Hear, O Israel - Hear, O Israel - A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 24 / 5 / 2008

Label: Jonny Records
Format: CD

intro

Nine part Jewish prayer ceremony set to jazz, which recorded in 1968 and featuring such a collection of jazz heavyweights including Herbie Hancock on piano, surprisingly proves to be the perfect Sunday morning record and chill-out soundtrack as well as also a spiritual experience

Released on the Jonny label but very much part of the Trunk label catalogue this is another extraordinary issue brought to us by the wonderful, dare I say eccentric, Jonny Trunk. Not content with issuing the soundtracks to children’s television series, all manner of strange film soundtracks and even advertising music Jonny now releases an album that he originally heard in 1999 but that was recorded 40 years ago. Basically, if such a project can be basic, this is a nine part musical journey of a Friday night Jewish prayer ceremony set to jazz. It was actually composed by the then 17 year old Jonathan Klein who was encouraged to do so by his local Rabbi. Now I’m not Jewish and my collection of jazz records only just makes it to double figures (unless you count the box set of Miles Davis ‘Complete On The Corner’ box set as separate CDs) and I’m certainly no authority on jazz music but I do know that I, like many others, have to be in the right mood to listen to even the most accessible form of jazz. It’s a genre I would dearly love to be able to appreciate but it can be heavy going at times even though albums such as ‘On The Corner’ and ‘Time Out’ have been albums that have brought me much listening pleasure over the years. But this album really is something else. It’s jazz make no mistake but you don’t have to be religious or be a jazz freak to appreciate it. This is simply a beautiful piece of music and from the opening ‘Blessing Over The Candles’ it is obvious that this relaxing, spiritual music is going to wash over you leaving you feeling refreshed and a lot more peaceful than when you started listening to it. I confess that I obviously don’t understand all the vocals but the beauty is that you don’t have to as the music speaks volumes. As it says on the CD cover, “it really doesn’t sound like anything else”. For the jazz aficionados the line up will be reason enough to pay out for this lost classic. With Herbie Hancock on piano, Jerome Richardson, Thad Jones and Ron Carter fans of any of those musicians should make this album their next purchase. But as we have come to expect by now by any release that Jonny Trunk has a hand in there is something there for everyone. If anyone had told me that halfway through 2008 one of the CDs I played most would be a 40 year old Jewish Prayer Ceremony performed by some of the most respected jazz musicians I would have laughed them out of the house. The fact is this album has brought me so much pleasure and although I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it has made me seek out more jazz records it has opened my eyes and ears and made some turbulent times a lot less stressful for me. A Sunday morning record, a chill-out soundtrack or just a spiritual experience, once again Jonny Trunk has presented us with a long lost classic that deserves to be heard.

Track Listing:-