Sound Archives, January 15, 2014 3:35 pm

Indiana Jones: “We do not follow maps to buried treasure and X never, ever marks the spot.” (Last Crusade)

Dr. Randall Goldberg, Asst. Prof of Music History at the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University in Ohio has been digging for “treasure” at the Judaica Sound Archives at the Wimberly Library on FAU’s Boca Raton campus.

He has no map and so far has not discovered a spot marked with an “X.” But he has spent weeks tirelessly searching at FAU’s Judaica Sound Archives through thousands of 78 rpm recordings for information about how Jewish identity was expressed in 20th-century music. Like Indiana Jones, Randy Goldberg feels like he is on a quest. Allowing his intellectual curiosity to lead him on a fantastic journey back in time, he relishes finding little known tid-bits of information.

Prof. Goldberg crouches between the stacks to check the record numbers he is looking for.

“For me the passion is in the records.  There is a childish love that I have for it. I used to watch Indiana Jones films and that is the sense of adventure I have. I am always looking for some hidden treasure whether it is here at FAU’s Judaica Sound Archives or in an old record store in Pittsburgh.”

“Jewish musicians have a cool niche. I love to find weird mash-ups, like Chassidic disco albums or Jewish sacred music set to a Carribean beat.”

Prof. Goldberg  doesn’t find the enormity of the JSA collection to be overwhelming.  Quite the opposite.  “Just being being here and being immersed in the entirety of this whole thing. It fuels my enthusiasm and my passion for my research project.” he says.

Dr. Goldberg checks the information on the actual record label to ensure the correctness of his database.

Dr. Goldberg spends his time searching through the JSA’s database, locating the recordings that he is interested in and then entering information about those recordings into his laptop for use later in his research. It might seem like tedious work to some but Dr. Goldberg seems more like a “kid in a candy shop” than anything else.

JSA: “You seem to be having a good time visiting us and working here.”

GOLDBERG: “I love doing this. And the beautiful Florida weather isn’t bad either.  Back home in Ohio there are 12″ of snow on the ground!”

Dr. Goldberg achieved a BM in classical guitar performance at the University of Texas at Austin and a MM in musical performance at the New England Conservatory. He earned his doctorate at Indiana University. He is an Assistant Professor of Music History at Youngstown State University, College of Creative Arts and Communication, Dana School of Music. He  specializes in the music and music literature of early modern Europe.  In addition to teaching courses, Dr. Goldberg directs the Youngstown State University Early Music Ensemble and is the president of the Allegheny Chapter of the American Musicological Society.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, January 14, 2014 10:04 am

Deeply emotional and rooted in the ancient songs of Judaism, the music of RebbeSoul brings a modern vibe that re-imagines the music of our ancestors. This is not your grandmother’s Jewish Music.  This is not some crazy mash-up of eclectic sounds.  This is spiritually-based music with modern sensibilities and a deep respect for the past.

After earning a degree in engineering, Bruce Burger (aka RebbeSoul)set off to explore L.A.’s music scene.

Leaving parental expectations and  upstate New York’s brilliant autumns and wintry snows behind him,  it was in L.A. that he finally found his sound….and his voice.

At the age of 22, after sharing a Shabbat dinner with an Orthodox family he was inspired to write “Sister Sarah.”  Despite having been a secular Jew for many years, this experience touched him so deeply that he was moved to take on the name RebbeSoul.

As he added the melodies of nigunim and prayers to his repertoire he made a decision. “Every time I play as RebbeSoul, I put something on my head….To the great Rebbes, a nigun, a melody, is something that comes from the heart and goes straight to heaven without anything getting in the way.  So when I do it, I want to make sure there is something on my head, out of respect.”

To strengthen his connection to the Jewish people even further, Burger made aliya in 2007. Now residing in Zichron Ya’acov, he is exploring his musical roots and enjoying where his musical journey is taking him.

The Judaica Sound Archives at FAU’s Wimberly Library is delighted to be able to add Bruce Burger as our newest JSA featured performer. Click on any album below.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, December 17, 2013 8:00 am

You may ask yourself… how did a Yiddish story by Sholem Aleichem, based on a surrealistic painting by Marc Chagal, become one of the world’s most popular shows?

You may ask yourself…. how could a 1964 Broadway musical touch audiences after 50 years?

But, of course…. if you know “Fiddler on the Roof” you wouldn’t have to ask!

“The Fiddler,” as depicted by Marc Chagal, symbolizes the struggle for survival and balance in a precarious world.  A precarious world?  That is something Jews know a little something about.

From Tevye’s confident reliance on “Tradition” to the sweet naiveté of “Matchmaker, Matchmaker;” from Tevye’s ultimate acceptance of his life in “If I Were a Rich Man”  to the bitter-sweet realization that life is an ever-changing landscape in “Sunrise, Sunset;” the collaboration of Jerry Bock (music) and Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) touches our hearts with one of life’s greatest lessons.

We yearn for stability and tradition while, at the same time, we are compelled to adapt to change.

The Judaica Sound Archives at FAU Libraries is proud of its role in preserving the traditions of Jewish culture despite our ever-changing world. Please consider making a financial contribution to help us fulfill our mission.

Click here to see albums and hear snippets.