Rhythm & Jews: A Soulful Look at Jewish Pride

Rhythm & Jews: A Soulful Look at Jewish Pride
By Bruce Shutan

drummer who had two drum kits set up side by side in a downtown New Haven, Conn., studio where for the next six years I learned how to play the drums in a fun and engaging way.

You’re probably wondering, what does this have to do with Judaism? I’ll sum that up in two words: Buddy Rich. He was known as the greatest drummer ever and happened to be Jewish, though a cultural Jew like many of us rather than an observant one. I had the pleasure and thrill of seeing him perform live twice in the 1970s. The first time was in a gymnasium at a local college in my hometown outside New Haven. I must have been about 12 years old at the time. The second time was at a proper venue on the Yale University campus with terrific acoustics – a performance that mesmerized me. I suppose you’d say this was my very first encounter with musical Jewish pride, though I also remember thinking it was pretty cool that Sammy Davis Jr., one of the coolest cats around, converted to our faith years before I even knew who he was and enjoyed the TV commercials he did for Manischewitz with that cheesy tagline, “man oh Manischewitz!”

While growing up, I often listened to – and admired – the style of another famous Jewish drummer Hal Blaine, though I didn’t know it until years later. That’s because his influence was nearly invisible as a member of a group of elite studio session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. Their clever name was a tongue-in-cheek reference to older musicians who felt that the group’s embrace of rock and roll was going to “wreck” the music industry. Blaine and his compadres recorded some of the greatest pop and rock songs of all time and were all over the soundtrack of the 1960s and ’70s, which were my formative years. Hal’s drumming on Beach Boys and Carpenter records stuck out the most to me, though I couldn’t understand why it was necessary to have a stand in for Karen Carpenter, who was one of the most inventive drummers of the time and easily could have done the recordings.

By now, you’ve all probably figured out that drumming is my passion, right? Good guess! But I’d add music in general as a form of deep inspiration. Along with religion or however one expresses their faith, it has real spiritual power. Many musicians, myself included, often describe music as their religion, though in my case that’s only half the story. I have been Jewish-minded from an early age, having attended Hebrew school as well as being Bar Mitzvahed and confirmed in Reform temple. Combining the two has been powerful and soulful for me. All the Jewish influences permeating across the jazz, pop and rock genres throughout the 20th century have been a great source of Jewish pride for me, as well as countless other members of our special tribe.

Music speaks to the soul in much the same way someone derives inspiration from Jewish rituals, culture, faith in God or all of the above. It comes from a very personal place deep within each of us and is a reflection of our experience. Knowing how difficult the plight of Jews has been for millennia, it comes as no surprise to us the extent to which the music of so many incredible Jewish songwriters reflects a collective melancholy. It’s much like Jewish comedians finding humor in the obstacles and persecution that our people have experienced. Art is a reflection of life.

Music was a big part of my youth. My parents, who loved big-band jazz, once took me to a Benny Goodman concert when I was a young teenager and a few years later I attended a Woody Herman concert at my favorite rock ’n roll nightclub with my father. Both artists came from Jewish backgrounds, though like so many other famous Jews in the entertainment industry, they assimilated into our melting pot. Many of them changed their surnames so that they wouldn’t sound Jewish, fearful of antisemitism, which has been a constant in our long history. Others had only one Jewish parent.

As I became older, I was astonished by just how many famous and accomplished people were Jewish. I eventually learned about the extent to which our achievements were disproportionately represented, which is now just 2.4% in the U.S. and 0.2% worldwide. That fact still blows me away and is a major source of pride that I have tried to pass down to my children to make them aware of the potential greatness that lies within each of them.

Focusing on influential Jews in the music business, I feel a need to name drop the most unbelievable lineup with at least some Jewish lineage that many, but not all of us, already know about. Let’s start with famous composers: Felix Mendelssohn and Gustav Mahler were two towering figures from the 19^th century. Then in the 20^th century came George and Ira Gershwin, who were once celebrated in an Elton John song as the Tin Pan Alley twins, as well as Irving Berlin, Philip Glass and Leonard Bernstein, who Bradley Cooper played in a recent bio pic airing on Netflix. Others included Burt Bacharach and Marvin Hamlisch. Notable classical musicians include Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Horowitz.

I already mentioned a few in the world of jazz, but let me round it out with a few more extraordinary names. One stand out is Mel Torme, who by the way wrote the most wonderful biography of his dear friend and fellow musician Buddy Rich, my drumming hero growing up, but there’s also – in no particular order – Al Jolson, Artie Shaw, Stan Getz, Steve Lawrence, Red Rodney, Herbie Man, Herb Alpert Michael Brecker and Harry Connick Jr. Pop music stars include Bette Midler and Barry Manilow, who played piano for her early in his career, Neil Sedaka, Neil Diamond, known as the Jewish Elvis, Leonard Cohen, who became a Buddhist monk and Barbra Streisand, who recently published an extensive autobiography.

Lastly, we have an endless group of rock and rollers that include Billy Joel, whose family was able to flee Germany before the Holocaust, Carole King, one of the greatest songwriters of her generation from the Brill Building days, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, Geddy Lee of Rush, who inspired one of our recent B Mitzvah speeches, Randy Newman, Lou Reed, David Lee Roth, Robbie Robertson of the Band, Bob Dylan, of course, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, though personally not one of my drumming influences, Laura Nyro, Amy Winehouse, Warren Zevon, Carly Simon, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Mick Jones of the Clash, Lenny Kravitz, Courtney Love, the Beastie Boys – and the list goes on and on.

Whenever I listen to a recording or view a performance of a Jewish musician, it’s almost as if we’re able to meld our creative and cultural mind, body and soul. Long live the Jewish influence in all forms of popular music!

Bruce Shutan, a freelance journalist and ghostwriter in Portland, Oregon, is a member of the Cultural Synagogue, which belongs to SHJ.