The Jewish Influence in Blues and Jazz
Published November 18, 2007
I mentioned earlier about Jack Bruce. My research leans towards the fact that while certainly Scottish, he has some Jewish ancestory. I cannot prove that notion, but he always had the Cantor feel to me. However his songwriting partner and half the team responsible for many of the band Cream’s hits was Pete Brown and he was definitely Jewish. So maybe Brown did have some Klezmer influence on Jack. Who knows!
I feel I could go on and write more on this subject. There are so many names that were on my list and I’m sure that many of you who are reading this are coming up with a few yourself. We can always touch on this through your comments if you like. This post is a blend of my roots through jazz, blues and Jewish studies. I wanted to find a way to blend it together somehow, and when I recently came across a blog post by Brian Clark called “Jazz and the Art of Improvisational Blogging” on his Copyblogger website, the inspiration was enough to drive this article. Anyway, I hope you found it interesting.
I think it’s important to know that this subject matter is quite vast and has viewpoints that are not very positive. I have chosen not to touch upon those areas. My whole approach to writing is not to concentrate on the negatives, but to keep an upbeat flow. Music has and always will be my great love. When all is said and done, it doesn’t matter who we are or where we’re from. We will always feel sorrow, joy, anger and love together through song.
- The Jewish Influence in Blues and Jazz
- Published: November 18, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Blues, Music: Jazz
- Writer: The Blues Blogger
- The Blues Blogger's BC Writer page
- The Blues Blogger's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
Nice article! As soon as I saw the title with "Blues" and "Jewish" in it I thought of Michael Bloomfield. Man, what a talent he was. On the jazz side, John Zorn comes to my mind because of his Masada project and also his fostering of Klezmer jazz bands like The New Klezmer Trio. You could probably go on for a long time about the contributions Jews made to both genres.
I wonder if Kenny G has any jewish in him Pico. Maybe we need to email his assistant...
-Glen
I get a sneaky feeling that this conversation is about to take an interesting turn...
Very thought-provoking article. I have always noticed an affinity between the minor-key strains of traditional Jewish music (ancient Sefardic music, Torah chants, klezmer, etc.) and the "blue notes" that define what we call the blues. It's very interesting to reflect that these may be related not simply through the psychology of a shared experience of persecution, but actually, to some degree in modern times, through musical cross-pollination.
(Note: I think your reference to Joshua Redman is an error. He is not a Jewish musician from the golden age of jazz...)
Thanks for all your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the article. Jon you are definitely right. Not sure how that happened. I was probably thinking of Red Buttons or something ridiculous like that. Who knows ...weird... I promise you this; I'll never buy that brand of red wine again. I've sent an email off to Glen to fix it.
I've got a green bullet harp mike just like the one in your picture. Funny... it didn't look...
I didn't read that email until late this evening, but consider it fixed.
-Glen
Well,(one of) Jack Bruce's middle names is Asher.
Hmmmm.
As a Jewish Blues based guitarist myself, I can see what Bloomfield had going on. Peter Green is somewhat of a mystery to me. One of those acid casualties that drifted into a cult and then seemingly had his Oliver Sachs moment, afterward.
I don't know if you want to lump Paul Kossoff soelly in the camp of Blues players, but he was a HUGE influence on me. Hendrix was, too. Do a bit of genealogical nosing around on Jimi's surname. You might be very surprised!
Sorry to hear about the Heart Attacks, man. I had two M.I.'s at the end of 2004. Would have traded both of them for massive Strokes.
Peace, Brother!
-Robert
Bill Wyman called Dylan "the greatest white blues singer". It would be interesting to look at Dylan's influences, and his association with people like Ramblin' Jack Elliott, real name Aronowitz (from memory).
LIstening to songs like 'One More Cup of Coffee..' and having heard Dylan perform numbers like 'Little Moses' and 'Let My People Go', we can be left in no doubt that Dylan has been heavily influenced by his religous roots.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/71087)
Man, what a fantastic article! I think its time that the Blues Blogger unmask himself and reveal his true identidy to Blogcritics and to the world. This was so well-written, in-depth, and passionate I simply don't know where to begin. Great, great piece. Bravo to the Blues Blogger!
-Glen