When I say it's not a minor blues, it's really not. In lieu of that, if you have Spotify, check out Wolpe's Zemach Suite VII: Dance in the Form of a Chaconne, which has some of his Palestine-era vibe. This music was not "Bei Meir Bist Du Schoen" or "And the Angels Sing." Track down Wolpe's stunning "Ten Songs From the Hebrew," and you'll have some idea. I'm not talking about the exhibit or Yiddish jive but the Middle Eastern music (Jewish and Palestinian) that Wolpe heard and responded to when he lived in Palestine and that might through him might have influenced Carisi. So I had reason to be skeptical about the appropriateness of other tunes included as part of the exhibit. While of course the Exodus story and other parts of the Old Testament had long been used as the religious background for the Civil Rights movement, that doesn't mean that there was anything consciously Jewish about their adoption, especially on an album devoted to jazz treatments of the gospel tradition. To me it's pretty obvious that Green's interpretation of Shadrack has only the most tenuous of connections to Judiasm. The Cab Calloway Yiddish jive tunes definitely fit the bill.but they also included stuff like Grant Green's version of Shadrack from Feelin' the Spirit. The exhibit that this was a part of seemed to be stretching things for some of the tunes that were presented as examples of the melding of black American and Jewish culture. (If "Shadrack" counts as Jewish, you pretty much have to say that a full 25% of gospel music is Jewish.) So I had reason to be skeptical about the appropriateness of other tunes included as part of the exhibit. But anyone who knows anything about Bird knows of course that his personal acquaintances figure in several of his titles.) Leaving aside the anachronism for a second, my point is that someone who knew nothing about Bird or bebop might think they were safe in guessing that world events had something to do with the title. (To me it's potentially the same kind of error as assuming that "Moose the Mooche" was written as a reference to this famous drunk apple-stealing elk. And on Birth of the Cool, especially, the reference just seems a little out of place among the tunes that were performed. It's not like there were many tunes written about Truman or Roosevelt or the partition of India. I know that Carisi was not Bird, but in general the beboppers were not so obviously referential like this when it came to current events. As Jim notes, not only does the tune not exactly sound like Hatikvah, it's not even really a minor blues as recorded by the nonet. Seem quite logical to me - why are you dubious? As far as I know Carisi was not himself Jewish, and there are any number of Israels he could have been referring to. If the tune was written around 1948, obviously that would be timely.but I am dubious. Does anyone know the story behind the title to Carisi's "Israel"? I was at the SF Contemporary Jewish Museum today and they included the tune as part of this exhibit, claiming that the tune was written to pay tribute to the new Jewish state.
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