Latest and greatest from the Jewish Music Report

Have you not heard of the Jewish Music Report? It's only the most informative Jewish Music website around! (no, I'm not getting paid for this :D). They have a whole slew of articles waiting for you to read. And the best news is, they're just a click away! Well what are you waiting for? Click below for the gadlus of the Jewish Music Report!

Recent Stories on JMR:

• Missing My Music! - Kol Isha discusses the banishment of music on sefira
  
• Best of: Avraham Fried - Hislahavus reviews Avraham Fried's singing career
  
• Mazel Tov!!!!! - Kol Isha announces a shidduch made through JMR itself!
  
• Benny Friedman - Anovim - A Capella - YouTube video of Benny Friedman
  
• Mendy Wald’s Echad: A Classic Review - Kol Isha reviews a classic
  

My Reviews on JMR:

• Miami Experience Concert
• V'havienu II
• Project X III
• Acheinu III
  

Shloime Taussig UPDATE

(via JewishInsights)"Shloime Taussig’s new CD titled "Modim Anachnu" is scheduled to be out for Shavuous. Modim Anachnu, the title track, is sure to be an instant classic. The album, produced by Gershy Moskowitz and Yossi Tyberg will have 12 songs, and feature the professionalism & passion you’ve come to expect from this dynamic duo.

The CD features two songs from the master of song, Yossi Green, including the album’s title track. The CD also has songs from Lipa, Dudi Kalish, Pinky Weber and many hot, new composers such as Motti Ilowitz, Meshulam Greenberger, Shragy Gestener, Yoel Polatsek, Heshy Fuchs & Avrumi Berko. Arrangements are by Naftali Mendlowitz, Ruvi Banet and Shua Fried (coming off the huge success of Yisroel Werdyger’s album.)

Keep your eyes and ears open for the upcoming release of the cover, audio preview as well as some very exciting other surprises very soon!"

Download Avraham Fried's family zemiros acapella!

(via LifeofRubin)

"That’s right, the much talked about “Friedman Family” Zemiros CD was made last year, but not sold to the public.
Now they have released it to a very important organization, Yad L’shliach.
If you’d like to download the album for free, visit this website, now.
You do have to make a donation of $18 dollars to the organization, but it’s so little considering what Shluchim do for us around the world.
It happens to be quite an amazing CD.
Yad L’shliach is an organization dedicated to easing the personal financial burdens of Shluchim world-wide."

“My Father’s Zemiros is a collection of Zemiros that were song at the Friedman’s Shabbos table.
Sung, a capella - Perfect for Sefirah listening - by Avraham (Fried) accompanied by his brothers and nephews, this heartwarming collection will entertain and move you as you listen to the Zemiros of the late Reb Yaakov Moshe Friedman, of blessed memory.
Now, for a donation to Yad L’shliach you can download this special album, available exclusively on the Yad L'Shliach website."

Avraham Fried - My Father's Zemiros Acapella Sample

Moshiach Kumpt Shoin - (w/audio clip)

Here is a NEW sfira album from Nigun Dist. and its already in stores. It features some real powerful rising stars; Benyomin Lowy, Shmuel "Berry" Weber and Menachem Moskowitz. The world famous Shira Choir led by Shraga Gold is also featured on the album. The songs are really nice and are well known from over the years.
(via JewishInsights)

Two New Acapella Songs!

(via JewishInsights)
Note: Click on the album covers for the full article

Sunshine in the rain - A.K.A. Pella & Shloime Kaufman

Shabbos'dige Oitzres - Aharon Halvei & Choir

Tied up!

Sorry fellow readers, I'm kind of "tied up" at the moment. Im yirtzeh Hashem, blogging will return soon!

Keep your eyes on the blog roll to the left side of the page. Many great articles and videos can be found on all of them!

Yeshiva University Acapella - The Maccabeats

Here are 4 videos (playlist) of the Yeshiva University acapella group - The Maccabeats

What's on your S'fira playlist?

Opening up my iTunes yesterday, I decided to create an acapella playlist for s'fira. Here's what I have!
As you can see (I hope), I used a number of A.K.A. Pella and Lev Tahor songs.
Just in case you can't see, my top 5 are:
Nar Hayisi - A.K.A. Pella
Oleinu - ABD
When the children sing - A.K.A. Pella
Anim Zemirot - Lev Tahor
Lecha Dodi - Six13

I don't have any of the new Six13 on yet, because I haven't had the chance to buy it yet. Although I do hear it's very good. LifeofRubin said he will be coming out with a review on it soon.

Original Anavim

(via YouTube user TheJewishMusicLover)
S'fira Warning - Has Music (duh!)
From the Priority 1 concert in 1991, sung by Yossi Green and Mordechai Ben David

Take the platform son!

You've got to love kids! Although sometimes they can interfere with the daily happenings of our lives, they are too innocent and cute to stay upset at. As much as I would love to go on about the wonderful moments that coincide with childhood, I'd like to talk about something else. Something related. Something we call, their voices.

My first experience of hearing a child's voice on an album was back when I was a child myself. I had heard the Miami Boys Choir's, B'siyata D'shmaya, and the wonderful voice of Jonathan Paley. I thought to myself "Finally! No more annoying men's voices!" You see, I grew up without sisters, I don't recall my brother's singing, although they were in a choir (ya, I was a space out), and my mother never sang. Subsequently, I never experienced the wonderful feeling that comes with the innocence of a child's voice. However, once I did hear that classic Miami album, not only did I enjoy those melodious voices immensely, it made me want to aspire (I say want, because I don't know where to start!) to be a singer as well.

In more contemporary times, children voices have become in high demand. Children no longer remain in choir form. There are other options as well, such as: Shalsheles Jr. (group of four); Sheves Achim (two brothers); and solo artists Meydad Tasa & Simcha Levinstein. Not to mention the countless guest appearances by children on the latest albums (i.e. Ami Eller on Shea Rubenstein's Ohavti).

People, we need more of the above mentioned albums. Obviously the voices of the kids on those albums have probably matured by now, but the beauty of children is, there are lots of them! Among my circle of friends, all of them love Shalsheles Jr and Sheves Achim, and wish there were more of these albums. Yes, it costs a lot of money to make an album, however, these albums appear to be more successful than most. Why? Because people love hearing the gadlus of a child's voice.

There are kids out there producers, find em! :)

Notable voices (who's voices haven't matured) with videos:
Yoni Stern (ABD)
Ami Eller (Kol Noar Boys Choir)
Yaakov Mordechai Gerstner (Yeshiva Boys Choir)

(If you know of more kids with videos out there, let me know!)

Life-of-Rubin says...

That Eli Gerstner says on his Facebook...
“ybc 4 is due rosh chodosh sivan IY”H, ybc live 3 sometime before chanukah, Chevra 4 hopefully sukkos time, Menucha 2 rosh chodosh ellul. ALL IY”H!”
(via LifeofRubin)

Someone tell me why YBC 4 is being released before Menucha 2?

Oleinu (ABD) Acapella Remix for Sefira

This song, featuring child soloist, Yoni Stern, is beyond amazing and a must have for any music listener.


Here's an acapella version of Oleinu from ABD for s'fira. There was a portion of the track that included mixed, now taken out for you s'fira listening ears! The original can be found on ABD's debut album here.
You can download this remix here.
Pass it on!

Oleinu Remix - ABD

Miami Experience Concert Review

Note: Pictures from COLLive.
Note: This review originally appeared here on JMR. I was told there were viewing problems, so I am posting it here.

I’m finally home. After my GPS threw me “off the derech” so to speak. I was trying to get home from Brooklyn and it sends me through Manhattan of all places. I must have spent an hour in traffic in Manhattan. Why is there gridlocked traffic at 11:30PM!? Anyway, I doubt you’re interested in hearing my driving woes; besides, nothing could ruin the spectacular evening I “experienced” at the Miami Experience Concert; not even the crazy drunk guy who tried to swerve into my car. That’s right kids (and adults), don’t drink and drive! I arrived a little bit late (more traffic…), but I still arrived in time for Benny Friedman, whom opened up the show. He has such a spectacular voice; it’s obvious he’s going places besides the chuppah (Mazel Tov Benny!).

Now that I got all of the preliminary “blabber” out of the way, it’s time for some tachlis. (Forgive me for the grammatical errors; it’s late) ☺

Zman Chazara (Review Time).

Benny Friedman

Rifoeinu (Miami) - I arrived at the scene with Benny performing a spectacular rendition of a Miami classic, Rifoeinu, from the Shabbos Yerushalayim album. Although I was still trying to find my seat (where’s my Usher!), I still was able to hear this gorgeous song.

V’hee Sheomdah (?) – Benny faked out the crowd by humming Aaron Razel’s V’hee Sheomdah, and asking if everyone knew it. After the crowd acknowledged him, he proceeded to say how he didn’t have time for such a slow niggun, so he sang a fast version. I couldn’t catch where this tune was from, but it was perfect for the Pesach timing of this concert.

Adon Olam (Miami) – I’m personally exhausted when it comes to Miami’s Adon Olam. However, that didn’t matter, because Benny has an outstanding voice, and it was a nice change of pace from hearing the choir sing it.
That was it for Benny Friedman (aww…); it was short and sweet. Can’t wait to hear the new album!

Nachum Segal, the emcee, entered and announced the return of the Alumni!

The Alumni

The Alumni are back and they’re sounding really good. I was not a huge fan of their album, and I was thinking “oh great…” when they came on, but then I was pleasantly surprised. They were really good! Do they have different guys? I couldn’t tell (that’s what I get for not doing enough research!). They started out with a Carlebach Medley and proceeded to two classic Miami songs. Here’s what they sang:

Carlebach Medley -
Oseh Shalom
Esa Einai
Kol Hayom V’chol Halayla (the Shir Hamalos tune!)

Classics -
Meheira - A gorgeous classic.
P’sach Libi -There was way too much smokescreen during this song, I could barely see them! I felt like I was watching the Alumni in the sauna (weird…).
Overall, The Alumni sounded great, but I was ready for the main attraction! Just then, Nachum Segal walked out and announced Thee Miami Boys Choir (hurray!).

Miami Boys Choir

The crowd was eccentric, the music was eerie (in a good way!), and you could feel the excitement in the air from the crowd. Then BAM! The music starts, which leads us to the first song…

Galei – Those kids sure can move. The choreography was amazing, but with everything amazing comes some pitfalls. They were moving so fast and hard that I could see some of the kids sweating; that, and their mouths were not always close enough to the microphone, leaving bits and pieces of the song missing. Then Yerachmiel Begun came out during his part of the song and I couldn’t even hear him. I thought it was the microphone, but it wasn’t (you’ll find out soon). Even with these issues, the crowd loved it, and I did too. It was great hearing a fresh song, and it ended leaving me wanting more.

Yerushalayim – The choir looked excited, and the sound was amazing. The crowd gobbled up every piece of this song; it was that good.

Slow Medley – Nikadeish and Shabbos.

Ba’avur – No electric guitar, which gave it a nicer ring to it. They had a rough start, but they picked it up throughout the remainder of the song. Overall, a lot of energy and very solid.

At this point Begun came out and solved the mystery to his performance in Galei. He mentioned something about having a hoarse voice. Refuah Shelaima.

Esa Einai – The choir threw on some neatly pressed suits for this song. This was the first slow song from the new album they performed that night. They had some very cute choreography, such as; the choir froze in place, each with a different pose, during one of the solos.

Moshiach – A crowd favorite, from Miami’s last album Moshiach. Only half the choir started the song, and the rest joined during the midpoint. The crowd was clapping and you could feel their electricity throughout the entire song. The lighting effects were amazing, really showing off the capabilities of the lighting system. There was a special treat at the end of the song, with a little encore, which included a moment of break dancing.

Intermission
Nachum Segal returned to ask the crowd a highly debated question on his radio show. “Which is your favorite song from the new album?” Of course the crowd was inaudible with everyone shouting their answer. “That’s the same answer I always get,” he said. “They’re all great and no one can agree.” (haha, very funny).

The Alumni

They came back very briefly to sing Elu Yisrael from their album, nothing much to get excited about. And then they were gone as soon as they appeared!

Miami Boys Choir

They’re back and the crowd loved it. They went directly into a medley I would like to call, The…
Flashback Medley (Costume Party) – During this medley, the choir switched back and forth between groups of choir members singing each song with new costumes every time.
- Lo Yisa Goy (Army costumes – Group 1)
- Od Yishoma (Blue bowtie and sash – Group 2)
- Kol Mi – (White shirts and black pants – Group 3)
- Tehilas Hashem (Black and white sweaters – Group 1) let me point out that the kids from Lo Yisa Goy came back on for this song, when they must have had only five minutes to change out of their previous army costumes; now that’s talent!
- V’haya Machanecha Kadosh – (Black and white sweaters - Choir).
The whole medley was very fast and some parts were very hard to hear, but overall it was a solid performance.

Me’im Hashem – The choreography for this song was fantastic. The sound was crisp, and the crowd loved it.

Revach – They performed this song so well, that even the kids in the audience around me were bopping up and down to it. There were some new harmonies and Begun had a different children sub in for himself when his parts arrived. It was a little bit choppy, but it was amazing for on the spot. The crowd loved this song.

Azor Nah – This song started out with a narration, translating the lyrics in this song. It definitely added to the depth of the song. Yair Kenig, the soloist of the song was on piano, and they had an amazing violinist, Aryeh something… (sorry, it was announced to fast). There was a lot of smokescreen, and I could barely see the two of them, but they sounded amazing. The violin playing was truly a work of art. Bravo, Aryeh something! Hats off (not yarmulkes, chas v’shalom ☺) to Yair Kenig as well. He’s got some voice, and apparently a skilled pianist. There was a huge round of applause at the end. It was that good.

Yavoh – Begun got the crowd pumped with his usual “Let’s go!” The choreography for Yavoh is spectacular. I really enjoyed the song starting off with the choir pretending to be asleep. It was just as good as on the album, and that’s not easy to pull off. The audience loved every second of it, begging for more.

Mehairah – This is a gorgeous song, and the one thing that really surprised me was that they had the soloist sing the extremely hard “Neginaso” shtick during the song. And what surprised me even more was the fact that he hit the key clearly (I wonder how many times he practiced that). The ending was great; in which the choir sat down on the benches they started the song on, and with heads resting on their knees, pretended to fall asleep.

Name Game – To give the evening a more personal touch to it, Begun entered and had each kid come up to announce his name. I could go home and say, “Hey! That Yoshi Bender kid was really solid!” (They were all amazing ☺).

Ayom V’norah – This song was the closer for the concert. The music was a bit too loud, but luckily it didn’t overpower the choir’s voices. This song was the first one in which I could recognize the group harmonies from the album (I know, kind of late, but maybe I’m a little slow. Must be the matzah...). The choreography was on the top of its game again. One of the children took over for Begun during his part of the song (poor Begun, feel better!). There was a short encore at then end in which the choir took turns bowing, and with that Begun said goodnight and Gut Yuntif.

Final Thoughts – Overall I was very happy with this concert. There were some rough spots with the microphones, but every concert has that. Benny Friedman was great, The Alumni were great, The Miami Boys Choir was spectacular, and the choreography was better than all of them. For those of you who read this review and have decided that you to, would like a piece of the Miami Experience, go to jewishtickets.com and purchase the tickets for tonight’s show, which will feature Yehuda Green. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s 3:10 in the morning and I have to get up for shacharis in less than five hours (got to love the 8 o’clock shacharis), so Kol Tuv, all the best, and enjoy the rest of your chag!

S'fira Acapella List

For all you die-hard music lovers, I personally understand the frustration that must be going through your head during this time of year. S'fira is here, leaving you nothing to hear! Now you run to the store or search google for the latest Acapella albums, which are the only things that can put your ears to rest. But here's the problem, you don't know the names of which albums are available. Sure, you may have heard of some titles by word of mouth in shul, at work, or wherever, but the fact is, you need a cold, hard, list, giving you the titles at the click of button. Good news! Here's that list! Enjoy =)

FREE DOWNLOADS
Tefillin by Six13
V'hee Sheomda by Meydad Tasa
Little David by Gershon Veroba
Oleinu by ABD
Nishmas by Shua Kessin
Aheim by Beri Weber
Sunshine in the Rain by Shloime Kaufman and A.K.A. Pella
Ribono by Ari Goldwag
Ad Ana Bechiya by Ari Goldwag

V'alu by Kol Ish

Ha'azinu by Kol Ish

Siman Tov by Avi Piamenta

Umacha by A.K.A. Pella

Vezakeni by Yehoshua Fried

Moshiach by Kumt Shoin

Menorah by Meydad Tasa

or download them all by clicking HERE

Note: If you see albums missing from this list (which I'm sure there are), then please send me an email at jmderech@gmail.com. I'll be sure to update the list a.s.a.p.

(A.K.A. Pella)
Adaptation
Volume 2
Premium Blend
Platinum Collection (NEW!!)

(All Star)
The Vocal Version

(Avraham Fried)
My Father's Zemiros

(Avrumi Flam)
Songs of the Three Weeks

(Beat'achon)
Volume 1
Soul Food/Ochel Nefesh
West Side Zemirot

(Beri Weber)

Farbreng (NEW!!)

(Chazak Productions)
Chazak Limei Sefira
Shabbos Tisch In Sefirah

(Dudi Kalish/Eli Gerstner)
A Chassidishe Acappella

(Hamizamrim)
Chadesh Yomeinu

(Itzy Kleinfeld & Tzvi Silberstein)

Acapella Kumzits

(Kalish)
Vokalish
Raninu Tzadikim

(Kol Ish)
Before Eve

(Kol Zimra)
Volume 2/Songs of Abie Rotenberg
Kulanu B'yachad

(L'Chaim)
She'hashalom Sheloi
Chasidishe Oitzros
Chasidishe Oitzros 2
Chasidishe Oitzros 3
Chasidishe Oitzros 4

Heimisha Oitzros (NEW!!)
Shabbos'dige Oitzros

(Lev Tahor)
Volume 1
Volume 3

(Lubavitch)
Chabad Hisvadus

(The Maccabeats - Yeshiva University Acapella)
From the Heights (NEW!)

(Mendy Werdyger - Yisroel Werdyger)
Sefira Beshira - Guest Artist Aharon Halevi

(Meshorerim Choir)
Volume 2

(Miami Boys Choir)
Around the Campfire

(Mona Rosenblum)
Philharmona Vocal

(Nochum Stark)
A Sefirah Kumzitz

(Shira Choir)
Live! Volume 1

(Six13)
Yesh Chadash
Encore
Volume 1

(Suki & Ding)

Songs of Yerushlayim

(The Chevra)
Chevra Acappella

(Various)
A Cappella Shabbos
Moshiach Kumt Shoin

(Yehudah Solomon)
Beyond Words 2
Beyond Words 3

(Yochi Briskman)
The Sfira Album

(Yosef Karduner)
Acapella Version Karduner

(Yossi Goldstein)
Fabrengen Acapella

Anavim sung by Sruly Williger and Ami Eller

Sruly Williger and Ami Eller (Kol Noar Boys Choir) singing Anavim at a Chol Hamoed Pesach concert aboard the Intrepid.



A few more videos of the intrepid concert can be seen here. A full article can be seen on the Jewish Music Report.
More Anavim can be seen here

Dovid Stein - 3 songs at Pesach concert

(via YouTube user Bukin86)
There are many low quality videos of the concert that can be found here. (lower is better than nothing!)

Melech


Ki Bochar


Muvtach Lo

Menucha - Shiru Lashem (Full HD Clip)

(via YouTube user Bukin86)

My Miami Experience Concert Review

You can check it out here on the Jewish Music Report.
As of now, the whole review isn't posted yet. I'll throw an update up, when it is.
Update: It's up!

Post Choir Battle

This post is a follow up to my previous Choir Battle! post.

Disclaimer: I was at the Miami concert, but not that YBC, so I will have to write this based on the videos from the YBC concert.

Video footage: YBC footage can be seen here. I couldn't find any Miami footage. I have some of my own, but the recording is a cell phone recording. I'm not sure anyone wants to hear or see it.

Music
Miami - Most of the music was recorded, although "Azor Nah" was live and very sweet.
YBC - The Yosis Orchestra appeared to be in full blast. Very impressive.
Verdict- Neither of them beat Shwekey in Cesaria!

Groups
The Alumni - These guys were solid, way better than before, however, there were no new songs. It was kind of like watching older choir members (duh!) with all that fancy choreography.
Menucha - They're not the same without Waldman! (I know, he's been gone for a while). From the videos, they appeared to be top notch. The inclusion of 2 brand new songs was sweet.
Verdict - Alumni for entertainment, Menucha for song quality.

Solo Artists
Benny Friedman - He was on fire. I love his voice and he performed the songs given to him very well. One downside was that he didn't have any original compositions. That would have been nice.
Dovid Stein - From the video, he looked sort of stiff, but he sounded amazing. It was nice to hear songs from his album in concert. I heard him at the sukkos concert, and the sound wasn't so hot. Much better this time around.
Verdict - I don't know, I'm going to have to call this one a tie. Though both of their suits were pretty sharp! =)

Choir (Going to need subcategories for this one!)
Miami -
Stage Presence - Amazing. Although the choreography seemed to tire out a few kids. The kids looked really happy.
Songs - Most from the new album, some classics as well, and they all sounded amazing.
Costumes - So many different types; sparkly and fun!
Yeshiva -
Stage Presence - Video clips aren't long enough to tell.
Songs - Same songs, with three new ones! Hamalach is the only one I heard, and it sounded nice.
Costumes - Sweaters! Every one loves sweaters! Especially on a night as cold as it was.
Verdict - I loved the Miami choreography, it for sure made the concert. I know a lot of work went into the costumes, but sometimes it's nice to keep it simple like YBC. I'm a fan of more new songs. Since the Miami album was entirely new, I felt I got my money's worth. YBC's inclusion of three new songs was a great addition as well. Can't wait for YBC 4! (THEY WERE BOTH GREAT)

Regardless of what I have said, or think, both Yerachmiel Begun and Eli Gerstner deserve a huge yasher koach for putting on spectacular performances!

YBC Concert (3 New songs)

Here are some video clips of three new songs from the YBC Live 3 Concert on Chol Hamoed Pesach.
- Video clips from YouTube user thejmfreak.

Menucha singing Shiru Lashem


Menucha singing Shema


YBC singing Hamalach

Happy Passover!

Chag Kasher V'Sameach!

Bedikas Chametz - Let the search begin!

Rip out your candles, feathers, and spoons! The search begins!

May we all merit to see the final redemption speedily in our days!

New single from Shlomo Katz's upcoming album!

Here's a single entilted "Viaf Al Pi" from Shlomo Katz's upcoming album "Malei Olam" due to hit the stores Lag Baomer.

(via LifeofRubin)

Kol Ish - Jewish A Capella at its finest

Here's a preview of their album.

For more information, visit their Web Site at Kolish.net

Kol Ish was established in the fall of 2005 by five students at the University of Maryland. They have performed across the United States at weddings, bar mitzvahs, synagogues, and more!

Many more videos can be found on YouTube here.

Kol Ish will perform on Sunday April 26th, 2009 @ 7pm at the First Annual Jewish Acapella Festival of Washington, DC, which will take place at the Historic 6th and I Synagogue.

Anavim and the Return of the "King"

Mordechai Ben David, the "King of Jewish Music" singing Anavim by Yossi Green at the Hakhel concert.
See more Anavim here.

Simple, yet great!

Sick and tired of there being "too much" in the songs you've listened to lately? Need a nice break from all the insane arrangements, which can be sometimes "in your face"? That's about to change. We have here, two videos featuring some sweet guitar strumming accompanied by pleasant vocals. These two songs, Shabbos, an original composition, and Elokai a song from Dedi, are delivered to you by YouTube user, EphraimO.

Nochi Krohn & the Cab Driver's Children

"Eitan Katz, Nochi Krohn and Gershon Braun were on their way to a gig in Florida when Nochi decided to have some fun with the cab driver's two kids...only Nochi could pull something like this off.." (Eitan).

Shwekey and Razel's Vehi Sheomdah

With Pesach soon approaching, there is no more appropriate song, from which I can post, then this gorgeous duet (Yaakov Shwekey & Yonatan Razel).

(Special thanks to Shaya Hecht for bringing this video to my attention)

MRM Music's website is here!

MRM music's website is here at last! To purchase or view their products, please visit mrmmusic.net
(Via JewishInsights)