Also included are several tunes written by the late Shlomo Carlebach, a 20th-century Hasidic folksinger whose music has become so integrated into the Jewish world that it is often assumed to be "ancient" liturgy. (Carlebach's 1960's album "At the Village Gate" has been re-released on CD and is available here at Amazon). Statman and Grisman are obviously having a great time improvising on these familiar tunes!

"Songs of Our Fathers" comes boxed with a very nice, slick-print booklet on the history of the album, Jewish music in general, and the background of each of the pieces. The booklet includes color photos and brief bios of Statman and Grisman, along with plenty of B&W pics of the traditional Jews who originally played this music. Ten stars!

14 of 14 found the following review helpful:


The saddest joy  Nov 26, 2001 By Pharoah S. Wail
While I was writing my review for Grisman's newest wonderful release (Traversata, with Carlo Aonzo and Beppe Gambetta) it struck me that I never wrote a review for the great Songs Of Our Fathers.

For me, this cd displays both sides of the coin, the mourning of those who are gone, as well as the celebration of the joy and beauty in life. There is just no denying that Shalom Aleichem is one of the saddest and most beautiful melodies ever written, or that the Chassidic Medley (track #2) is all-out dance music!

Andy Statman is a true musical marvel. If he only played clarinet as well as he does then he'd be legendary, and if he only played mandolin as well as he does he'd be legendary. Instead, he just plays both instruments as well as he does (and composes and arranges too).

I've had this cd for 5 or 6 years and had I reviewed it when I first got connected to the internet I would have given it 5 stars. The only reason I'm only giving it 4 stars now is because Acoustic Disc releases (Grisman's label) have even crisper, fuller, richer sound now than they did back when Songs Of Our Fathers was released.

This recording is one of the crown-jewel's of the Acoustic Disc label.

9 of 10 found the following review helpful:


Beautiful  Jul 21, 1999
I listen to this and/or "The Hidden Light" every night while meditating, and often play it after I turn the lights out, and when I get up in the morning. It is lovely, lyrical, uplifting, joy-inspiring music, and Andy Statman's fresh, somewhat jazz-influenced approach raises the beautiful traditional melodies to new levels.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:


Traditional Jewish songs with a bluegrass flair  May 02, 1998
Since 1977, The David Grisman Quartet album has been one of my favorites so when I saw this I couldn't resist. It's all instrumental. A really wide range of songs, from Shalom Aleichem that can evoke deep emotions to bouncy march-like songs with drums and whistles that make you get up and dance. The whole family loves it. I just bought 5 copies to give to friends!!!

9 of 11 found the following review helpful:


Awesome  May 25, 2000
I heard snippets of this CD during an interview on National Public Radio. I took the next offramp (I was driving on the interstate), wrote down Statman's name and proceeded to hunt for this CD. I put the name on a list and FINALLY someone bought it for me as a Christmas present. (It took her a long time to find it in a local music shop). I listen to this on days when I can't get it together at work. Poignant here, upbeat there, a terrific musical offering

See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.com