[Dixielandjazz] The Shul Band

[Steve Barbone]

Slightly off topic, but those who think outside the box like Elazar in
Israel may find this article stimulating. It seems as if there are all sorts
of niches that open minded bands can fill.

Elazar, how about a Shul-Dixie Band niche in  your part of the world?

And why not Christian Dixie etc., as well as Christian Rock? It works for
that famous Minneapolis Dixieland Band.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


Torah, Wine and ... Electric Mandolin

NY TIMES - By DEVAN SIPHER - September 14, 2007

The Shul Band, a folk rock octet, had just finished playing to a full house
on Wednesday night. But this was not just any gig. The band was performing
as part of a religious service for the Shul of New York celebrating Rosh
Hashana, the Jewish New Year. It was part rock concert, part traditional
ceremony and part ¹70s be-in.

³Think of it as Jerry Garcia in Jerusalem,² said Adam Feder, the
guitar-playing leader, as he tried to describe his combination rock and
klezmer band, which includes Jewish and non-Jewish players and has also
played at weddings and bar mitzvahs.

Since 2000, the Shul Band has been drawing a diverse, multigenerational
following to the Shul of New York, a Manhattan-based congregation founded by
Rabbi Burt Siegel that calls itself ³a synagogue for spiritual Judaism.² The
Rosh Hashana service was held on the Lower East Side at the Angel Orensanz
Foundation for the Arts, the oldest standing synagogue in New York.

³In ancient times the Torah would be chanted in the marketplace, so instead
of just reading the Torah it was sung,² said Mr. Feder, who considers the
Shul Band an outgrowth of that tradition. ³I see the music as liturgy,² he
said, adding, ³Our liturgy happens to have a full band.²

His concept for the band was inspired by the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, a
folk songwriter who led sing-alongs at his Orthodox synagogue on the Upper
West Side. Mr. Feder, 40, was also influenced by the annual winter solstice
concerts at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, which he regularly
attended as a child. The combination of ³the Eastern European folk choir and
the Mexican dancers and the Irish reels just made me ecstatic,² he said. ³If
that wasn¹t holy, I do not know what is.²

Seeking to create an equally eclectic mix was a priority for him. ³I started
approaching musicians in the subway,² he said, recalling how he discovered
an Argentine tabla drummer while waiting for the No. 6 train at Union
Square. A Ukrainian accordion player and a Polish saxophonist were also
among the rotating band members he found underground.

He met Seth Ginsberg, the band¹s electric mandolin player, in 2001, during
an all-night jam session at a barn in Shandaken, N.Y. Then in 2003 Mr. Feder
met Ernesto Villa-Lobos, a virtuoso violinist, after hearing him perform at
CBGB¹s Gallery.

Mr. Villa-Lobos has been an integral part of the band ever since ‹ a fiddler
in the shul. And not a Jewish one at that. Mr. Villa-Lobos, who was schooled
at home in Veracruz, Mexico, had never met a Jew before he arrived in New
York on a Fulbright fellowship in 2000. Feeling embraced by the
congregation, he invited his brothers, Alberto and Luis, who are also
violinists, to come to New York and join him playing at the synagogue.

Alberto Villa-Lobos said, ³We really feel like we are part of the shul
community.²

Only half jokingly, Mr. Feder said, ³The band is one-third mariachi now.²

Last year, the Villa-Lobos brothers performed at the Latin Grammy Awards
after a producer attended one of their concerts for the Shul.

³We¹re not a very traditional shul,² said Lilly Lavner, 22, who has sung
with the band since she was in high school. Born in South Korea and adopted
by a family in Brooklyn, she uses ³short Asian Jew² as her nickname on the
Internet. She is both appreciative and representative of the congregation¹s
inclusive spirit, and said that Rabbi Siegel starts every service by
welcoming people of all faiths, ages, races and sexual orientation.

³You look at the band, and it¹s a mixture of ethnicities,² said Stephen
Palgon, 34, a television documentary maker. ³It¹s a symbol of what the shul
is about.² A devoted ³Shulhead,² Mr. Palgon said he had the songs of the
Shul Band on his iPod.

Aviva Mohilner, 30, said on Wednesday, ³The music is amazing.² She added
that she was ³uplifted by its sheer beauty.²

But Mr. Feder insisted the power of the music comes from the congregation as
much as from the band. ³People don¹t just come to listen to something
beautiful,² he said. ³They come to be part of it.²

John Balan, 72 , a Holocaust survivor, said: ³It¹s like a revival meeting
for me, and I find it hard to stay in my seat. The word band is too small a
word for what Adam does.²

Mr. Feder¹s charismatic hold on the congregation was palpable as he bobbed
and swayed to the beat of a percussive tambourine and plucked strings,
accompanied by stomping feet and clapping hands. ³We¹re shamelessly in love
with what we¹re doing,² he said.