Search - Paul Shapiro :: Midnight Minyan

This record is so beyond hip... it's hep

lopeland | Bronx, New york USA | 03/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This record is blow-away fantastic!!!!
Paul has fused together very specific Ethnic music in such a hep way that it transmorgs into a kind of killing avant-ethni-jazz. Mr. Shapiro's arrangements really are miraculous especially considering the material. This is very,very serious jazz from note one. It also has a very unique retro vibe to it. All of the players are INCREDIBLE. On first listen I thought "man this record is sick" and then I saw them live!
Forget it. They were so [great] it was ridiculous.
Needless to say I am a HUGE fan. Hear why for yourself."

Fantastic Album

themicah | 05/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Paul Shapiro and company are a very versatile bunch, and have created a jazz album of Jewish music (or is it a Jewish album of jazz music?) that will appeal to jazzheads, traditionalists, and hipsters alike. This is one of the few interpretations of traditional Jewish music that I've ever really dug. Everyone I play it for is completely blown away. Go Paul!!!"

Not your grandfather's Haftarah blessings

themicah | New York, NY United States | 04/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This cd has immensely satisfying musicianship and get-up-and-dance energy. But what really makes it shine for me is the whole new view it gave me on the liturgical music at its core.



Music of all kinds (jazz, rock, classical, etc.) has always had a strong spiritual element for me, but I am amazed at how well these melodies--melodies I grew up singing in a synagogue--could fit in a jazz context.



I have heard other attempts to "spice up" liturgical music or bridge the gap between modern/secular and traditional/sacred music. Some feel like a Jewish melody was awkwardly shoehorned into a secular genre. Others simply scream "gimmick." I still enjoy those recordings for what they are, but they would not get 5 stars from me.



These arrangements, on the other hand, are more artful than most other Jewish-secular hybrids I've heard, and more meaningful than other artful incorporations of non-jazz melodies into jazz (see, e.g., Herbie Hancock's "A New Standard" and Jason Moran's "Joga"). Paul Shapiro and friends have managed to make real jazz that I think I would enjoy even if I didn't know the underlying melodies. But then the subtle familiarity of the music evokes a sort of spiritual deja vu, and my appreciation for this CD rises to a whole other level."