What color is Jewish music?

What color is Jewish music? Jewish musicians are gravitating towards African American music, but the underlying issues aren't so black and white.

In the last 2,As I was scrolling through the songs on my iPod the other day, I came to a personal epiphany. We Jews like African American music. I know this is nothing new. Where was I when jazz and the blues were new and big, or when rock and roll rose out of those jazz and blues cultures with plenty of Jewish musicians in the mix? Well, I wasn't born yet, so cut me a little slack. But this idea is two-fold: not only do we like black music, but Jewish musicians like playing black music. Sure, we dabble in other musical forms too, but the list of Jewish musicians who play what has traditionally been black music is long and impressive (think the Hip Hop Hoodios, So Called, Y-love, and the Beastie Boys).

Why does African American music appeal to us so much? It's possible we're tired of being seen as part of a non-descript white culture, or maybe we just like what we like (hip hop is popular and thriving; why wouldn't we like it?). But I'd be a disgrace to my Jewish upbringing if I didn't ask the underlying question: So what does it all mean?
Eric Goldstein, author of The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and the American Identity, has suggested that Jews are now fighting against what they once sought as if it were the Holy Grail. After centuries of trying and succeeding to integrate into the white American majority, we're now looking for ways to retain some separation by means of borrowing from black culture. Lucky for us, hip-hop is popular with mainstream America while still retaining an aura of the ethnic outsider. It's a little convenient, and perhaps a little superficial, that we can take our cultural vitamins from black music and then eat our dinner with the white American majority.
But it's more than that. Jews have a long and complex history with black music tracing back through the blues-infused melodies of Bob Dylan and Billy Joel, to the swing era's Artie Shaw, to jazz enthusiast and innovator Irving Mills (a big-band era precursor of today's Jewish hip-hop moguls and managers). Though many times the effects of these musicians have been positive, the road hasn't always been pretty.
In 1927, Al Jolson (born Al Yoelson) starred in the first "talkie" movie, The Jazz Singer, playing a cantor's son who wanted to sing jazz. Jews were still struggling then to assimilate and become an accepted part of the white majority, so performers like Jolson happily catered to WASP bigotry using blackface, vaudeville, and humor to entertain whites. Though these methods were certainly crass and insensitive in today's terms, Jolson was just a performer, doing what performers did at the time. Clearly he is just one example, but the complex issues involved with Jolson's performances mirror the complexity of the relationship between Jewish musicians and black music.

Jewish musicians rock for Chanukah

In the last 2,000 years or so, the library of Christmas carols, jingles and Kenny G lounge hits has grown into a vast and almost unnavigable collection of cheer.
But, hark, the creators of Chanukah hits are making a Maccabean effort to catch up. Come sundown tonight, when the holiday starts, you can be shuffling numbers from klezmer to comic on your iPod dock as you prepare for the eight-day celebration.
This season's repertoire got a boost thanks in part to "Lights: Celebrate Hanukkah Live in Concert." The performance, filmed in Los Angeles in late October, has been replaying on PBS stations around the country, and the soundtrack is for sale on iTunes.
Produced and hosted by Craig Taubman, "Lights" featured guests including the Klezmatics, "Jewish Pavarotti" Alberto Mizrahi and saxophonist Dave Koz, and it turned the spotlight on local favorites Josh Nelson and Michelle Citrin, Brooklyn-based musicians who've made waves with radio-ready Jewish-themed music that embraces pop styles without straying from its roots.
Citrin, in particular, has charmed fans and become a YouTube favorite to the tune of 1.2 million hits and counting. Last year, she introduced her online persona, Rosh Hashanah Girl, and followed up this spring with her post-Passover tune "20 Things to Do With Matzah."
In preparation for the holidays, she created a music video entitled "Pass the Candle," cutting together video clips submitted by fans to show a shamash candle being passed through about four dozen homes, as well as trips and a Hollywood vacation, before it ends up back in her hands to complete the lighting of her menorah.
"There are a lot of other Jewish-themed videos that we found inappropriate or like they're trying too hard or it's really kitschy," Citrin tells us of her work with collaborator Will Levin, an animator. "We were looking for the kind of song we could have in the background at a holiday party."
Indeed, for many listeners the phrase "Chanukah song" instantly calls to mind the off-color kitsch of Adam Sandler, but Citrin boasts plenty of pretty, plaintive tunes in addition to her online opuses.
Likewise, even a new CD from one member of a comic family comes with hauntingly beautiful selections. Erran Baron Cohen, older brother of "Borat" creator and star Sacha Baron Cohen, released his "Songs in the Key of Hanukkah" in November, an electronica-influ enced collection laced with world beats.
"The idea was to update everything and sort of remix it — we have Y-Love, a New York-based rapper, rapping in Yiddish," Cohen tells us.
"A Chanukah tune like 'Dreidel' is very cool now. It's got this hip-hop groove but also a gypsy kind of feel." Cohen included collaborators such as Israeli singer Yasmin Levy, who performs a sultry "Ocho Kandelikas" in Ladino, a language derived from Old Spanish and influenced by Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic.
The track netted a rave review from Sheryl Crow, who called it her personal fave. The only downside of this holiday music diaspora? With Chanukah music growing faster than ever, it can't be long before celebrities get in on the mix — generating massive backlash.
Producer Marc Ronson recently told Rolling Stone that he's dreaming up a Chanukah album with Amy Winehouse.
"She's got songs called, like, 'Kosher Kisses' and 'Alone Under the Mistletoe,' " Ronson said. "She was kind of [bleep]ing around, but I was like ... 'We should do something.' "

Healthy Lifestyle Cuts Your Risk of Strokes Drastically

living a healthy lifestyle contributes to lower risks of contracting various serious illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But little had been proven about the link between healthy living and one’s risk of getting a stroke.This gap has been closed by the findings of a recent study conducted by the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health."This study shows that following a healthy lifestyle, which has been associated with up to 80 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease and 90 percent lower risk of diabetes, may also prevent more than half of ischemic strokes," said Dr. Stephanie E. Chiuve, leader of the study funded by the National Institutes of Health.Stroke – a major killer todayEach year, it is estimated that over 780,000 people in the United States alone suffer a stroke -- this works out to about one person every 40 seconds. Of this figure, about 600,000 are first-time occurrences.An ischemic stroke takes place when the blood supply to a part of the brain is reduced, and the affected brain tissue suffers dysfunction and necrosis. This could happen, for example, when a blood vessel becomes blocked. Ischemic strokes are the most common kind of stroke, with about 87% of all strokes estimated to be of this nature.When categorized separately from other cardiovascular diseases, strokes are the third highest killer in the United States today, behind cancer and heart disease.Details of Stroke StudyThis latest study, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, analyzed the living habits and health status of a total of 43,685 men as well as 71,243 women from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) and the Nurses’ Health Study respectively.The participants reported on their medical status and lifestyle factors every two years, with the males tracked from 1986 to 2002 and the females from 1984 to 2002. In the course of the respective periods, 994 men and 1,559 women suffered strokes, of which 600 and 853 respectively were ischemic strokes.In the study, a healthy or low-risk lifestyle was defined to contain the following elements:* maintenance of a healthy weight (body mass index less than 25);* at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day;* not smoking;* moderate drinking of alcohol; and* consumption of a relatively healthy diet, as indicated by a calculated healthy diet score. Some factors here include the consumption of good amounts of fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, chicken and fish, as well as low amounts of trans fats and saturated fats.Findings of the StudyThe results of the study were quite astonishing. Men who met all five healthy lifestyle criteria were 69% less likely to suffer any type of stroke and 80% less likely to get an ischemic stroke as compared to those who did not meet any of the five criteria.For women, the corresponding figures were 79% for any type of stroke and 81% for ischemic stroke.Further, it was estimated by the researchers that 52% of ischemic strokes suffered by men, as well as 35% of all strokes suffered by this group, could have been avoided by following a healthy lifestyle.As for the women, the proportions of ischemic and total strokes which might have been prevented through healthy living were estimated to be 54% and 47% respectively.ConclusionAll in all, the findings of the study revealed that people who fit the definition of having a healthy lifestyle were about 80% less likely to get an ischemic stroke, as compared to those who did not meet any of the five mentioned criteria.This has led the study team to conclude that “a low-risk lifestyle that is associated with a reduced risk of multiple chronic diseases also may be beneficial in the prevention of stroke, especially ischemic stroke”.Living a healthy lifestyle and having a decreased risk of killer diseases –- this is a relationship which many of us would have been convinced of through common sense alone. Now, with the release of these findings, we will all have one more concrete and proven reason to embark on a healthier lifestyle

Avoid overdosing on fruit cake and candy canes.

DOCTORS issuing Christmas revellers with a bizarre warning this year - to avoid overdosing on fruit cake and candy canes.
Australians have also been warned that fruit cake, cranberry sauce, candy canes and other Christmas foods are high in sugar and can be big contributors to tooth decay.
Hunter New England oral health clinical director Dr Lanny Chor said people not only ate more sugar but ate it more frequently during the Christmas period.
"Frequency is as bad as quantity because the constant sugar levels stop saliva from doing its job, which is keeping the right pH levels in the mouth,'' Dr Chor said.
"One of the problems with the Christmas cake, chocolate-coated peanuts, candy canes, glace cherries and champagne is that there is often a continual period of eating between Christmas and New Year, exposing teeth to continuous acid attacks.''
Recent World Health Organisation data showed Australians eat an average 63 kilograms of sugar each year - more than a kilogram a week.
"Over the Christmas period, eat sensibly, brush your teeth with a fluoride toothpaste, especially before sleeping, and invest in looking after your teeth for the long term,'' Dr Chor said.
The Australia Medical Association said many Australians also associated heavy drinking with the festive season, but urged people to have a good time without putting their health at risk.
"Excess alcohol consumption is responsible for billions of dollars worth of illness and tragedy in Australia each year,'' AMA president Dr Rosanna Capolingua said.
"Alcohol abuse is the cause of many chronic health problems including cardiovascular disease, obesity, liver disease, and brain damage, and can lead to serious health risks such as acute alcohol poisoning.
"In addition to what it's doing to your body, excessive drinking can be the cause of all kinds of accidents, and no one wants to spend any time in a hospital emergency department.''