Sy Kushner
Arise! New Jewish Music by Sy Kushner Vol. 1
An instrumental album featuring some of the top New York klezmer musicians playing original music by Sy Kushner, a leading innovator in the field of Jewish music.The album is truly a trendsetter.
When Sy Kushner became the accordionist and musical director of The Mark 3 Orchestra in the 1960’s, he established himself as one of the leading innovators in Jewish music. Almost overnight, the group was catapulted into the center of the Jewish music world playing concerts, weddings and festivals. Sy’s later exploration of the rock medium further established him as a leader in the field of Jewish music.
In 1995 Sy released the first of two volumes of transcriptions of early 1900’s klezmer tunes titled, “The Klezmer Music Fake Book Volume One” and a year later “The Klezmer Music Fake Book Volume Two”. In these painstaking projects, Sy transcribed the exact ornamentations and melismas that were played by the klezmer greats of the past. Sy felt a mission to help people get in touch with a part of Jewish culture that was almost lost.
Sy’s CD,”KlezSqueeze! The Sy Kushner Jewish Music Ensemble” released in 1996 is a tour de force. In the creativity of his arrangements, his virtuosic performances and in his musical concept for this production, Sy recreated a “new” sound in Jewish music.
Nulite Music proudly announces the release of” Arise! New Jewish Music by Sy Kushner”. This is the first of a series of albums to be released containing original compositions by Sy Kushner. Also available is a book by the same name of transcribed music from the CD. Sy writes, “This CD, the first of a series, was influenced by a lifetime of experiences, of lows and highs, of despair and hope, of darkness and light. There are many musical influences on my work, from Chassidic, Israeli, klezmer and Mideastern, to Irish, African, Latin and avant-garde. I hope that listening to this music will bring you the same degree of reflection, joy, light, and hope for the future that it has brought me in composing and performing it. “
Spiritual: Chassidic