Carlebach's coming to town

CYNTHIA RAMSAY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

Hope. That's one of the messages that Neshama Carlebach will bring to Vancouver when she performs as part of Congregation Or Shalom's annual fund-raiser in June.

Carlebach, who is the daughter of the renowned and much-loved Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z"l, said that hope is a necessity in the world, otherwise we would fall apart.

"We sing in the hopes that everything bad in the world will become good," she said, describing herself as an eternal optimist. "I absolutely believe in God with my whole heart and I believe that, in the end, we're all supposed to have good. It's just a matter of 'What do we have to do to get there?' ... That's the reason that I sing, because I hope to bring some good to the world and definitely to continue what my father began, but in my own voice, to bring my own message of hope."

While Neshama Carlebach has been to Whistler before, Or Shalom's fund-raiser will be her first public performance in Vancouver. She's coming here from Israel and heads right back to New York for several shows.

Joining Carlebach in Vancouver will be Ben Butler (guitar) and David Morgan (producer/pianist). Carlebach and Morgan have been partners in music for seven and a half years - they write songs together and Morgan produces all of Carlebach's work. The two met when Morgan came to play for the record that Carlebach did with her father.

"He's just the most incredible player in the world and his energy is so pure," said Carlebach of Morgan. "You know, right away when I met him, I was like, 'Ah, what are you doing tonight? Do you want to play again?' He came and we started playing together, and I would hate to ever play without him.... He's really the other half of my music."

While Carlebach's career may have started out with a great reliance on the music of her father, she has managed to create her own sound and stage presence. Her performances now include both her and Morgan's original compositions. In an interview with the Bulletin from her home in New York, Carlebach said she doesn't worry much about people who expect her father when they attend her concerts, because, "if they expect my father, they're never going to get him," she laughed. As to her own expectations, Carlebach said she is her own worst critic.

"I always strive to be better," she said, "but it's very inspiring because there are always moments from an audience or moments in a concert that make things worthwhile, so I'm always pleased in terms of my own expectations.

"In terms of people saying that my father would have done it this way or my father would have done it that way, I just ignore them, because I know that my father, his biggest wish for me ... is that I should be who I am, I should never try to be anybody else.

"He didn't just mean that for me," she continued. "He meant that for all people, all his followers. His message for the world was that we all have our own mission to accomplish, and our own dreams and our own goals, and we can never compare ourselves to anyone else. And that's always been very inspiring for me, because I can only do what I'm capable of, and I feel like I have a lot to give an audience. As long as I'm with my band, who are incredible, and as long as I'm doing music that I love, then I can't really go wrong."

Carlebach is in the midst of completing her fifth CD. Called Min Hametzar, she expects to release it in September.

"I think it's the best that we've ever done," she said. "I've been very lucky, because every CD we've done has been better than the one before. I'm very pleased."

The title track to Min Hametzar was written the Sunday before the World Trade Centre fell and its verses – taken from very different parts of the Torah and prayers – have an eery resonance in light of that disaster.

"Min hametzar" is from the Rosh Hashanah service, explained Carlebach. The words "min hametzar" begin the phrase that the person says right before blowing the shofar, "From my depths, I call to God, and from the heights, I am answered," she said. To this idea, Carlebach and her band added other verses found in the Torah, where it says, it was on the third day, which was Tuesday, that there was thunder and lightening on the mountain and there were very thick clouds, and the whole world trembled. The song also includes the verses "Shma Koleinu Hashem Elokeinu" ("May God hear our prayers").

"We wrote [the song] on a Sunday and then Tuesday, the World Trade Centre fell, and it was the third day, and the world was trembling," related Carlebach. "We freaked out! I didn't write the phrase, it came directly from the Torah and it made me feel, more than anything, how much the Torah really does apply to us still in this day and age. And I was so sad that it had to be expressed in such a terrible way, but it really made me feel like God really knows what's going on."

She said she couldn't believe it ... "that the world is trembling, that we're calling to God from our depths. Hopefully, He'll [come] from His heights to answer our prayers. It was incredibly meaningful for me."

Carlebach told the Bulletin that she'll be performing "Min Hametzar" in Vancouver, but that the set list wouldn't be determined until just before the show. Even then, it will likely change midway through the performance.

"I really feed off the audience," she said. "Sometimes they want to dance more, sometimes they need to sing, sometimes they just want these hypnotic, melodic moments where they don't have to feel anything at all. I always see where they're at and that really influences the songs."

Carlebach performs June 13, 7:30 p.m., at the Vancouver Rowing Club in Stanley Park. Tickets are $75, $36 for students (tax receipts issued). Tickets can be purchased at 604-603-9262.

^TOP