![]() Carlebach coming to Beth Ahm
Jacob Kamaras THE JEWISH STATE November 20, 2009
At Temple Beth Ahm in Aberdeen, next month's holiday concert with Neshama Carlebach will be part of what the soulful singer calls "a worldwide movement that we've begun, of unity, interfaith work, and bringing people together." That's because Carlebach, daughter of the legendary Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, is performing with the Bronx-based Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir, with whom she collaborated on "Higher and Higher" (Sojourn Records/Sony), her seventh CD. Carlebach said she has been working with the choir for four years, and they have been touring together for "Higher and Higher" throughout this past year. "At this point, we are widening our audience and doing work all over the world for all different kinds of groups," Carlebach said in a phone interview. "I see great potential." The concert on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. comes on the first day of Hanukkah. With that timing in mind, the event can "bring light and warmth to all of our souls" in the spirit of the holiday, said Rabbi Michael Pont, leader of Beth Ahm. "She's internationally known for being a true inspiration," Pont said of Carlebach. The interfaith flavor of Beth Ahm's event is indicative of how the synagogue is "not just looking to provide programs to strengthen our own community," Pont said. "We want to provide a program that anyone will enjoy," he said. Carlebach said she performs in New Jersey several times a year. One of the highlights of her work with Green Pastures was Go You Forth, an Oct. 15 concert in New Orleans to benefit the 20,000 people who are homeless and the 200,000 who need three meals a day from food banks because of Hurricane Katrina. Go You Forth was part of Carlebach's broader charity and community service campaign called Soul Journey. "It's just a forgotten city down there and it's a city that means a lot to me on a cultural and musical level, and it's become one of my greatest passions to try to help," Carlebach said of New Orleans. "We continue to do so through different organizations, and by going down there and just singing and trying to raise the spiritual spark and raise the morale, because that's what I feel like our job is." At concerts, Carlebach said she focuses almost exclusively on her father's melodies and sprinkles in a few of her own songs. "It's songs of my soul, so I sing them," Carlebach said of her father's songs. "They are the songs that speak to me, and I know that they are magical songs and that they speak to audiences all over the world." Carlebach began her singing career just three weeks after losing her father in October 1994. Fifteen years after his death, she said she is still gaining more appreciation for his music. Sojourn Records and Sony recently signed a licensing deal for Shlomo Carlebach's work and released "Songs of Peace," a CD featuring two of his performances from 1973. "I'm very, very proud of him and all that he's accomplished, and that pride only continues to grow as I see his impact, it just continues to get stronger and stronger as the years pass," Carlebach said. Tickets to Beth Ahm's Dec. 12 concert, at 550 Lloyd Road in Aberdeen, are $25 for general admission, $180 for a sponsor (includes two tickets and preferred seating), and $360 for a patron (four tickets, preferred seating, and a CD). For tickets and more information, call the synagogue at (732) 583-1700. For more information on Neshama Carlebach and her music, visit sojournrecords.com and neshamacarlebach.com.
|