The new release of Adrienne Cooper promises to be the Yiddish music gem of the year. It is a bold foray into the unexplored, with sound collages, beautifully rendered ballads and delicately set folk songs on a colorful palette of styles and arrangements. Cooper is joined by the powerful forces of Marilyn Lerner, Frank London, Mike Winograd and others. This CD is destined to be an instant classic, not only for Yiddish music, but for world music in general.

Adrienne Cooper

Enchanted: A New Generation of Yiddishsong

Genres: Yiddish, World.

Tracks:

1. Peace in the Streets / Sholem lid 5:39
2. In the Darkness / In der finster 4:45
3. Bear from the Forest / Ber fun vald 2:50
4. My Unrest / Umru mayne 4:28
5. Borsht 2:01
6. Gefilte fish 3:36
7. The Ballad of How the Jews Got to Europe 3:07
8. The Helper / Bahelferl 4:06
9. A Song Book: A lider bukh 4:56
10. Cups of Wine/ Di bekhers mit vayn 4:15
11. Glückel’s Ballad of Mother Love 3:34
12. Autumn Song/Harbstlid 4:25
13. A Good Week/A gute vokh 3:30
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Musicians:

  • Adrienne Cooper (vox)
  • Marilyn Lerner (piano)
  • Michael Winograd (clarinet, bass clarinet, organ)
  • Frank London (trumpet)
  • Benji Fox-Rosen (bass & vox)
  • Kenny Wollesen (drums)
  • Ave Fox-Rosen (guitar & vox)
  • Daniel Blacksberg (trombone)
  • Petr Cancura (saxophone)
  • Sarah Gordon (vox)
  • Ayelet Gottleib (vox)
  • Patrick Farrell (accordion)
  • Jon Singer (frame drum, percussion, xylophone, marimba, glockenshpeil)
  • Brandon Seabrook (banjo)
  • Ben Holmes (trumpet)

About the Album

If you think you know what to expect when you hear the words “Yiddish Song,” you’re in for a surprise with the release of Adrienne Cooper’s new CD “Enchanted.”

With “Enchanted,” Cooper has launched a fantastic exploration of the emotional and textural possibilities that Yiddish song can provide; from deeply traditional a capella passages to multi-layered arrangements ala Spike Jones.

The cornerstone of the CD is the profoundly heart-wrenching song collage “A Lider Bukh” (A Song Book), which opens with a 1949 vaulted recording of Cooper’s grandfather chanting a portion of the Yom Kippur High Holy Days prayer, overlaid with ambient sound mists that clear into various songs, woven around parents, grandparents and even Cooper’s own child’s voice in the background. The effect of this masterpiece – created by Marilyn Lerner and based on a poem by Meir Kharatz, with music by Fima Chorny – is mystical and haunting, deeply connected to family and history.

Cooper has stood at the forefront of the Yiddish scene for decades, and can comfortably be called the Grand Dame of Yiddish. She has a powerful stage presence, which, even in studio productions, comes through directly to the listener. Her interpretations utilize the voice quality, diction and detailed research of a seasoned Lieder singer, whereby every word is understood, shaded, and given nuances that inspire the listener to experience deeper levels of meaning in the text, while transported in transcendent emotion.

And yet, Cooper does not shy away from extroversion. The theater song, “Gefilte Fish,” brilliantly arranged by Michael Winograd, is Spike Jones inspired, complete with cartoon-like xylophone and klezmer big band styling. Humor and orchestral color combine in levity and just good fun, with playful instrumental hoodwinks weaving in and out of the vocal playground.

The styles on this CD are so varied one may be tempted to ask what genre it really fits into. No doubt, it is an amalgamation, with singer-songwriter vibe in the guitar accompanied Harbst Lid (Autumn Song), jazz ballad collaboration with the masterful Lerner and London in In Der Finster (In the Dark), to the delicate pop Bekhers Mit Vayn (Cups of Wine), the marbling of styles welcome throughout. Every song is carefully conceived, never straying from the edict that audiences want to be moved and entertained.

Cooper is joined by a stellar collection of luminaries in the klezmer, Yiddish, Jazz and even Irish scenes on this CD, including Marilyn Lerner (piano) Mike Winograd (clarinet), Benjy Fox-Rosen (bass), Avi Fox-Rosen (guitar), Patrick Farrell (accordion), Kenny Wolleson (drums), Jon Singer (marimba) and Frank London (trumpet). Half the songs are new works – products of a contemporary Yiddish songwriting revival; but the songs that are drawn from traditional folk and theater music are re-imagined, restyled, and a revelation.

Anyone familiar with Cooper’s body of work will tell you that she is always personal and intimate in her music. But this CD pushes the envelope beyond what we know of Adrienne Cooper. It’s as if she’s peeled away the layers of Yiddish so far and added the core to a cultural mix that retains the essence of Yiddish style, infused with flavors that enhance its emotionality and range, making it finally a world music.


Reviews & comments

“Simply put – the music is beautiful, deep, and compelling. Scholem Lid is a pulsing fire storm of exquisite human and spiritual grace – love, hope, and compassion stoked to a bright blaze. I have had a sound I had been searching for for many years in my head & heart, longing to hear expressed and concretely manifested in the world – this creation by you and your musicians fulfills that longing, and then some.”

Lloyd Wolf