Soul music for the High Holy Days

By , August 25, 2010 1:05 pm
Album cover for High Holy Days Music Playlist

During the High Holy Days Jews around the world congregate to experience a sense of spiritual community.  It is a time of family gatherings and happy times juxtaposed with introspection and solemn prayer.

In choosing the music for this year’s JSA High Holy Days Music Mix we wanted to highlight the voices of cantors who have devoted themselves to perfecting their art. The High Holy Days has inspired some of the most beautiful and compelling Jewish sacred music ever recorded. On this album we feature such legendary cantors as Leib Glantz, Leibele Waldman, Gershon Sirota and Moishe Oysher. We also highlight the interpretations of some of today’s finest cantors. Read More About This…

Vogue Records: Spinning a pretty picture

By , August 18, 2010 3:52 pm
Photo of Vogue Picture Disc

The Recorded Sound Archives at FAU Libraries has been sorting, organizing, washing and digitizing tens of thousands of vintage 78 rpm recordings since we received a large donation of the discs from the estate of Cleveland collector, Jack Saul.

Hundreds of boxes containing vintage 78 rpm recordings remain stacked in the hallways while others are being opened by volunteers. The black shellac discs are piled high on work tables for volunteers to sort. Read More About This…

Yiddish musical comedy making a comeback?

By , August 5, 2010 1:40 pm
Image representing Yiddish Theater

Who said Yiddish Musical Comedy is dead?

Now you can revisit the glory days of the Lower East Side and hear the songs as they were actually sung.

The recordings in this special JSA collection were produced on 78 rpm recordings between 1901 and 1922, at the height of Yiddish Theater’s popularity. Read More About This…

Jewish music rocks like Bon Jovi

By , July 22, 2010 1:51 pm
Album cover of Rocky Zweig singing "Boris" from his Legacy album (Aderet Music Corp.)
Listen for yourself. Click to hear Rocky Zweig singing “Boris” from his Legacy album (Aderet Music Corp.)

Hear it. The first five seconds. A keyboard…drums…it sounds like rock. These are the familiar sounds of a song that is going to tell a story. It sounds like the introduction to the Bon Jovi song, “Livin on a Prayer.”  Then Rocky Zweig begins to sing.

His story is about a boy named Boris. Boris is upset because he is persecuted for being Jewish. The story ends with Boris dying. In “Livin on a Prayer,” the pseudo couple, Tommy and Gina, live on little money and try to make their relationship work. Read More About This…

Preserving Sound: The Recorded Sound Archives at FAU

By , July 19, 2010 8:36 pm
Photo of record label titled "President Roosevelt's War Message to Congress and the Nation"
Historic sound snapshot from our past.

Visually stunning picture records, historic radio transcriptions such as President Roosevelt’s speech to the U.S. Congress following Pearl Harbor, and hundreds of original recordings by Italian tenor Enrico Caruso are among the treasures being inventoried at the new Recorded Sound Archives at Florida Atlantic University Libraries.

These relics of the recording industry are among an estimated 50,000 vintage records that were recently donated to FAU Libraries and used to create its “Vintage 78s Collection.” The records, along with extensive holdings of Jazz recordings and Judaic music, inspired FAU libraries to recently establish the Recorded Sound Archives with more than 150,000 phonograph records and other sound recordings. Read More About This…