Yosef Goldman Explores New Melodies and Radical Hope
A few hours before a downpour of near-summer rain catches exiting concert-goers off guard, Yosef Goldman graces the stage with his 5 piece ensemble. After the show, I wait out the rain under the awning of the JCC, and speak with a fellow attendee about the show and how she knows Goldman. It seems as if everyone in the audience has some connection to Goldman, the band, or other audience members, making it feel less like a straightforward concert and more like a community coming together for a night of song.
In addition to music, Yosef Goldman is also a rabbi, so he is no stranger to a d’var Torah. Instead of typical stage patter, he offers words of insight.
The origin of the text in his song “Gesher,” comes from a Rebbe Nachman story about what he describes as “existential dread,” and how when we are “on two sides of a giant chasm, we can still find the courage for radical hope.”
The band moves into the song. With a western music arrangement and a slight blues influence, Goldman crafts a modern yet approachable take on the well known “Gesher Tzar Meod” text.
The band is Yosef Goldman on vocals and percussion, Yoni Avi Battat on vocals, oud, and violin, Yoshi Fruchter on vocals, oud, and electric guitar, Ilya Shneyveys on keyboard, flute, and accordion, Daniel Ori on upright bass, Shai Wetzer on drums and percussion, with special guest Deborah Sacks-Mintz on vocals and mandolin.
Goldman then shifts into works from his latest release, Simu Lev.
The debut album from Kedmah, a joint project between Yosef Goldman and Yoni Avi Battat, Simu Lev is a collection of Mizrahi piyyutim. The melodies derive from the maqam tradition. It is a musical modal system unique to Turkey, Iran, North Africa and the Arab world.
There is a strong sense of mutual trust between Goldman and his audience. He embraces the vulnerability while he plays from the Kedmah project live for the first time, and the audience is eager to receive the performance.
Goldman closes with “Agadelkha,” which he describes as a “Kaddish dance party.” The piece is Turkish inspired, and the text was originally written as an intro to Kaddish to “uplift the Holy Name.”
The call and response structure of “Agadelkha” lends itself to easy audience participation, and reflects the structure of the Kaddish itself.
At this point, the audience members that aren’t already dancing in the back, clap along as each instrument takes a solo. After the final chorus, the audience is up and ready for a standing ovation.
As the band packs up, audience members wait for a moment to speak with Goldman and congratulate him on the show. Goldman introduces audience members to one another, and many share mutual friends. Goldman has cultivated an interwoven musical community. The expert musicianship and strong sense of kinship between audience members combine to make a trip to the Upper West Side worth it – even in the sudden rain.
