In the previous status I mentioned Rabbi Marcia Prager. That - TopicsExpress



          

In the previous status I mentioned Rabbi Marcia Prager. That makes a nice place for segueing to a post I havent been able to fit into the story, yet. Hazzan Jack Kessler is Marcias partner. In those days he was this powerful cantor who rode a motorcycle and looked like he belonged in the Angels. By powerful, I mean Jack has a powerful voice and a huge heart and an extraordinary passion for all that Is and the ability to express it. He had this idea for a band, and he wanted me in it. At this point, thanks to Shefa Gold, we knew that I could play bass again, a little - but only on chant trance consciousness religious music. Go figure. It took a while, but he talked me into it. it is with extreme pride that I say I was the worst musician in the band. Technically, this was the best group of musicians I ever had the pleasure of working with. Jacks vision - which became ours - involved flamenco guitar styles, sefardi modes instead of keys, and Yemenite time signatures like 23/4. Our instrumentation was Jack on lead vocals and guitar, me on background vocals and bass, Josef Kessler (who was playing in Boiled in Lead for his main gig) on electric viola and guitar; Lenny Seidman on tabla; a doumbek player, and an incidental percussionist, and a mult-reeds player (I cant remember their names off the top of my head, for which my apologies. Our arrangements of these incredibly technically difficult pieces were developed improvisationally and collaboratively. For the first year, while I was organizing the Kallah and Marcia was developing the ordination program, Jack hauled me out of the house to play with these guys, all of whom were doing it for love. This was the Least Commercially Viable music project of all time, and we knew it. Not a big deal for me, but for international touring musicians a no-money gig for love is a commitment. Our first gig was opening the Kallah, at Bryn Mawr. If I recall correctly, this was the opening number.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 01:35:04 +0000

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