Thursdays – How Jewish Music Became Mainstream: The Influence of Jewish Music on America’s Popular Music
1/9 & 1/23 @ 2:00 PM/CH
Instructor: Ira Miller
1/9 How Jewish Music Became Mainstream: The Influence of Jewish Music on America’s Popular Music continues with a look at three Jewish song composers whose work has become synonymous with the Great American Songbook: Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Harold Arlen. All three found a way to combine elements of Jewish music and Black music to create a new genre of music in the early twentieth century that is still vital today. With songs like White Christmas and God Bless America, Berlin invented Americana. George Gershwin is recognized for creating a fusion of classical and jazz music. And, Harold Arlen, composer of Over the Rainbow, considered by many in the industry as the number one song of all time, wrote music for the Cotton Club between 1930 to 1934 that became jazz and blues standards.
1/ 23 We conclude How Jewish Music Became Mainstream: The Influence of Jewish Music on America’s Popular Music by looking at the stories behind the songs Dona, Dona and Bei Mir Bis Du Schoen, how America adopted Hava Nagila, and how Jewish and non-Jewish folk and popular music artists continue to channel Jewish music and thought into today’s popular music. We will even talk about why Jewish music impacted important Black artists like Louis Armstrong and Paul Robeson.
