My Music: February 2007 Archives
Being a musician, a composer, a receiver of music, feels to me like a tremendous, albeit mixed, blessing. As someone who is moved deeply by the power of music, and am somewhat ambivalent about channeling this force. Recently, I have been startled, amazed, and honored by the way one of my songs has been received.... Mazal Tov to Julie and Mat Tonti on the birth of their baby girl, Mayira Levanah. I just received this email from the happy Aba:
So about her name, which people have been asking about. There’s a thought in Jewish tradition that we do not pick our children’s names, but that they come to us in a moment of prophecy. And I can definitely say that is what happened to me. We were at Isabella Friedman, the home of Teva, and our wedding ceremony, over Succot (a harvest festival in October). There was a tune being sung over and over to words from the Jerusalem Talmud. Transliterated: Lo hayta chatzer b’Yerushaliym, she lo hayta, mayira, m’or, beit haShueva. Translation: There was not a courtyard in Jerusalem that was not illuminated (Mayira) from the light of the beit Ha Shueva. The Beit ha Shueva was a water libation celebration around the time that the harvest was coming in to ancient Jerusalem. Apparently it was quite the party. That was the first time that I heard the name. Julie was about 5 months pregnant. We had no idea if it was a boy or a girl, but I knew I wanted an ‘M’ name.So, I 'received' the niggun Mat is talking about in the first day of Sukkot 5766, while living with the Neshamah Residential Community in Accord, NY, home of the 'olde' Elat Chayyim. LISTEN: [audio:http://www.eights.org/mp3/VeloHayahChatzer.mp3] This is such an amazing honor. I'm awed. I don't know what to say. So instead of writing about my temporary aphasia, here's the Hebrew, transliteration, and alternate versions. And five random photos from the Teva Sukkah during SukkahFest 5767:
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I was passed over for the Six Points Fellowship, but above is my five minute work-sample. You can also discover more details about my application.
Shir-Yaakov Feinstein-Feit performing his composition "Yachid" at the Bowery Poetry Club in September 2006, singing with Tamuz Shiran and Tali Weinberg; Jessie Reagen on cello; Basya Schechter and Dan Fries on percussion.
I composed this song driving north on I-87 en route to Accord, NY, on Chai (the 18th of) Elul, the yartzeit of the Ba'al Shem Tov. The lyric is the sixth line of Ana B'Choach, which is associated with the sephirah of yesod:
יחיד גאה לעמך פנה זוכרי קדושתך Exalted Unity, turn to Your people, rememberers of Your Holiness
I'm launching myself into the sea of podcasting. I hope you enjoy. And no, you don't need an iPod to listen.
Basya from Pharoah's Daughter brought me on stage for B'nai Jeshurun's Musician's Concert. The first mic I was handed sucked (you can hear I get a new one, which I rhyme about, mid-song), plus the band kind of left me stranded to do an a capella f/s, but hey, this track still makes me smile:
[audio:http://eights.org/mp3/oori.mp3]
On Sunday night, Chana Rothman generously invited me to share the stage at the Mercury Lounge in NYC. Here's a freestyle we dropped:
[audio:http://eights.org/mp3/MercuryFreestyle1.mp3]
I've been asked recently for recordings of some of my more recent compositions. While I'm working on an album, I thought I'd offer these samples (just me and a guitar and an iTalk (and a noisy humidifier)):
Higale Na (from Yedid Nefesh)
Yachid G'eh (from Ana Bechoach)
Or Zaru'a (from shacharit and tehillim)
Yonati (from Shir HaShirim 2:14)
