Tumbalalaika Around the World: Israeli Singer Einat Betzalel Sings With L'Orchestre Festival

The Yiddish folk love song Tumbalalaika originated in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, but its exact origin is hard to pinpoint. That hasn't prevented it from being sung and played over and over, not only in places where Yiddish songs are sung, but just about everywhere in the world, in vocal and instrumental versions, in cabarets and in the movies.

Just as we have followed the songs Hava Nagila, Adon Olam, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, and Abanibi as they took different forms as interpreted by a wide variety of singers, musicians, and dancers, we're continuing the series today that we started back in 2012, sharing our 26th version of this universal courting and love song.

Today we're sharing a version by Israeli singer Einat Betzalel. She grew up on a kibbutz near Zichron Ya’acov and at the age of 18 joined a military band. That experience, she says, “was a great learning experience for me. We were performing almost every day throughout various countries.”

After the army Betzalel attended the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and started to work with top artists in Israel, among them Alon Olearchik, who is best known for being one of the founding members of Kaveret.

In this video the words appear in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian.

Enjoy!

Remembering Peter Yarrow, Folksinger and Songwriter of Puff, the Magic Dragon

This past week we lost one of the most famous Jewish songwriters and performers of folk songs when Peter Yarrow died at 86.

Best known as one third of the folksinging group Peter, Paul, and Mary, Yarrow co-wrote the song Puff, the Magic Dragon in 1962, a song about the loss of innocence and the inevitability of children growing up and taking leave of their childhood toys.

As John Rogers wrote in The Times of Israel, 

Born May 31, 1938, to Jewish Ukrainian parents in New York, Yarrow was raised in an upper-middle-class family that he said placed a high value on art and scholarship. He took violin lessons as a child, later switching to guitar as he came to embrace the work of such folk-music icons as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

After months of rehearsals, the three became an overnight sensation when their first album, 1962’s eponymous “Peter, Paul and Mary,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart. Their second, “In the Wind,” reached No. 4, and their third, “Moving,” put them back at No. 1.

From their earliest albums, the trio sang out against war and injustice in songs like Seeger’s “If I Had a Hammer” and “Where Have all the Flowers Gone,” Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “When the Ship Comes In” and Yarrow’s own “Day is Done.”

In this interview recorded seven years ago, Yarrow reflected on the origin and meaning of the song.

Enjoy!

Throwback Thursday Musical Showcase: Folksinger Oscar Brand Sings Tumbalalaika in 1962

It's another Throwback Thursday and today we're turning back the clock to 1962 when Canadian-born American folk singer-songwriter, radio host, and author sang Tumbalalaika on stage in New York.

In his career, spanning 70 years, he composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs. Brand's music ran the gamut from novelty songs to serious social commentary and spanned a number of genres. d Mongers: Rise of the American Folk Song, Songs Of '76: A Folksinger's History Of The Revolution and Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads, the latter comprising four volumes.

Born to a Jewish family in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1920, Brand played alongside such legends of folk music as Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White, Jean Ritchie, the Weavers and Pete Seeger. He wrote various books on the folk song and folk song collections, including The Balla

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

 

  #Throwback Thursday       #TBT

Throwback Thursday Musical Showcase: Israel's Gevatron Singing Group in a 55th Anniversary Concert

The Gevatron (הגבעטרון) is an Israeli Kibbutz folk singers group. The band started off in the early days of the state of Israel and are active to this very day. They are considered a unique phenomenon in the Israeli folk songs scene, and in 2007 won the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement. 

The band was founded in 1948 from the youth of Geva Kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley, in honor of the inauguration ceremony of the kibbutz basketball court, and to this very day it is still made up from Geva Kibbutz members and a number of members of the kibbutzim of Beit HaShita, Kfar HaHoresh, the communities of Moledet, Kfar Tavor and Timrat and the city of Afula, sing it voluntarily. 

The group members have their primary occupation outside the band, and the band is their secondary occupation. Members' age ranges between forty plus to seventy plus, and includes an electrician, teachers, a bakery owner, industrial workers, banquet hall manager, car mechanic and a nurse. Gevatron recorded many albums and held thousands of concerts in Israel and Jewish communities abroad, which won them success.  

In this video from their 55th anniversary concert in 2003, the Gevatron sing a medley of their most popular peace songs. Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

 

  #Throwback Thursday     #TBT

Tumbalalaika Around the World - Petra Zindler Sings in Czech Republic

The Yiddish folk love song Tumbalalaika originated in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, but its exact origin is hard to pinpoint. That hasn't prevented it from being sung and played over and over, not only in places where Yiddish songs are sung, but just about everywhere in the world, in vocal and instrumental versions, in cabarets and in the movies.

Just as we have followed the songs Hava Nagila, Adon Olam, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, and Abanibi as they took different forms as interpreted by a wide variety of singers, musicians, and dancers, we're continuing the series today that we started back in 2012, bringing you many interpretations of this universal courting and love song.

This rendition of Tumbalalaika was recorded by Petra Zindler, a singer in the Czech Republic klezmer band Lechaim!

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Israelis Seeking Country Music Find it in Nefesh Mountain

Today we're sharing another episode of Jewish Country with Israelis Oriel and Lior filming and talking their way through a road trip across the American heartland looking for unexpected Jewish connections in flyover country. 
 
In today's episode, they travel to Memphis, Tennessee, where they connect with the Jewish bluegrass band called Nefesh Mountain.

We've posted some of Nefesh Mountain's music before, but in today's post they perform a bluegrass concert a the Levitt Shell Amphitheater in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff, founders of Nefesh Mountain, explain how they infuse the bluegrass country sound with elements of klezmer, Jewish, Hebrew music, and the pride of being Jewish Americans.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Jack Benny Hosts Peter, Paul and Mary

On this Throwback Thursday, we're going back 55 years to 1964 when Peter, Paul, and Mary appeared as guests on The Jack Benny Program.

On January 14, 1964 Peter, Paul and Mary sang Blowin' in the Wind. To show that a folk song can be written from any bit of folklore, they performed Waukegan, a song they wrote based around Jack's age, cheapness, and other faults.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Tumbalalaika Around the World - Vietnamese Interpretation by Nguyen Nhung

The Yiddish folk love song Tumbalalaika originated in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, but its exact origin is hard to pinpoint. 

That hasn't prevented it from being sung and played over and over, not only in places where Yiddish songs are sung, but just about everywhere in the world, in vocal and instrumental versions, in cabarets and in the movies. 

Just as we have followed the songs Hava Nagila, Adon Olam, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, and Abanibi as they took different forms as interpreted by a wide variety of singers, musicians, and dancers, we're continuing the series today that we started back in 2012, bringing you many interpretations of this universal courting and love song.

This rendition of Tumbalalaika was recorded by Vietnamese singer Nguyen Nhung.

Enjoy! 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO. 

Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem by Georgian Folk Group

Geo Folk Tour is a music and touristic project which hosts musical tours around Georgia,

accompanied by Georgian Polyphony. How they came to sing Shalom Aleichem is anybody's guess, but we accept it as another example of Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places.

They posted it on YouTube to mark recognition of Georgians' and Jews' relationship

as a subject of intangible cultural heritage with wishes to Israel for a Happy Independence Day.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.