THE TOP 10 JEWISH ALBUMS
OF 2019

My apologies for not reviewing klezmer albums more frequently. My computer keyboard needs de-icing. There’s bad weather here. But no more excuses. Here are the best Jewish recordings of 2019.

1. Jews with Bagels. The Klezmatics cruise down the MOR (middle of the road) here, looking for the big paycheck– the one with six bagels after the “1.” Sure hit: “Tiny Bagels in the Wine.”

2. We Can’t Hear You. Klezmer Conservatory Band. This beloved group still pops, babbles and spits like a newborn.  Recorded in a nursing home, in bed, in PJs. Hef feel. Swings.

3. Music for Young Lovers from Northern OH, Western PA and Western NY. Funded by NELFTY (Northeast Lakes Federation of Temple Youth). The record is lively waltzes and ballads for teens to cruise to.  Not sure if this recording will keep the kinder from moving to Chicago and the East Coast, but it’s worth a try.

4. Ladder Me Up. Andy Statman’s homage to The Chief.  If you buy this one, you can skip shul for six weeks.

5. The Great Hang. Steven Greenman’s triple CD.  All originals, recorded in a single weekend (i.e. the great hang). Violinist Greenman sings on several tracks. Heavy breathing. Sexy. Not bad violin, either.

6. Lee Tully vs. Billy Hodes. Reboot. These two obscure 1950s Jewish comedians come out swinging. Tully’s version of “Essen” versus Hodes’ take.  Two Jewish fighters in the same ring.  You don’t see that every day unless you’re at an Orthodox shmorg (pre-wedding buffet). Hodes wins.

7. Jerzy Kosinski’s Ketchup. Daniel Kahn. What’s the difference between blood and ketchup? Are Heinz and Hunt’s the same thing? How’s the pourability? Where did green ketchup go? This recording is viscous . Check it out.

8. It’s All Greek. A bootleg from England. This double CD has 56 never-released Mickey Katz songs recorded for the Greek market. Includes “Open Half a Day on Sunday” and “My Gyro is Dripping.”

9. Readings on the Klezmer Generation. Bert Stratton’s cabaret show, recorded live at Nighttown in Cleveland. Stratton has a strange voice, as if he swallowed a bag of plastic Passover plagues. Painful on first listening, but after  four cups of wine atrociously on-target.

10. The Jewish People are Mio. Roberto Rodriquez is 100 percent Jewish here: all freylekhs all the time. This is the perfect gift for the person who has everything but a Latin-Jewish alarm clock.

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