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By Recorded Sound Archives, October 11, 2010 10:32 am

The question that everyone has been asking me since Nathan Tinanoff resigned his position as Director of the JSA on September 30th  is,”What will happen to the Judaica Sound Archives?

The JSA will continue to thrive…but, there will be changes.

What will stay the same?

1. The JSA will continue to have the largest online collection of Judaic music and voice in the world.

2. The JSA website (rsa.fau.edu/judaic) will continue to delight you with collections featuring performers of the past, cantorial greats and new artists.

3. The JSA Research Station will continue to bring Judaic music to scholars and students at institutions of Judaic studies around the world.

4. The JSA blog will continue to bring you information about new music collections and the goings on at the JSA at Florida Atlantic University.

5. The JSA will continue to be found on the 5th floor of the Wimberly Library on FAU’s Boca Raton campus.

What will change?

The JSA will no longer stand alone.  It is now part of a family of sound archives at FAU Libraries.  The newly formed Recorded Sound Archives at Florida Atlantic University Libraries is larger and more diverse. The JSA  will join a preservation effort that includes not only Jewish culture but also classical music, opera, jazz and American folk and pop.

I am pleased to accept the position as Director of FAU Library’s Recorded Sound Archives. I have worked closely with Nat Tinanoff since the inception of the JSA. As the JSA’s Assistant Director I have seen it grow from a few thousand recordings into a major Judaic music resource.

I look forward to building upon our success as we develop FAU’s Recorded Sound Archives.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, October 13, 2009 2:35 pm

From left: Hedvah and Ben Aroni, Louis and Rouhama Danto

In today’s blog the JSA thanks and honors two great friends: Louis and Rouhama Danto. If you are one of the people who have been impressed and amazed by the incredible collection of recordings that the Judaica Sound Archives has received from the estate of the late Jack Saul, you might be wondering, “How did Jack Saul know about the JSA?”

Good question. And the answer is: Cantor and Mrs. Danto.

The JSA became acquainted with Cantor and Mrs. Danto about three years ago. They were known to JSA’s sound archivist Ben Roth-Aroni as friends of his mother and father, Cantor Zvee Aroni. The couple lives in Toronto, Canada and Ben urged them to visit the Judaica Sound Archives on their next visit to South Florida. On February 20, 2006 the JSA staff had the opportunity to meet this remarkable couple.

They were immediately impressed by what they saw and what the JSA was trying to accomplish. At the time, the JSA website was just beginning to put some of the music on the internet. Having a Cantor of Danto’s stature agree to allow us to put his albums on our website was a real coup! Cantor Danto signed a contract with us and about six months later his beautiful voice could be enjoyed by listeners around the world.

Dantos visit JSA (from left) Rouhama Danto, Ben Aroni, Cantor Danto, Nathan Tinanoff

If that was all that we had to thank the Dantos for it would be more than enough. But there is more.

The Sauls and the Dantos knew each other from the years that Cantor Danto officiated a the Park Synagogue in Cleveland. The Sauls were part of the congregation and the Cantor often visited their home to listen to Jack Saul’s record collection and to talk about music. They told Jack about their experience with the JSA and how impressed they were with our genuineness and our professionalism. Although he was somewhat reluctant at first, Jack eventually agreed to visit the JSA “to see for himself.”

From left: Jack & Hinda Saul, Louis Danto

Jack Saul had spent a lifetime collecting sound recordings.  It was his passion.  It was his life. Now, with the encouragement of his good friends Louis and Rouhama Danto, Jack Saul was able to find a place that could take on the responsibilites of guardianship for the collection that meant so much to him.

For more information about Jack Saul and his record collection click the Jack Saul link on the right menu under the CATEGORIES heading and scroll down.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, October 5, 2009 10:29 am

The excitement we were all feeling when the truck from Cleveland, filled with recordings from Jack Saul’s collection, pulled up to the Library’s loading dock was quickly replaced by focused activity. Everyone had a job to do and immediately jumped into action. Unloaders moved the boxes from the truck to pallets which were then moved with a handtruck through the Wimberly Library lobby into the elevator to the fifth floor where they were stacked for later unpacking. Other boxes were placed on carts and deposited in other areas of the library.

Of the 730 boxes in this shipment 255 are filled with recordings headed for the Judaica Sound Archives and the FAU Music Department’s Jazz Sound Collection. The remaining 475 boxes contain vintage 78 rpm recordings which will form a new FAU Library collection.

Transporting boxes through the Wimberly Library lobby

Removing boxes from elevator on Wimberly Library’s 5th floor

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By Alethea Perez, September 30, 2009 1:58 pm

Truck backing up to Wimberly Library loading dock

I cannot express to you the excitement on the morning of Friday, September 11, 2009 as the entire staff of the Judaica Sound Archives and volunteers from other FAU Library departments waited for the arrival of the truck which had been loaded with recordings from the Jack Saul collection in Cleveland.

Nat had been preparing for a week, finding areas of the Wimberly Library where the boxes could be stored until they are unpacked, rounding up volunteers, assigning work tasks at the loading dock, measuring entranceways to make sure that the pallets loaded with boxes could fit through, arranging for carts to be available where the pallets couldn’t fit, etc. With his incredible organizational skills and attention to detail the operation felt like a well-designed military operation. Everything went perfectly! Within 4 hours all the boxes had been unloaded and stacked in their designated areas.