Aaron Bendich launched Borscht Beat, a radio show that plays Yiddish and Jewish music \u2014 both contemporary songs and throwbacks \u2014 in November 2020. Now, he is launching a record label of the same name. (Graphic by Hanna Sheehan)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI love pulling stuff from the collection and sharing it with my listeners,\u201d he said. \u201cI love that I\u2019m bringing music to people\u2019s lives that they heard long ago and haven\u2019t heard since in many cases.\u201d
Launching a record label \u201cis sort of the logical next step,\u201d Bendich said. \u201cI was interested in finding a way to involve myself more on the active side of what\u2019s currently going on in the Jewish music scene, either in the production or the release of music.\u201d <\/p>\n
After speaking with several friends and musicians, Bendich decided that his label\u2019s debut release would be a CD of an album from the Brooklyn-Based multi-instrumentalist Ilya Shneyveys. The two had met at klezmer picnics that Shneyveys hosted in Prospect Park during the height of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
The band, Forshpil, is made up of Shneyveys, the instrumental lead, and vocalist Sasha Lurje, both immigrants from Latvia. Forshpil, a Yiddish term generally translated as \u201cprelude,\u201d also refers to a type of musical performance that is given for a bride before a wedding. Bendich describes their music as a blend of Old World and New: it\u2019s \u201cpsychedelic hard rock mixed with folk song mixed with some klezmer elements.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bendich hopes to work with other Yiddish bands and singers in bringing their music into the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost music companies won\u2019t publish Jewish-specific music unless it\u2019s already popular, Jewish record labels that curate a distinct kind of ethnic fare are an absolute necessity,\u201d Eddy Portnoy, the academic advisor and exhibitions curator at YIVO, told The New York Jewish Week. \u201cThey\u2019ve been around for a long time and have brought us all kinds of material, from comedy to cantorial, and everything in between.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cSmall Jewish record labels launched the careers of popular performers like Allan Sherman and Matisyahu,\u201d he added. \u201cWe might never have heard of them if not for these independent labels. So it\u2019s a good sign of cultural ferment that new ones are popping up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jon Madof, the co-founder of record label Chant Records and bandleader of Zion80, a 10-piece outfit that combines Jewish music, Afrobeat and avant-garde jazz, is also hopeful about a new Jewish record label on the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though the new music landscape can be difficult to navigate, I\u2019m sure their artistry and dedication will serve them well as they help to bring Jewish and Yiddish music solidly into the 21st century,\u201d he said. (Madof is also the director of technology at 70 Faces Media, The New York Jewish Week\u2019s parent company.)<\/p>\n
The Forshpil CD is being released with a 24-page booklet that will include lyrics in the original Yiddish, transliterate rations and English translations. The psychedelic artwork is by Avia Moore; Michael Wex, author of \u201cBorn To Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods\u201d wrote an introductory essay.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Bendich said he\u2019s thrilled that he\u2019ll be able to add to the world\u2019s collection of Jewish records \u2014 something that has been such a huge part of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to imagine that someone someday will be looking for a record at a record store and will come across something that I\u2019ve released\u2026 I love that idea,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s so exciting. I\u2019m doing it for the sake of ethnic culture, the cultural heritage that I\u2019m so proud of and involved in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The album is live at https:\/\/borschtbeat.bandcamp.com\/releases, and Bendich\u2019s radio program streams on Sundays at 12 noon Central Time on Radio Catskill.<\/p>\n
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