TO DO:
- Create new article structure
- Add new stuff
- Edit main Jewish Music page, brief bite of Contemporary Jewish religious music
From 10/19 Meeting:
- Q: What are the watershed years of contemporary Jewish religious pop music?
Possible article structure:
Introduction
- What is contemporary?
- What is religious?
- What is Jewish?
History
- Reform Jewish camp mvmt
- Development?
- Differences in acceptance of Ortho pop music vs. liberal
Major Figures
Musical Styles
- Rock
- Folk
- Jazz
- Reggae
- Hip hop
a. In the Wikipedia article on “Contemporary Jewish Religious Music,” the authors survey the North American Orthodox Jewish pop world from the 1960s to the present. While they do make note of a “gamut” of styles and songwriters, and mention a few liberal Jewish artists by name, the majority of the article is devoted to cataloging musicians from North American Orthodox Jewish communities. We assume that the authors are themselves members of such communities, as exemplified by their use of the word “religious” as it pertains to most of the artists they list. Non-Orthodox musicians cited receive their own qualifiers – as in Debbie Friedman’s “feminist” folk or Rick Recht coming from the “Reform Summer Camp movement.” The authors infer that these artists are not “religious” in the Orthodox definition of the term. In our contribution to the article, we will use “religious” to refer to the content of the music itself: liturgical or explicit references to the divine. We intend to contribute more information about liberal Jewish contemporary music and musicians, including the history of the Reform Jewish camp movement and the influence of 1960s American folk music on contemporary Jewish worship music. b. Our entry will be written in the article called “Contemporary Jewish Religious Music.” We will link to the following existing Wikipedia areas: Debbie Friedman, Shlomo Carlebach (musician), Craig Taubman, Union for Reform Judaism#Hava Nashira, Dan Nichols, Nurit Hirsch, Danny Maseng, Michael Isaacson We will also mention the other following subjects without existing Wikipedia pages: <o:p></o:p>Jeff Klepper, Naomi Less, Danny Freelander, Safam, Mah Tovu, Josh Nelson, Shefa Gold c. We will draw upon the following sources (to start with): <
- Benjie Ellen Schiller, "The hymnal as an index of musical change in Reform synagogues" in Sacred Sound and Social Change: Liturgical Music in Jewish and Christian Experience, Lawrence Hoffman and Janet Walton, eds. (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993).
- Mark Slobin, David Schiff, and Israel J. Katz, “Jewish-American Music,” in The New Grove Dictionary of American Music (London: Macmillan; New York: Grove’s Dictionaries of Music, 1986), ii, 571.
- www.billboard.com
Possible pages that might come in handy:
Debbie Friedman, Shlomo Carlebach (musician), Craig Taubman, Union for Reform Judaism#Hava Nashira, Dan Nichols, Nurit Hirsch, Danny Maseng, Michael Isaacson
Relevant topics without pages:
Jeff Klepper, Naomi Less, Danny Freelander, Safam, Mah Tovu, Ben Steinberg, Josh Nelson, Shefa Gold
Other things to look into: Related topics/categories, trends, history, context, innovations; music for synagogue?; camp music;
From 9/23:
- Q: Does the article imply that religious music does not include Reform? A: No, first sentence includes Debbie Friedman in its definition. Therefore, Reform music merely has not yet been written about.
- What does "religious" really mean? Does Matisyahu count? (Non-liturgical but religious.)
- We could fill out existing categories: musical style, contemporary kid's music, modern trends (what is "modern" in a contemporary context?)
- New categories: Musical styles => Jewish rock, hip-hop, reggae;
- Need to redefine what "religious" means in the context of the article.
- Separate out Ortho and Reform categories? (Different headings for each?)
- How to add structure to the article?
- History of the camp movement and music
- Influence of 1967 on contemporary music (with link to Benjie's article)
- Need to define what contemporary means? Chronological or style?
- Whether or not something is Jewish can be musical, but whether or not it's religious is all about the content
- What makes it Jewish religious music? Content, venue, intention?
- What if the intention of the composer isn't religious, but it's appropriated for use in worship? (The Byrds "Turn Turn Turn")