Search - Mike Tabor :: Jewish Soul

Pure passion

Poor_Tevye | Pennsylvania, USA | 06/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The tital says it all: "Jewish Soul" takes you on a culturally satisfying ride through the joys and sorrows of Jewish life. Some of these folk songs date back hundreds of years, but none of them have lost their vibrancy. Vocals and instrumentals are top-notch."

Hasidism as Song

Dr. Debra Jan Bibel | Oakland, CA USA | 09/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hasids are of the mystical branch of Judaism, akin to the Islamic Sufi. Besides Talmudic study, a key vehicle is song with dance, which are essentially breathing, sound vibration, and movement meditations. From an encounter with the Lubavitcher order and Reb Meanchem Schneerson and participation with folksinger Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, Mike Tabor carries on the musical tradition, particularly the nigunim, the soulful melodies from the European diaspora that are sung in the main as vocalise that can last for long durations, well beyond the shortened examples on this album. This music, not what you may have heard on recordings of Jewish or Yiddish folk songs, probes deeper into the ethos of the Jewish people. Joyous and melancholic, processional and ecstatic, even defiant, Tabor's music, played on bouzouki, violin, and recorders, supported by three other musicians playing a wide variety of instruments from Arabic oud and riqq to guitars, cello, and flute, conveys a different aspect of the Jewish tradition. I once attended a wedding performed by Shlomo Carlebach and am pleased that Mike Tabor carries on the good work."