Contents: AACI-IFS Song Festival – Thanks – Letter to the Editor - Jerusalem Folk Club – the Jam

Words and music: Mindy Kornberg. Sung by Mindy and Rahel Jaskow

I tried to play piano but my fingers would not heed,

I got myself a trumpet but my lips would crack and bleed.

My clarinet and saxophone were always short a reed,

But then I found the only instrument that I would ever need.

And I played notes and rhythm,

Then continued with a melody until it was through.

I played all kinds of music and there was nothing to it,

On my little half-a-dollar kazoo.

My friend was always moaning that her practicing’s a drag.

All those scales and exercises can make a person gag.

One day I played a tune for her and though I hate to brag,

Since that time that friend of mine has got a brand new bag.

She plays those notes and rhythm,

Then continues with a melody until it is through.

She plays all kinds of music and there is nothing to it,

On her little half-a-dollar kazoo.

Whether you like classics, country-western, jazz or soul,

Reggae, rap, flamenco, or good ol’ rock’n’roll.

It doesn’t really matter, ‘cause there’s a way to have it all.

Fifty cents will get you straight to Carnegie Hall.

Where you’ll play those notes and rhythm,

Then continue with a melody until it is through.

You’ll play all kinds of music and there’ll be nothing to it,

On your little half-a-dollar kazoo.

You’ll play legato and staccato!

You’ll be known for your vibrato!

You’ll be throwing in a triplet or two,

And that is all you’ve got to know

To be an instant virtuo-so

On your little half-a-dollar kazoo!

c2000 Mindy Kornberg

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A tongue-in-cheek look at song festivals. Mindy also has degrees in music and law. She recently composed and helped produce a CD on the Jewish holidays.

2^nd Prize Winner:

Words and music by Raya Gilead. Sung by Lana Sokolov.

When you were young, you used to dream

When you were young, you used to plan

The sky was the limit to energy streams

Inspired by visions again and again.

And now you’re slowly turning into gray,

You only goal – to survive

The sky is still there

It looks at your day

Just to make sure you are still alive.

How do we make our choices?

How do we become what we are?

Does it matter now?

When or why or how

We lost touch with our star?

What does it take one to stay true?

The more I think, the more it seems,

We give up the battle before it is through,

Taking the shortcuts, betraying the dreams.

Sometimes, in the middle of it all,

Rainbows will appear and make us stall.

Showing us places that could have been ours,

Had we persisted and followed the call.

The stars so far, the stars so bright

Have always beckoned us to rise

But armchair planners,

Too lazy to fight

Will cling to illusions they can’t sacrifice.

How do we make our choices?

How do we become what we are?

Does it matter now?

When or why or how

We lost touch with our star?

Ambitions and gifts left like treasures

That nobody bothered to claim,

Hidden deep inside,

Never seeing the light,

Never being called by name.

c2000 Raya Gilead

Sponsors of the Festival were: the Jerusalem Municipality, the Herald Tribune, edu.com, Bank HaPoalim and Kef International. Prizes were donated by: AACI Travel Experience, Carmel Hotel – Netanya, Creative Audio, Dan Panorama Hotel – Jerusalem, Harari Harps - Jerusalem, Hilton Hotel – Tel Aviv, Hyatt Hotel – Jerusalem, Paul’s CD Service, Pilcer Cottages, and Wordbyte.

Also thanks to all those at AACI and IFS who worked so hard to make the Festival a success: Roby Shmerling, Janine Bahar, Murray Safran, Bari Kleiner, Hadas Sasson, Larry Gamliel and Carol Fuchs.

How do I report thee?

Let me count the ways : appreciation, bewilderment, disappointment and constructive criticism.

What a wonderful project it is - Roby Shmerling's initiative and 'baby.'

Taking place for the fifth year now, this time at the Gerard Behar Center in Jerusalem as a joint effort of the Jerusalem AACI and the I.F.S. There is no other stage or contest in Israel where songwriters who write in English can present their songs in a competing format and win prizes. "National recognition" and "fame"? Not quite yet, maybe some day. ..

(There are the folk clubs, of course, and Jacob's Ladder Festival too, where song- writers or performers win our appreciation and gratitude but no formal reward otherwise.)

A lot of hard work and good will went into planning and organizing. Twelve songs out of sixty, chosen by a committee, made it to the finals in Jerusalem. A potentially wonderful and exciting event - an evening to look forward to!

Well, regrettably, that wasn't quite the outcome.

Sound problems in abundance turned this contest into a sorry affair. Everything worked well in the rehearsal. Well, I wish I could have attended that instead. On the first song, one of the mike stands decided to fall apart with noises like Fourth of July fireworks. Then a singer was left with a cableless mike in his hand. From then on, it was a constant game of "Cat’s Cradle“ (Savta Soreget), switching-mixing-weaving-

entangling-unentangling cables, resulting in the undoing of all the sound checks from earlier and leaving the performers on stage to the mercy of Lady Luck: some almost mute, others - loud and over- shadowing the solo singer or the other musicians.

At one point (during Ofer Golani's song, where his guitar volume was very low whereas the bass player bombarded our ears), I went to the soundman and asked him to lower the volume of the bass. "I'm trying to find which one it is," he said helplessly, while jogging every knob on his soundboard up and down, yet not being able to locate it till near the end of the song.

Every song suffered from this phenomenon. The eleventh song in particular: during The Night Whisper, the musical instruments were loudly amplified whereas the singer Marina Meirova "whispered." Only towards the third quarter of the song was the right knob found and we could finally hear the melody of the song and the singer's rich voice with its unique shadings.

All during this sound fiasco, the audience suffered politely, here and there gasping in disbelief, sighing in exasperation or murmuring their protests, clearly displeased and suffering. The only ones to be spared this ordeal were Shelly Ellen and co-players who provided the musical relief for the evening (and a relief it was) because they managed a sound check during the break.

Here is where my bewilderment lies as well as my dilemma as a spectator: Upon seeing that, why didn't the organizers interfere? Why didn't they demand that each singer player be checked on the spot so that the soundman would at least know which knob controlled which cable, and what was attached to each mike and instrument? I was a spectator and yet I felt guilty that I didn't go to the organizers to suggest that. I'm sure the audience wouldn't have minded waiting 3 more minutes if it meant that the songs would come out in their true value and would get a fairer shot at the competition. After all, how can a judge do a decent job if he hears no melody but noise and imbalance? No solo singers but accompanying instruments mostly? Even M. C. Larry Gamliel's charm (yes, Larry, you were a lovely host, tongue slips and all) nor his apologetic explanations (or explanatory apologies) could compensate the contestants and the spectators for their displeasure and anguish. A different course of action was in order here, one that would have recthe situation and I'm sorry that it wasn't taken.

Another thing I found lacking was missing information in the credits. I would have liked to see the names of all the participants in the brochure, including accompanying players. In two instances, the name of the singer(s) in the brochure was incorrect.

Talking of credit, should only the songwriters be rewarded? Doesn't the singer very often "make" the song? There were two very talented singers, one of whom, Lana Sokolov, brought the song fourth prize (I think). The other, Marina Meirova, got nothing although she had a wonderful rich and unique voice (once we could hear it, that is). I would like to suggest to the organizers to add a prize for the Best Performer, thus rewarding not only the songwriters but the performers as well.

Here I reach the last and most painful issue: the First Prize. I liked (and approved of) the judges' choices for the four songs who won prizes 2 - 5. [To those who are interested, I hope I remember them correctly: Laura Fink – 5^th prize, Lenny Solomon – 4^th, Teisha Bader 3^rd, Raya Gilead 2^nd.] I consider it good judging (though my list is slightly different). Sagit Shir received both the audience’s First Prize and the Encouragement Prize. I couldn't agree more.

However, I have a lot of difficulty in digesting the judges' choice for First Prize and so did many spectators and many contestants.

Mindy Kornberg presented a nice joke-song. I compliment her on her sense of humor, but I'm sure she herself was surprised that she won. Musically, nor by way of performance, was it any match to the other songs.

I feel that choosing this song, in a way, demeaned the other songs, their writers and performers, who took the competition seriously and put a lot of effort into it. I agree that it's a funny song; I, too, enjoyed it. But to award it First Prize (and a significant prize it is - recording time in a recording studio and more), I think was poor judgment. It’s not easy to be a judge: maybe the set of criteria ought to be revised or altered.

I know that some of the contestants were offended by this choice, whereas they would have accepted and respected another choice. I'm afraid that these musicians will refrain from presenting any other songs to this competition in the future, which will be our loss!

Therefore, I'd like to suggest that in future the organizers add another prize: a Gimmick or Originality Prize. This will enable the organizers to avoid such unpleasantness in the future and to acknowledge originality at the same time.

All in all, this year's competition had great potential, which failed to come through. What a shame, considering all the effort which was put into it.

I left disappointed. I hope to watch a better show next year.

On the 26th of January, I experienced something that, a little more then two years ago, I never thought might happen. The Five Shamrocks, of which I am a proud member, performed at the Camelot club. For those of you who don’t know, the Camelot club also hosts some of the top musicians in the country and from abroad. My band mates - Karen, Gali, Doron and Peleg, are all performing musicians for several years now. I, on the other hand, would never have stood on a professional stage hadn’t it been for the opportunity and encouragement given to me by folk club organizers and audience. I thank all the members of the IFS. Special thanks to Joshua Goodman, Larry Gamliel, Judi & Lynn Lewis, Philip Griffin, and last, but

Yuval Berger

certainly not least, to Ariela Orion.

--Yuval Berger

I have renewed with some reluctance because of the amount of material and reviews of things/music American. You describe the magazine as being of Israeli interest, but there is too much that is not of local interest. Not all your readers are from the U.S.

--V.F.

The Jerusalem Folk Club is very much alive and thriving. For a while last

year we had to wander from place to place when the Seventh Place restaurant was about to close. But eventually, with the kind help of Chaim and Naomi Tsur, we received the use of a wonderful venue at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. It is a lovely compound on Heleni Hamalka Street.

Marc Gittelson took a hand in organizing the club, and suggested having themes for each get-together. To date we have had a singer/song-

writer evening, songs of water (such as rivers, shipwrecks and such); Chanukah , Christmas and other holiday songs, and songs of the green (from money through grass to slime). Our most recent meeting, in honor of Valentine's Day, was all about love with the emphasis placed on lost, betrayed, and

schmaltzy things like that.

Our next meeting is due to take place on March 15, and in the spirit of Purim,

it will be filled with comedy, mirth and things of that nature. We have so far been honored with the presence of Sandy Cash, Lynn and Judi Lewis, Just Plain Laurie, Shelley Ellen, and Jill Rogoff, to name but a few.

While we're talking about music in Jerusalem, you might be interested to know

that AACI jointly with IFS has a bi-monthly music night. We've had a blues night, a Swing night and a good old rock-n-roll night. The next event, scheduled for March 17, will consist of songs from the C, which is to say Cowboys, Commercials and Cartoon songs. (Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.)

For information about music in Jerusalem, you can call Carol at (053) 850-098,

or Larry at (053) 801-202. Hope to see you all.

--Larry Gamliel

Colum Sands is a member of the famous Sands family of Irish musicians. His voice is well known on the airwaves as a presenter of the BBC Radio Ulster's Folk Club. As a performer, he has taken his style of song writing and storytelling to over thirty countries around the world.

Sharon Aviv, a winner of the Israeli Artists' Committee Creation Award, is an Israeli storyteller who takes part in artistic encounters for the

promotion of peace in the Middle East through stories and music programs. Her repertoire includes desert anecdotes and Arab and Jewish folk tales.

Sharon and Colum met on stage in a folk festival in England and came up

with the idea of putting together a show to investigate how stories and songs can help to break the silence and the lack of communication.

May 4-5, 2001

Karei Deshe

For information:

Menachem Vinegrad

04-696-2231

Come join us for the Third Annual Southern Fried Jam on Friday, March 16, at 11 A.M. in the Lahav Forest. Lahav Forest is a little over an hour from the capital, Tel Aviv and Sde Boker. The turnoff is about 1/2 hour after Route 3 from Jerusa- lem meets Route 40 heading for Beersheva. You drop down south of Kiryat Gat on 40, pass a gas station at a red light. Get into the left lane and turn left onto 326 at the Dvira Junction. About 7 km. in on that road, you'll see a map of the Lahav Forest. Turn right and go up the hill to the Joe Alon Bedouin Center and park. Look for the stairs across from the center. Bring your instruments and a picnic lunch. For those investors who don't wish to sit on their assets, bring folding chairs. For last minute updates and info phone Laurie at (08) 653-2080. My cellphone (058) 459-543, will be on from about 10:45. See you there!

--Laurie

Happy Birthday to: David Baron, Miep Kaempfer, Ray Kaempfer. Julian Newman and Lisa Rogoff.

Mazal Tov to Robin and Jay Epstein on the birth of their son.

NOT TRAD ADS - fee is NIS 10 (NIS 5 for members).

**SHELLEY ELLEN - guitarlessons, also available for performances (03) 674-5356. **Jill Rogoff's THE CELTIC CRADLE and ACROSS THE NARROW SEAS (ALC 129) are available on cassette. Tel/Fax (02) 679-0410.

**SUZALEH'S SILK ART - Glassed and Framed, modestly sized and modestly priced, door signs, mazal tovs, etc. Handmade by Sue Tourkin-Komet (02) 676-3346.

DISCLAIMER: FolkNotes is the official publication of the Israel FolkStuff Society. Views are those of the writers, not necessarily those of IFS.

FolkNotes and all of the articles, photographs and material contained therein

are, unless otherwise noted, copyrighted by IFS 2001.

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FolkNotes Staff: Sherry Whetstone, Larry Gamliel, Carol Fuchs